The PS crisis will be reflected in the election of its leadership After the Socialist Congress closed, an intense race began in all the press outlets to calculate the wins and losses within the PS. Without freeing themselves from the partisanship of the moment, the comments and calculations following the Socialist Congress are quite contradictory. In a way, these positions also express the crisis that has engulfed other interested parties outside the PS, on the left and on the right. Almost everyone is finding it difficult to decide how to deal with the PS after this Congress. Many of those concerned continue, out of inertia, to cling to the old models of the pre-Congress days. The only ones who have managed to take a firm stance toward the PS are the leaders of the PD. The President of the Republic, Mr. Berisha, spared none of his attacks on the PS. The Socialists themselves had not expected such a harsh attack; the following day they made it clear that they had been quite bewildered by the presidential onslaught. After Mr. Berisha, harsh statements from the PD camp were issued by Mr. Shehu, Arbnori and Hajdari. These statements, which have made the already troubled Socialists even more nervous, have created a distinctly uncomfortable political atmosphere for them. Very soon the Socialists will meet in a smaller gathering to elect the Party’s Secretary General and the other Secretaries. In this political situation, it will be very difficult for them to clear their heads. Caught up in the daily quarrels within the Party, they will find it quite easy to bring to the surface their fears of the PD, thanks also to its latest statements. It would be no surprise if the Socialists also lash out at those individuals whom the PD singled out as responsible for the PS’s failure to reform and for the disappointment of the Democrats in power. Nevertheless, for now, predictions about the Socialist camp are very difficult. It is plain to see that the situation in this Party could quickly shift from one side to the other, without causing any surprise. One thing, however, has already been decided and is not going to change. In the PD’s view, the Socialists have not reformed. It is enough to recall Mr. Lubonja’s failure to be elected to the General Steering Committee and the failure to adopt the draft resolution on the rehabilitation of those persecuted by the dictatorship. These two blunders by the Socialists will be routinely used as arguments by their opponents, who gained plenty of material from the PS Congress. Mr. Meta’s candid speech laid bare many of the PS’s problems in Europe, placing it last among the Eastern countries seeking to join the Socialist International. This will be enough to show Albanian Socialists that their compatriots, not only in the homeland but also abroad, are unwelcome. It is no coincidence that, in a statement coming from the PD’s offices, the PS is projected to be at the modest level of 4 percent in four years’ time, the minimum threshold for representation in Parliament. Now, on the eve of the local elections, the PD feels even stronger and is certain that the PS crisis will bring the latter catastrophic results on October 20. Therefore, taking advantage of this political moment, the PD has launched an all-out attack on its opponent, unlike anything before, an attack that it is managing very effectively at the PS’s expense.

Yesterday, the trial dubbed “Anti-Genocide No. 4” resumed at the Court of First Instance in Tirana. According to the order of the judicial inquiry, yesterday it was the turn to hear testimony from former internees about the nine former senior officials of the former Communist dictatorship. The defendants Lenka Çuko, Idajet Beqiri, Sulejman Abazi and Agron Tafa were present in the courtroom. The five other defendants, namely Shkëlzen Bajraktari, Llambi Gegëprifti, Irakli Vero, Veis Haderi and Nazmi Domi, continue to be tried in absentia, since the prosecution’s notice that they had departed for an unknown destination in order to evade the trial remains in force. This request by the prosecutors is perhaps one of the rarest of its kind. However, according to prosecutor Blerim Tomini, some witnesses are expected to come, as they are on holiday in Germany, and their testimony is valid if given before October 2, 1996, when the trial must conclude. For eight other witnesses, the prosecution yesterday signed orders for them to be brought forcibly to the courtroom. Prosecutor Shkëlqim Gani explains that it is extremely difficult to secure the witnesses, since even the exact place of internment is not known, let alone where they ended up. Thus, the prosecution is obliged to conduct special “investigations” to determine where an internee ended up—a particularly difficult task when hundreds of such names are involved. In any case, the prosecution has undertaken to resolve this issue itself, an issue that, in the trial of Ramiz Alia, will leave the prosecution facing a large volume of work. In the trial, continued on p. 3.

The Autocephalous Church of Albania protested yesterday, for the first time, against the Greek Church’s interference in the affairs of the KOASH. Taking as its point of departure a recent sermon by His Eminence, the Metropolitan of Konitsa, Andrea, delivered after the evening service for the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 14), we emphasize that it is time for His Eminence Andrea to understand that he has no right, under the law Continued on p. 4

The IRA initiative Government and opposition at one table P. 2