First of all, if we say that May 26 was a test, albeit a bitter one, for Albanian democracy, then October 20 becomes an autumn retest that may also put the seal on its right to pass the grade. In this context, judging by the way events unfolded, the heated period that separated this season of retesting and, if... ...violence. By contrast, the Republicans, even at the cost of consciously sacrificing their reputation for the moment, invested their composure and foresight in favor of stability and finding the best ways to overcome the crisis that the “big parties” not only created through their precedent, but also deepened through their inability to break away from the dream of totalitarian domination of power. Republicans are certainly pleased when they see that some other forces, too, pretend that their calls for terror had precisely the Republican options in mind (!). But they cannot “be pleased” when they see that, even if out of hypocrisy, the oppo- [text continues outside the frame] [Text begins cut off at the top of the image.] heated period that separated this season of examinations placed its protagonists, the political parties, before the great challenge of being able to navigate with composure and dignity, rather than with careerist passions or their speculative game of populism. In this context, this period serves many voters as a merciless screen, whose naturalistic colors stripped away the classicism of the “black and white” graphic style that had been unfairly normalized over these five years and had culminated in “white” and “black” during the campaign that just ended—a classicism that had led many to believe that evil could come from the “big parties,” but that good must necessarily come from them alone. The truth is that while the “big parties,” with their inflated passions, did not hesitate to fan the flames of stubbornness and egoism, the other side did not hesitate to seek solutions to the crisis in crowded squares and in calls from both sides for [unclear/corrupt text: “kuader”]. By contrast, some other forces pretend that, with their calls for terror, they had precisely in mind the Republican options (!). But they cannot “be pleased” when they see that their positions on the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly, the timing of the next elections and, above all, dialogue and a solemn pact among Albanian political forces are not set aside as a “pleasant” subject, but are coveted for adoption by the Socialists and company—especially when they claim these ideas run parallel to those of the Americans or Europe, which, in fairness, must be acknowledged to have appeared in Albanian public opinion later than the PR statement of May 28. In any case, the Republican Party has made its political investment not only during the five years of its existence, but especially in the great test of this year’s May 26. No one can say, especially now, what any party may reap from its political investments, but Republicans and their supporters are certain that their party enters this campaign with dignity and will know how to emerge from it just as dignified.

Controversy continues among Socialist leaders after the PS congress After a long silence from the Socialists, accused by Meta at his latest press conference, here comes their response. It is Kastriot Islami, a member of the Socialist Party leadership and known as Nano’s main supporter in the PS, who has responded to Ilir Meta, albeit without mentioning him directly. For this, Islami has used the old newspaper “Zëri i Popullit,” which the new PS leadership took over the day before yesterday, and especially the pro-Nano group. “By remaining above the institution in terms of the power of its decisions, the Steering Group removes any possibility of replacing collegiality with the diktat of the top man,” the mathematician says. The open debate between the leadership and the chairman, not only at the Congress but also in the party and independent press during the pre-congress period, as well as the election of the PSSH chairman directly by the Congress with around 80 percent of the votes, show that dictatorship and [text continues outside the frame] authoritarianism were absent not only from the statute but also from the practice of the party’s fundamental institution.” Meta said he was in favor of an institutional party, as was his ally, Pellumbi, but at the congress the supporters of the one-man party prevailed. Kastriot Islami also responds to this argument. “The two fundamental institutions of the PS, the KPD and the Chairman,” says the former Minister of Education, “elected directly by the Congress, and the Functional Leadership, elected by the KPD, ... the pro-Nano group. In his article yesterday in “ZP,” Islami rejects the FRESH chairman’s response to all the accusations Meta made against the new PS leadership, addressing them one by one. Thus, the main accusation made by the former deputy chairman of the PS concerned the authoritarian way Fatos Nano ran his party. Meta had called the PS the party of the one man many times after the congress, but had never received a response. Yesterday Islami responded. “The General Committee of the Direc-

Prishtinë — The second secretary of the British embassy in Belgrade, Xhullan Brejtvejt, visited Preshevë on Monday, where he was received at a special meeting by the chairman of the Albanian Democratic Party (PDSH), Zeqirja Fasliu, reports the Kosovo Information Center. Fasliu briefed the British diplomat on the position of Albanians in Preshevë, Bujanoc and Medvegjë, on the party’s efforts to resolve the issue of the Albanians of this region, and presented him with a history of this region, unjustly separated from Kosovo. The PDSH chairman and MP Tahir Dalipi stressed that the position of Albanians in these areas continues to be difficult, while political and territorial autonomy, with the right to unite with Kosovo, is finding increasingly broad support among the population of this region.

Whatever the political climate that prepares an election campaign may be, essentially it is no more than an assessment of the values that all the parties accepting its challenge have genuinely demonstrated during the period separating one campaign from the next. [The photograph reads:] PR Headquarters

The PR branches are requested to urgently bring to the Central Headquarters the lists of members of the electoral commissions for the districts and municipalities belonging to our party. Electoral Sector