Opposition: Berisha, hand over SHIK and TV. PD and PSm strike a deal over power SHIU; the people on the list were to be executed. USD 300,000 for Gjoleka’s head.

During his rally in Laç, the main town of Kurbin, Mr. Berisha was asked by an ordinary citizen whether votes would be [cast?] under the law approved by Parliament. Mr. Berisha gave every assurance that the electoral process would be fair, but confidently declared that PD would win again this time. The latest law approved by Parliament, proposed by the conservative MPs Spanja and Arbënori, gives the President of the Republic the right to appoint the chairpersons of the commissions at every level. Mr. Berisha did this with the law of May 26. This electoral infrastructure gives Mr. Berisha’s party the opportunity to win more than 78 percent of the vote, turning Parliament into a real power base for PD. Adopting this infrastructure for the June elections as well would, in a sense, mean repeating the manipulations of May. Perhaps PD no longer expects to win so much, but no one will stop it from winning a relative majority. Despite his good intentions in offering assurances, Mr. Berisha cannot hide his fear that his victory will be achieved through manipulation. He has no other solution, so he has pinned all his hopes on the fanatical chairpersons of the electoral commissions, who have shown at every level that they are capable of doing anything. This has prompted the President to sponsor a bad law, but one that guarantees victory. In other words, this means crisis. And the crisis is evident. Most political forces, which have a better chance than Mr. Berisha’s party, have declared that they will boycott the elections. He can no longer easily accuse them over this act, because the coalition around this decision is broad and spans from the right to the left. Meanwhile, the lubricating factor in the Albanian crisis, the West, is waiting for an agreement between the feuding forces. It is seeking this agreement from the institution of the President. The Achilles’ heel remains the commission chairpersons. The OSCE proposes that they be co-chairs from the two largest Albanian parties. Mr. President apparently has difficulty understanding this language, so he dissolves Parliament and chooses a fait accompli policy. The question is very simple: Will Mr. Berisha win again this time? That depends on the parties’ resolve. So far, they have shown questionable resolve on this point.

p. 2

After more than two and a half years away, the madwoman N appeared again yesterday on the streets of the capital. She made her first stop in front of an unopened newspaper office, where she delivered a short speech. “Listen, don’t look for the guilty. You won’t find them. I built the pyramid schemes. I opened the prisons too. Here I am, with the warehouse keys and all. I armed the people. Enver left it to me in his will. It’s written in the party bureau’s protocol. The whole people are soldiers. Well, soldiers without weapons don’t exist.” Then the madwoman opened her umbrella because the sun was burning her and moved in front of the Presidency. There, too, she delivered a pathetic speech: “From today on, only the Right will be heard in Albania. PR is not a right-wing party. Nor is Balli. Laco and Zefi are the right-wing. Next week PD will also be declared right-wing. Long live the Right from the Left!” The chronicler

On Thursday, May 22, 1997, at 11:00 a.m., the chairpersons of all PR branches in the districts are to appear at the Central Headquarters to submit the candidacies for our MPs, finalized in accordance with the instructions of the Party Presidium, as well as the relevant documentation for each candidate. Presidium of the PRSH

“REPUBLIKA”, “Sami Frashëri” Street, near “Petro Nini Luarasi” High School, Tirana. Tel./Fax (+355 42) 259 88 Tel. (+355 42) 230 90 Account No. 986/110, Tirana Commercial Bank