Mexico buys $60 million worth of drugs. Foreign-currency reserves sufficient for only three months Shehu and Nano do business in Greece. Berisha is attacked in Elbasan. Mexico buys $60 million worth of drugs. Foreign-currency reserves sufficient for only three months Scandal at BKT: 160 million go missing Shehu and Nano do business in Greece. Berisha is attacked in Elbasan.

Violence—the Siamese twin of Albanian democracy Elections speak the language of Kalashnikovs Yesterday in Elbasan, Berisha’s election rally was bloodied [?]. The President, who had come to Elbasan for the second time within ten days, in the presence of Aqif Pasha, used harsh language that the people of Elbasan did not like. A rebel shouted: “Down with Berisha!” Some say there was an attempted assassination. The official version is far from the truth. In any case, the situation got out of control and the people of Elbasan moved away from Berisha. One of the DP candidates tried to restore order, shouting that the Democratic Party stands for law and order. The candidate’s calls were drowned out by noise and insults, gunshots and explosions. Calm was restored only after midnight, when the Kalashnikovs could take no more. Unfortunately, Albanian democracy cannot seem to divorce itself from dictatorship, represented by people of violence. The extremists of violence have joined the two major parties, so much so that it seems neither the SP nor the DP can achieve victory without them. The DP benefited from violent men. It asked them for help in difficult times, and they made it pay through the nose, clinging like leeches to every part of the government. They demanded land on the Coast, villas, positions, and police-station chiefs. To this day, the DP cannot rid itself of people with criminal faces. The same disease is accompanying the SP, too. The socialist leader, Nano, is surrounded in his entourage precisely by that sort of people, who display nothing but violence. Alongside the people, they also take to the podiums: men of force, displaying their beards, grenades, and Kalashnikovs. In Saranda, while speaking to citizens about the need for commitment, Nano accused: “Beautiful Saranda was burned by Berisha’s gangs ...!” Strangely, there was no applause after this accusation. A group of courageous citizens shouted from the square: “You too are surrounded by the people who burned Saranda.” In fact, the people of Saranda saw with their own eyes, in Nano’s entourage, men of violence, common thieves, and people threatening citizens’ lives. Is this disease threatening the lives of Albanians? Hasn’t it taken hold of Albania’s two major parties? Wouldn’t it be better for them to trust their platforms and alternatives instead of force? Violence has climbed onto the back of Albanian democracy and is seriously endangering it. The response at yesterday’s rally in Elbasan is a very bad omen for the elections of 29 June. Those elections must not speak the language of Kalashnikovs, but of the free vote.

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The United Right’s election tour begins The United Albanian Right takes to the squares. For 15 days in a row, the leaders of DBSH will appear before the people in Albania’s 22 main cities. Starting today in Shkodër and concluding the campaign on 27 June in Tirana. DBSH will travel to Pukë and Malësi e Madhe, then go down to Vlorë, Gjirokastër, and Përmet. The election slogan with which the United Right will address voters is: “Remember yesterday, today... and vote!” DBSH rally in Shkodër Today, 13.6.1997, at 17:00 at the Sports Palace DBSH rally in Peshkopi Saturday, 14.6.1997, at 12:00