The “Gjallica” investigation file goes missing
Minute by minute yesterday in Parliament. Row over mandates. Is the King back in Albania?
Alarm at the Ministry of Finance. $345 million have disappeared. Experts: Blerim Çela has confused us
Opposition does not mean war
. How difficult coexistence between government and opposition proves to be in Albania. The tragedy of Albanian politics is that the democratic opposition has not been institutionalized. From the first pluralist Parliament right up to the latest one, the opposition was conceived as a fierce battle without compromise, as a struggle between sides, in which the sides saw one another as mortal enemies. Interests in power were put above the interests of the country, to the point that both the opposition and the government ended up losing. The opposition’s struggle in general has been drawn out, characterized by a lack of arguments and by grotesque, at times extremely vulgar language, filled with expressions [text continues outside the frame] ... the PS [Socialist Party] has been floundering, unable since 22 March to institutionalize its opposition. It fought with slogans, with the Nano card, and with the tragic epidemic of the Pyramid schemes. If the left came to power, it was not thanks to the way it positioned itself in opposition, but because of the mistakes made by the opposition, which created aversion and hatred both for its governing incompetence and for the establishment of corruption and violence. Now, those who were in government are fighting to take up the opposition banner. But alas, nearly all the methods the PD [Democratic Party] has chosen in opposition have already been exhausted and badly handled by the PS. Not only the boycott, but also the war of statements, has had negative effects on the Democrats themselves. The PD’s labeling of the MPs in this Parliament as “Kalashnikov MPs” across the board takes more points away than it adds in its duel with the PS. If the PD may be right about the south, where it lost because of the Kalashnikovs, it says nothing about why it lost 19–0 in Tirana, why it lost in Durrës, and so on. So, before making accusations, it would be better for the PD to acknowledge its own mistakes, because that would make the opposition more credible. Yesterday Parliament spent a great deal of time on the mandates of Laco and Bushati. In the end, it decided to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, which is known for rulings in favor of Berisha or his satellites. The PD is rushing to take up the opposition banner and act as a lawyer, but the arguments it uses are childish. It presents the act of non-acceptance as a political farce and an attack on the opposition and pluralism. It describes the refusal to recognize Laco’s mandate as Gjinushi’s jealousy, while Zefi’s case is called a blow prompted by the anti-catabolic rebels. This really is a wretched defense. Zefi’s party is not a catabolic party; more than half of its members and local branch chairpeople are Muslim... The Albanian opposition needs to emancipate itself and improve its political struggle. Being in opposition does not mean seeing your opponent as an enemy; an opposition of this kind will not revive Albania’s deranged politics (which owes so much to this people, who were also made to bleed because of politics).
Bandits try to abduct the girls; they cut off the father’s legs, the mother fights back. Berat is reduced to ashes; only the Osum is left unburned. One of the killers in Koplik is identified; a lawyer is abducted in Vlorë; a blood feud kills two women in Gjirokastër; an explosion drowns the [ujjin?] in Korçë; two victims in Memaliaj after the President’s resignation. 13 killed and 9 wounded in 24 hours across Albania.
Pages 5–7
Nano to Mejdani: Enjoy the throne!
Page 4
72 Albanians arrested in Italy
Page 10
Football: From the European Cups
Page 15
The would-be suicide of Versace's killer is caught
Page 16
Sudja emerges from the crisis
Page 2
