VEFA loan in the final minutes. “M. Leka” awaits the cognac funds. The “Kamberi” hens are laying Pëllumbi drops more bombs on Nano. PD threatens the persecuted. The coalition works in the dark

. Ever since the phenomenon of different political forces controlling different levels of power appeared in Albania for the first time, it became clear that Albanian politics also lacked the ability to coexist in the name of the law. In 1992, the Albanian electorate, emerging from the rule of an absolute PD majority in Parliament, perhaps also by chance, decided to preserve the balance of power by giving the Socialists most of the local government. More or less the same thing happened in 1997, when the plebiscitary vote of 29 June brought to power a parliament dominated by the Socialists. Figuratively speaking, it seems that anyone can be shut away together with their problems. Meanwhile, in the legible part of the political spectrum, everything sounds normal and entirely acceptable for a pluralist society. The dualism that may emerge in this case is regulated by the norms of wise, impartial governance, and, above all, one based on the relevant laws. It must be acknowledged that pathological authoritarianism has great difficulty digesting the fact of Socialist supremacy in local government, managing to strip it of many powers and turn its indispensable autonomy into a legally sanctioned formality. For its part, the PS seems to be leaving nothing lacking in its adoption of the experience accumulated by the PD, going even further than it did. The paralyzing policy the PD pursued toward local government made the latter incapable even of repairing the windows of a [?] or repairing the windows of a school. Yet early elections were never called. On the contrary, the PS, without having firmly settled into the government seats, together with its allies, is making it clear that it favors early local elections. The conflict between mayors on one side—a conflict expressed not only in official protests, but even in threats of a hunger strike—and the central government on the other clearly shows the negative consequences that may result from the inability of two opposing forces to coexist at different levels of government. There is no reason to hold early elections, especially since the Socialists themselves recognized and accepted the results of 20 October 1996. Partial elections may be held in those areas where the local government officeholders are physically absent, but no kind of party jealousy, however sophisticated its expression, justifies holding them across the board.

The “Cenaj” family blocks employees’ salaries; VEFA’s request for funds is rejected. Page 8 G. Luli: The age of the dinosaurs in the PD. Page 12 Nano, face-to-face with the Roma; the right-hand man of “Mandela” is murdered in Thessaloniki; a night of terror in Elbasan; blood on the village road; a 15-year-old girl sold for 1,000 marks. Pages 5, 7 Serb in the PS; Kosovo patches up the protests. Brawling at the PD meeting in Tepelenë. Page 3

Berisha is selecting the delegates he will use to fan himself

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