The Nanonists accuse him of running an unfair campaign P. 10

The Prime Minister of the Provisional Government decides to complete the Cabinet P. 4

Calm in Tirana cannot be established without police P. 6

P. 10

By Arben ILIAZI The Minister of Agriculture casts doubt on the value of the constitutional state. Following the interpellation raised by PR MP Mr Godo concerning the violation of Article 41 of the new Constitution, which provides for the legal protection of property, Minister Xhuveli stated: “The laws are changed by Parliament and the Constitutional Court. I implement the government programme.” Now we learn that the government programme itself may also be unconstitutional! I believe Xhuveli knows that a new Constitution, which sidelines the land law, No. 7501, was approved by referendum following a proposal and draft by Parliament. But the issue lies elsewhere: in replacing the problem of legitimacy with that of authority. The left displayed conventional devotion to the constitutional process in order to manage doubts concerning legitimacy and shift the burden of proof. Yet it is forgotten that the Constitution constitutes the irreplaceable criterion and standard. There was no virtue in advancing beyond the limits of the Constitution. In this sense, for example, in the American imagination, ever since the Civil War—which brought the work of the Constitution to completion—there has been only one kind of progress: technological progress. By contrast, left-wing leaders in Albania have emerged from metaphysical abysses. On the one hand, they call for broad openness to the normative theories of liberal democracy; on the other, they are reluctant to respect the “rules of the game”, while excluding the version that would be more in keeping with traditions. Continued on page 3

We will turn to the Constitutional Court and, finally, to the Strasbourg Court. I would tell Xhuveli and the others in advance that the Strasbourg Court considered a similar case brought there by the Romanians, and its decision recognized the owners’ rights. What do you think of Agriculture Minister Xhuveli’s response regarding the interpellation you requested on the land law and the violation of the Constitution in this case? I think the minister’s answer was entirely ill-considered. Because even if what he says is true, regardless of who requests it, he must answer the question of whether or not the Constitution has been violated. As for his claim that he is asking for a small vote, I would remind Xhuveli that his own party is very small and that he entered Parliament as a political passenger through another political force. But what matters to me is that from the day the Constitution was approved until today, it has continued to be violated, first and foremost by Xhuveli with both feet, and then by other ministers dealing with the land issue. I have pursued this matter outside Parliament. I went to the President and the Prime Minister, and wrote letters to those gentlemen ministers. I had summoned Xhuveli to a P. 3

TIRANA: Around 900 people were turned back on the tenth day at the Kakavijë border crossing between Albania and Greece. The Albanian police stated that “among them are people who have been mistreated, as well as people with valid documents”. Nevertheless, the Greeks, who began Operation “Broom” some time ago, [sentence incomplete in the source]. P. 2 Around 900 people returned yesterday at the Kakavijë border crossing

The factionalists will answer one day P. 3

Since last December he has commanded the ship “Gorgona” P. 7

“War Zone” denounces domestic violence and reacts against the monotony of cinema P. 13

Rakipi responds to the monitors: “To be objective, this group faces difficulties of every kind, including political ones” TIRANA: Rakipi keeps his “cool” during the meeting with the Council of Europe monitors, who asked him for complete information on the investigations so far into the murder of MP Azem Hajdari. Caught off guard, Rakipi had to, at yesterday’s meeting held at the premises of the General Prosecutor’s Office, P. 11

• The head of the Sarandë Police Commissariat is declared a wanted person • The friends’ order demands police officers’ heads Poç forms the special team that will restore order on the roads

Today at 11:00, at the Rogner, the chairman of the Albanian Journalists’ Association, Ylli Rakipi, will hold a press conference