Fatmir Mediu, letter addressed to Fatos Nano

P. 3

SP, election campaign with pyramid schemes

P. 3

Democrats: Meta must find the thieves of the funds

P. 3

Police masking must be abolished

P. 5

The corrupt monitor corruption

Paradoxes of Albanian politics The corrupt monitor corruption Prime Minister Meta cannot commit harakiri by organizing the socialist anti-corruption effort

The Capital Municipality, a hybrid of the Nano-Rama flirtation experiment

For four hours straight, Socialist Party chairman Fatos Nano hosted in his office at the pink headquarters the Minister of Culture, who belongs to the “self-proclaimed party named Edi Rama.” After a long one-on-one conversation with one of the most disputed ministers in the “Meta” government cabinet, the SP leader is reported to have negotiated with him over the socialist candidacy for the post of mayor of the capital. The flirtation between Nano and Rama, which appears set to be crowned with a new mayor for Tirana, has not failed to emerge quite openly through their deeply concerned statements about each other. “Rama is a steady and enduring partner.” P. 5

Socialists empty-handed in Vlora

The Socialists have rushed to Vlora, the city to which they promise to open the lost gates, but this time empty-handed. Nevertheless, beneath their made-up faces, they have tried to wash away their own sins by blaming the opposition for failing to keep the promises made to the electorate. P. 5

Bandits kill rapid-response unit police officer

PUKË: A police officer has been killed in Pukë. The mobile patrol, whose personnel included police officer Qazim Hysen, clashed with an armed gang on the Mirditë–Fushë Arrëz road, very near the place called “White Hills.” As a result of the exchange of fire between the police patrol and the armed bandits, police officer Qazim Hysen, 34, married and the father of one child, was killed at the scene. After the volleys of gunfire, which “woke” all the residents of the commune of Gjegjan, everything fell silent. P. 2

CORRUPTION The Working Group for Monitoring the Government’s Fight against Corruption is one of the newest bodies established by Prime Minister Meta. Sources from the Prime Minister’s Office say that this working group, headed by Minister of State Ilir Zela, is tasked with coordinating and monitoring actions and the results of the new Anti-Corruption Strategy recently drawn up by the socialist government. Furthermore, this state commission, which is composed of officials from the Albanian state administration, holds the fate of state officials accused of involvement in corruption or suspicious trafficking in its hands. In other words, this commission will decide, after examining the accusations, the fate of the corrupt and of smugglers who are officials of state institutions, from the smallest department all the way up to ministries. P. 5 Cartoon: CORRUPTION

Statement by the opposition parliamentary parties: We do not want the CEC, the “Governmental Election Commission”

Statement by the opposition parliamentary parties: We do not want the CEC, the “Governmental Election Commission” P. 3

Kushner will free Flora Brovina

P. 4

Bank lowers interest rates

P. 8

Albanian women beaten to death by their husbands

P. 11

The Kosovo tragedy in a stage play

P. 15