Secret archives disappear PAGE 3

EDITORIAL By Agim BAÇI Donkeys, mules, peasants carrying entire kilograms of gold and living in poverty, with torn mattresses, buying bread on credit, and so on and so forth, have in recent days constituted the help offered to the Government, so that the latter can find a way to take the steps needed to steal the gold. This panorama has quickly been joined by politicians turning into prosecutors and prosecutors turning into politicians, perhaps bringing to a conclusion the cry raised for some time by Albanians: “the government has long since left us to fend for ourselves.” Meanwhile, the so-called government has done at least one service for Albanians by leaving everyone free to come up with their own version of the gold theft. And what these freely imagined Albanian versions have in common, regardless of anyone’s beliefs, and what even the current officials cannot deny, is the presence in this theft of the animal known as a “donkey.” But no one dares to state precisely how many of this kind of animal there are, an animal known not only for its ability to steal, but also for having the knack of hiding it... All of this is fit for the theatre, but certainly not for explaining an event that would bring down any government daring to call itself one. But since we have no intention of calling a government the body that holds meetings in the hall built for the government, we think someone is looking after the National Theatre, where performances have been absent for some time. And with pieces like these, in which the leading role has been taken by the animal known as a “donkey,” while poor peasants with gold stand all around it, we think that at least we will have the chance to see a service that fills our empty artistic life. Perhaps a carefully constructed play featuring the donkey, the gold and the official can rightly be recorded as the current officials’ well-deserved success.

Zëri rises, Shuli falls Page 5

ELECTIONS/ Albania, full of Albanians The Social Insurance Institute declares that Albania has 3.8 million inhabitants, thereby marking yet another oddity of the Albanian Government. The preparation of lists “with as many inhabitants as you like” follows the approval the previous night of the Code, at the open insistence of the Socialists, who wanted to have control over the entire voting process. The Government, through the Ministry of Local Government, has taken responsibility for preparing the voter lists, with the help of donations from international organizations. Albanians have not enjoyed the right to obtain passports from their own state for more than 18 years. Page 4

More ministers on the list of accused Page 6

ELEUSA “beats” the heat Page 8

In the poor home of the gold thieves “We took 7 chests; the others caused havoc” “It was raining and we transported the chests on horses. I don’t know how much was inside, but I only know they were very heavy.” Page 3

The Code, “one day later...” The opposition responds Page 4