EDITORIAL By Adrian THANO Anyone who has had the opportunity to travel abroad with a government delegation has easily observed how thin the “veneer” of seriousness is among the people we have invested with power and the right to represent us. On these trips, there is never any shortage of prime ministers who look at the delegation members’ list only on the way to Rinas, ministers who risk car accidents, and members of parliament who are ever-present and just as troublesome in the state administration, standing behind all the deserved and undeserved epithets attached to today’s rulers. And it is this situation that is turning the electoral process in the country into a dangerous “joke” as well. We are not talking about “inevitable” bureaucracy. This is about basic shortcomings [text continues outside the frame] it emerged that an entire political grouping had been classified incorrectly, and so on. You hear of similar absurdities concerning the work of the other institutions responsible for this process, too. The Central Election Commission itself has been swept up in a wave of decisions and counter-decisions, members leaving, reporting violations and then returning, etc. In this same atmosphere, news is announced that the voter cards, printed in Canada, for [text continues outside the frame] right of representation. On these trips, there are always prime ministers who see the list of delegation members accidents, deputies who confuse institutions, advisers who tell jokes to drivers, embassy representatives who do not keep to any schedule, and other such “Albanian-style” absurdities. This lack of seriousness is this situation, which bureaucracy. This is about a basic lack of information on the part of the state’s highest authorities. Yesterday, during a draw to allocate television airtime for the election campaign, a list sent by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly had left out one of the parliamentary parties. On that same list

Starting on September 2, 2000, the Italian Embassy in Tirana will publish the lists of Albanian citizens who will emigrate legally to Italy. Page 11

51,000 families without homes The Prime Minister promises during the campaign to provide housing for 1,000 Page 5

The Prosecutor’s Office launches an investigation into car traffickers Approximately five hundred vehicles with the same chassis number but different owners are included in this group. Their verification requires specialized work, since in some cases it has been established that the chassis numbers were forged. These forgeries were carried out by cutting out the sections of the chassis where the numbers had been recorded and replacing them with new sections bearing new chassis numbers corresponding to approximately 500 vehicles. All these vehicles are in circulation, having passed from one owner to another, while the transactions in their files appear to be in order. Page 14

The seals of the Commissions and polling stations in the hands of the SP The predicted storms have erupted in the Central Election Commission. A decision by this Commission, adopted at one of its closed meetings without the consensus of two of its members, has ignited major controversy over the accuracy of the results of the October 1 vote. Thus, the Central Election Commission has adopted a decision that casts doubt on every subsequent vote-counting procedure. Page 2

The PS candidate for Tirana breaks the rules of the game The Socialist candidate for Tirana Municipality, Edi Rama, is gripped by fear of losing the race on October 1. Yesterday, he declared that he would not resign from his post as Minister of Culture, which he currently holds, even though the Electoral Code... stipulates that candidates must withdraw from their current posts up to 17 days before election day. It seems that the Socialist candidate has finally decided to conduct his campaign from the Minister’s chair. Page 3

The terror of anonymous phone calls returns Page 7

Heroin worth 2.5 billion lekë seized Police officer and trafficker arrested Page 9

Festival “War of frequencies for broadcasting folklore” Page 15

On Sunday, 03.09.2000, at 11:00, in the hall of the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tirana, PRSH launches its election campaign. All PR candidates for Mayors of the country’s municipalities and communes must attend, as well as the chairpersons and secretaries of PR branches in the districts. The Presidium