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A minister takes offense and threatens “Republika.” More precisely, Edi Rama, currently also the candidate for mayor of Tirana, as well as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, yesterday threatened to sue the director of the newspaper “Republika,” Neritan Alibali, through his press office mechanisms. “Republika,” specifically its director, declares that it is ready to face Mr. Rama, or his representatives, in any courtroom or in any proceedings he wishes to initiate. Although, “strangely,” signals came from the Ministry of Culture yesterday as well, saying that Minister Rama is ready to withdraw the lawsuit if “Republika” retracts the accusations against him. Naturally, “Republika” does not take it upon itself to educate the standards of Rama’s civil servants, especially the one thing that should remind the latter, and even the minister himself, that a retraction is made when something has been lied about, and not when what has been published is an absolute truth. Also yesterday, thanks to the intervention of the OSCE mission in Tirana, Rama’s ministry decided to open the doors of information to “Republika,” which had been closed by an order from Minister Rama himself. While thanking the OSCE for its intervention, “Republika” cannot help but be astonished by this two-facedness of the Albanian state apparatus, which “knows” how to be brutal and arrogant toward its own journalist, yet also knows how to be compliant and mild in front of foreign organizations and officials.

The rent mafia rules the Ministry of Culture Publication continues of lists naming people who have won the right to employment in Italy Page 16 Pages 2, 3

Elections/Electronic cards are not ready Local elections risk being held without identity cards. Delays in procedures appear to be alarming, since the establishment of 11 electoral commissions for local government administrative units has still not been accompanied by the required legal documentation. For Albanians to be issued identity cards by election day, a number of links in the chain of final preparations for the local elections appear to have been skipped. Page 4

PRSH/ historical injustices must be corrected Without correcting the grave historical injustices of the seizure of private property in Albania, neither the present nor the future of private property in Albania can be guaranteed. And without guaranteeing property, democracy itself cannot be guaranteed as an institution aspired to by all Albanians. The PR’s position on property is not a position tied to a particular and limited segment of Albanian society, those who, speculatively or simply out of ignorance, are referred to as “former owners.” Pages 11, 12, 13, 14

A phantom company falsified employment projects A fraudulent company vanished without a trace. This time it had presented itself as a “serious” company and an affiliate of an American company, under the name “USA International Group.” To make itself even more credible, the company in question established its headquarters in one of the Business Centers in Tirana. This “business” company is said to have also been licensed to employ Albanians, not only in Western countries, but across the Atlantic as well. According to very confidential information disclosed by the Business Center where this phantom company had its headquarters, it “was very punctual with its rent payments.” Page 5

The USD 2 million project risks failing Page 8

A quantity of counterfeit soft drinks seized Page 21

Festival funds are being used to repair qeleshe... Page 23

The Social Insurance Institute is a state pyramid scheme Page 9