Turmoil and protests in Tropojë / Special forces withdraw Turmoil and protests in Tropojë. Special forces withdraw. Page 2

. The first 2,000 replies arrive by mail. The lottery prize is multiplied fivefold. The postmark, the secret of the application. Citizens are confused and deceived. Page 5

The post-election campaign, or the failure to respect the vote rigorously . By Agim BAÇI. After hearing the pre-election promises and claims, Albanians have also had to hear those of the post-election kind. The parties have not waited to hear what the General Commission has to say before addressing this issue. Four days after the vote, Albanians continue to count different percentages of votes, which in every case exceed the 100 percent required and possible in an election, even an Albanian election. But is there a “catch” to announcing results without referring to the Commission that is paid to make such announcements? At the very least, the failure to coordinate the results claimed by one party with what the CEC says means “keeping in one’s pocket” the possibility of disputing them with just as much enthusiasm on the day the (Government) Election Commission dreams of signing “the white on the black.” After the decision of the “Special Commission” to announce the election results—which naturally cannot exceed 100 percent of the votes—the parties have “the right to protest.” ...Meanwhile, no one took care of the genuine doubts cast on the vote. No one spoke about the many mix-ups, when one party, because its name was misidentified, received the votes of another party. And the Government insulted voters once again with the utmost seriousness, when it did not deign to apologize to anyone who may have been left off the register or shuttled from one polling station to another. Meanwhile, the international observers, who worked on raising awareness, have earned the banner of the most unexplained campaign in these 10 years... The pre-election campaign of Albanian politics failed once again to fulfill the decade-long wish of Albanians to hear clear ideas for escaping this outrageous poverty that keeps us at the bottom of Europe. The post-election campaign follows it in a pathological way.

. Husband and wife make off with USD 300,000. Ferenc Hugyecz came to Albania in 1995 on a work assignment, where he met Ms. Anush Çollaku. After carrying out some gambling-related business, they left for Hungary. Meanwhile, they had made an agreement to help several businesses with investments, by bringing them machinery and various equipment. And they did so, but instead of showing Albanian businesspeople the sellers’ original invoices, they forged them, thereby making three to six times the actual value. Our businesspeople established direct contact with the companies that had supplied them with the machinery and learned the true price.

. The terrible Australian flu is approaching. Page 13

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. Runoffs, elections from scratch. The areas moving on to the second round of the 1 October local elections are increasing in number as the results from the local government commissions in the country’s various districts come in. However, as the number of runoff areas grows, the parties are not showing the same progress in their attention to competing in the relevant areas. Thus, while the Democrats seem very busy with decisions and assigning responsibility for the results of the 1 October elections, the Socialists are relying heavily on propaganda. Page 4

. RP starts campaigning today. The Republicans began work yesterday on launching the campaign for the second round of the October local elections. The party’s central headquarters hosted a meeting of the Republican Party leadership together with the branch chairpersons in the districts where the party has advanced to a runoff, as well as the Republican candidates in those areas. The Republicans have decided to run a good campaign in order to attract as many people as possible. Page 4

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