. The state allocates 3.4 billion lekë for purchases, out of the 9 billion needed. Starting today, three times less electricity. Page 5

By Andrea Nako . “Meta” leaves the bastard on ...God’s doorstep. If Albanians had had electricity yesterday to watch the news broadcasts, they would finally have learned who was to blame for all this chaos. Tense nerves, empty stomachs and frozen feet would have been soothed, because the culprit behind the power crisis had finally been found. It was discovered and publicly declared yesterday, in triumphant fashion, at a press conference by one of the members of the Meta government cabinet, Minister Mustafa Muçi. Did anyone have doubts that the government was to blame for selling electricity for free when it had plenty of it? They are wrong! Does anyone else think that corruption, theft, and the billions unpaid by state institutions themselves for the electricity they consumed are the cause of the crisis? They are wrong too! Perhaps the culprits are the mismanagement of this vital sector and the irresponsibility of others? No, no—you have not even come close. The culprit, oh Albanians, is ...God. If the situation were not truly tragic, Muçi would have made us laugh. With the head of the Electricity Corporation on one side and the IMF chief in Albania on the other, the minister in question gathered up the few remaining scraps of seriousness in Meta’s administration and announced: “We feel no responsibility whatsoever for the situation, because it is the result of a natural disaster...” As if Albania were a planet of its own, where rain, sun, wind and snow were “exclusive.” The rain and sun have been the same across all the countries in the region. But we have not heard of an energy crisis in Greece, Italy, Macedonia, etc. Huddled under blankets and lit by candles, we are waiting for Muçi to reappear and give us the good news that God has settled things with the Meta government.

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The new employment program for 2001 is announced . Italy decides to open its doors to Albanian emigrants. Family reunification remains difficult to achieve. Page 13

The EU funded the National Energy Strategy. How USD 400,000 disappeared. Minister Muçi insists: “I don’t know anything”! “Albania has no National Energy Strategy,” the Minister of Public Economy and Privatization (MEPP), Mustafa Muçi, repeated several times at yesterday’s press conference. He also emphasized this before Parliament. Page 2

The circle of suspects in Saturday’s crime is narrowing . The murder of Armand Avdisë: Police identify the first suspects. A man in a black coat is believed to be the perpetrator. The owner of “Desperados” was brutally killed on Saturday evening, a crime committed by a single person. This was the latest statement by the capital’s police spokesperson concerning the serious incident on Saturday evening, a crime committed in the heart of Tirana. Witnesses reportedly saw a person wearing a black coat. Page 5

The Socialists, “for” and “against” the change . The Socialists are meeting to decide the “fate” of the Central Election Commission. Thus, the differing positions among the Socialists regarding the work of the CEC and how it should be handled for the upcoming parliamentary elections are expected to be confronted today at a meeting of the Socialist Party’s General Steering Committee. This meeting will focus on the reports of international organizations. Page 4

Ministry of Transport: 70 illegal contracts . 670 million lekë in abuses. “Seament,” the darling of the Albanian government. Page 9

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