The Democrats win more Politicians’ comments on the municipal elections ANDREA STEFANI TIRANA — The clear victory of the PD in the elections for the local organs of power in five areas, held last Sunday. Unlike many other countries in Eastern and Central Europe, it is once again the Albanians who are issuing the challenge by backing the party in power, precisely at one of the most difficult stages of economic reform. And alongside the first operational data — which confirm this triumph of the PD — the opinions of the leaders of the parties that were the main protagonists of this contest were also set out a day after the elections. It was Eduard Selami, chairman of the PD, who in a press conference presented the election results. According to Selami, the party he leads won in four communes (Grushicë, Libofshë, Ndragan and Zall-Herr), while the commune of Zall-Herr — because none of the competitors received more than 50 percent of the vote — is headed to a runoff and will have a second round of voting. Focusing on the relationship with the main rival, the PS, Selami stated that the PD received a total of 4,781 votes against 2,807 for the PS, thus overturning the voting balance inherited from the 1992 elections. “These results,” Selami said among other things, “are the best possible commentary on the elections.” According to him, some of the factors that brought about the victory were the PD’s genuine grassroots base, the political emancipation of Albanians, and the tactical mistake of the PS, which — again according to Selami — conducted a nihilistic election campaign, unable to propose solutions to problems and thus echoing the propaganda of the “Naplo issue.” The economic developments of the last two years were another factor that, according to the PD chairman, supported the victory. “In Albania things have gone better than in other countries,” he added, “and Albanians — although they remain poorer than others — have not turned out to overthrow the government.” According to him, the larger number of voters who chose the PD is further proof against the claims made about holding early elections. He repeated once more the statement he had made to Gazeta Shqiptare the day before regarding the falsity of the accusations raised by the PS about manipulation, disorder and violence during the elections. “The results presented by Selami at the press conference,” SPET Pllumbi, vice-chairman of the PS, tells Gazeta Shqiptare, “are not accurate. In Grëshicë,” he continues, “the PD did not win, but the PS did, which received 58 percent of the votes for commune chief and 52 percent of the votes for the council.” Meanwhile, even in Zall-Herr, where there will be a runoff, according to Pllumbi the PS won 45 percent of the votes against 32 percent for the PD. Pllumbi also repeated the accusations made by the PS regarding violations of electoral law — especially the violence exerted in the commune of Libofshë on voters and commissions by PD elements — as well as the determination not to recognize the election result in the commune of Ndragan, because the result is linked to the issue of early elections. “If these results are real,” Pllumbi declared, “then the PD had nothing to fear from new elections.” “The operational data,” PR chairman Sabi Godo tells Gazeta Shqiptare, “show an increase in the importance of the party’s votes compared with the 1992 elections.” He goes on to compare this campaign “to a battlefield of parties,” and also raises a number of objections regarding the announcement of the election lists in time, the lack of clarity for voters regarding voting procedures — which largely led to many invalid votes — as well as the unequal conditions in terms of the competitors’ material resources.

SARANDË — Sotir Qirjaza, the chairman of “Omonia,” the association of the Greek minority in Albania, has been summoned before the justice authorities. Qirjaza, together with four other members of the association, appeared only to answer questions related to the investigations being conducted into six members of Omonia who had recently been arrested. Those six people have been charged with anti-constitutional activity and cooperation with the Greek secret services. Qirjaza and the four Omonia members were summoned for questioning on Sunday afternoon around 6:00 p.m. According to a source from Omonia in Sarandë, “Qirjaza and the others were kept until the late hours of the night and were released only on Monday morning around 3:00 a.m. in Gjirokastër.” The details about what the Omonia representatives were questioned on are still not precisely known. Qirjaza himself told Gazeta Shqiptare that “it was a normal questioning process related to the investigations being carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office.” Ar. Me.

“For us it is unacceptable” Muslims and Christians react strongly TIRANA — Strong tones and real objections from religion to abortions. Representatives of the main faiths in Albania have spoken in disapproving terms about this phenomenon, which is finding alarming spread in the country. “There is no reason that can justify this act by a woman. It is in complete contradiction with the principles of our religious laws.” This is how the religious communities expressed themselves. All the views of the religious representatives regarding the phenomenon of abortion shared a common denominator. For two years now, free and approved by law, it has nevertheless found no support from religion, which continues to remain faithful to its centuries-old laws. Only in one case does religion accept abortion as an unavoidable alternative: “When the mother’s life is at risk, then we agree,” Haxhi Sabri Koçi, chairman of the Albanian Muslim Community, told Gazeta Shqiptare. He states that even if “life has to be saved,” “if it is a question of the mother’s life or the child’s, it is better to save the mother,” explained Aleko Dhima, Secretary of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania. However, this remains the only point in favor of abortion; after that, the terms are categorical. “Our Muslim faith has it completely forbidden,” Koçi explains. “The Orthodox position is even harsher: ‘For our laws, if the child is lost in the womb, it is considered a crime and punishable,’” says Dhima, “and it remains all the more punishable because Albanian moral values are close to it, so there is no need for any alternative or justification. Economic reasons, which for many women — according to their own statements or gynecologists speaking to Gazeta Shqiptare — are among the reasons that push them toward abortions, are not at all ‘motivating’ for religion. “An economic condition is not a justified reason,” Koçi argues, “the child is a gift from God himself and must come into the world without fail.” Orthodox believers express the same view strongly: “Nothing can justify abortion,” says Dhima, “neither poverty nor bad economic conditions.” Armand Mero

THE WATERS OF THE SHËNGJIN BEACH POLLUTED — Even the seawater on the coastal strip has been affected by the pollution of the waters of the northern Shëngjin beach. Especially now, with the approach of the summer season, the problem has become even more evident. The cause of the increased pollution in the river mouth is thought to be the spilling of fuel from ships anchored in the port, but it has also been noted that such pools have formed far from the coast and have been carried along by currents. Shëngjin is one of the most frequented beaches in the country. Not only holidaymakers from the nearby city of Lezhë come there, but also from other parts of the country. THE SPECTACLE “MISS KORÇA ’94” IS HELD — According to the jury, the most beautiful evening in Korça for 1994 was held. Eighteen-year-old Monika Bexhati won the title of “Miss Korça ’94”. The title was awarded at the end of the evening organized by the Youth Federation and the Cultural House “Vangjush Mio.” The jury carefully selected from among the highest theatrical values of beauty. “Andon Z. Çajupi” There were 18 girls competing for the place of “the most beautiful girl in the district.” Their spectacle was accompanied by song, ballet and humor, the event being organized with a motherly voice. GJON BAJRAKTARI IS DECORATED WITH THE ORDER OF DEMOCRACY — In Shkodër a ceremony was organized for the awarding of the title “Martyr of Democracy” to Ndue Gjon Bajraktari from Malësia e Madhe, who was killed in 1945 in clashes with communist forces. Bajraktari was a well-known figure in the people’s struggle and a cooperating companion of Preng Cali, and for the episode in which it is said that on one occasion he refused to surrender even after his wife and son had been massacred before him by his relatives.

Healthcare TIRANA — President Berisha briefly returned — though only for a short time — to his former profession as a doctor. Berisha took part in the inauguration of a new section installed at the University Hospital Center of Tirana. The president used the meeting with his colleagues to set out the first ideas on the main points of health reform in Albania. The adoption of some strict guidelines, guaranteeing medical care for all, reducing efforts aimed at lowering infant mortality, increasing the efficiency of emergency services, and the training of medical and paramedical staff — these were some of the key points on which Berisha focused at length.

Another pilgrim loses contact with the group TIRANA — Although they were not affected by the particular incidents and activities verified during what happened in Mecca, the group of Albanian pilgrims will return to Albania with two fewer people. A notice from the Albanian Embassy in Riyadh brought the painful news to Tirana. One member of the Albanian group lost his life after being hit by a car near a road junction. The victim, whether a resident or a visitor, was an 8-year-old from Vlorë. The body remained in the morgue of the city of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, and the Albanian authorities have begun the necessary procedures for its repatriation to Albania. Another piece of news comes from another source as well. As the Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Tirana, Fahir Çela, told Gazeta Shqiptare, one of the Muslim pilgrims has lost contact with the group and it is not known where he has ended up. In this case too, the Embassy in Riyadh has been mobilized for searches; the small group of Albanians who set out on pilgrimage to the “Holy Land” has now taken a hit on the road to a ritual of survival in the coming hours. The disappearance of the Albanian pilgrim has been confirmed on other occasions as well. A year earlier another hajj pilgrim had disappeared from the other Albanians, and while they had already returned home, he had continued to live for months with a group of Bedouins in the desert until he was finally brought back. The difficulties created by the lack of communication in the local language and the generally advanced age of the believers are thought to be the main causes of such events. In any case, these sad cases are not as tragic as the first. Concern for the fate of the Albanian pilgrims in Mecca had arisen a week earlier, after alarming news reported hundreds of victims. At that time, optimistic notes had been written saying that up to the moment the news was given there had been no Albanian injured in Mecca. But hopes were soon dashed. The news coming from Arabia — about the death of a pilgrim — is truly tragic. Apparently, these recent times have not been good for Albanians in Arabia. Likewise, and in almost identical circumstances, 22-year-old Zenel Kusi also lost his life. The young man — a student in Arabia for one year — was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Ar.Me. fa.bax.

Cursive reality TIRANA — An abandoned baby in Fier. The little 20-day-old girl no longer has her mother nearby. The general details and records have not been made known; when one sees the dark face and the corner from the maternity ward, leaving her to the mercy of fate, she becomes the focus of her own misery. They still have not managed to discover who heard the young mother abandon her child; before that she had continually been washed and looks like someone and for laughing,” said one of the maternity nurses. Now the little one would be made happy by me, being placed among mothers at the door. Her baby has been examined at the emergency room in Albania at birth in Vlorë. The recent mother in Fier is in fact only a detached episode from the multitude of cases reported in Albania. From October until today alone, 15 such cases have been recorded, and for the first case of the five-day-old infant, as Dr. Dakli Blyta, medical director, told Gazeta Shqiptare. Most of the babies bear names gathered from places such as Ferrar, Kazan, Thëmel. It is not clear what the names of the places are where the abandoned babies were found. Only someone has regretted it later. The institute of motherhood has shown itself stronger than such troubles taken together. When children are gathered, one has ended up astonished in another house — very different from the one to which he had been accustomed until now — and a loving elder has whispered affectionate words with tears in his eyes. The child has been comforted, but has also cried when he saw in the face of a person a soul for the first time. Let us hope that it will happen this way also with the abandoned baby recently found in Fier. En.M.y.

A grand concert in the capital Adults and children together on the occasion of 1 June TIRANA — Great celebrations throughout Albania on the occasion of 1 June, World Children's Day. Today thousands of Albanian children will enjoy their holiday just like millions of others around the globe. And this year in Albania this day has been awaited differently from all previous years. The most varied activities have been organized for days and weeks and will bring joy to the country’s cities. One of the most important for children was the June 1 Festival in Shkodër. For the fifth year in a row, children of different ages, including from the diaspora, competed with two voices for the most beautiful song. Last night, in the final evening, the winner was also announced: the little boy from Peja, Dardan Pnacraj, with the song “Ti më dhe ëndë e bukur.” But 1 June will end tonight with a grand concert at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana. The children, the protagonists of this concert, will sing, dance and recite. Along with them, well-known Albanian artists will also perform and sing. Finally, the concert stage will include the participation in this spectacle of actor Roger Moore, known worldwide for the role of the agent, who will support the children. For other activities of theirs, where they will be. (p. re.)

The missile-launch programs of Russia are eliminated A decision of political importance ON THE LAST PAGE Kohl and Mitterrand speak about Europe A meeting on the future of the EC ON PAGE 2