Everyone else disagrees. Zogaj: “It would be alarming” A Socialist poll on voter preferences reignites controversy among the parties Dokle: These figures will help us determine our allies - Gjinushi: The poll shows the Socialists’ decline - Godo: It’s a humorous thing TIRANA - Another poll of the Albanian electorate has been added to those conducted previously, and this time too it has stirred discontent. 60.2 percent is the result the Socialists predict for themselves. The other parliamentary parties disagree: “It isn’t realistic, it’s inaccurate, it’s absurd”; indeed, one of them, Preç Zogaj, leader of the “Alliance,” has voiced concern: “If the SP wins this much, it is alarming.” The parties and their supporters see the country once again drawn into a “battle of figures” and, although the next elections are still some time away, the parties’ reactions to the numbers reinforce one conviction: governing the country on the basis of coalitions will be difficult to achieve. Fatos Baxhaku on page 3 Party — According to the SP — According to EUROBAROMETER PSSH — 60.2% — 33% PD — 15.8% — 25% PAD — 4.5% — 4% PSD — 3.7% — 4% PDD — 0.5% — 4% LDSH (Pr+Bk+Leg) — 2.9% — 6% Others (LDNJ+PDK) — 0.6% PDNJ — 1% Abstentions — 9% — 23%

LIBRAZHD - Trying to escape a boy’s t[?]ments, a girl loses her life in the waters of the Shkumbin. But the cold current also claimed the girl’s aggressor: Z. Sina, 32, jumped into the water, not to see through what he had begun, but to try to save her at the last moment—to save the life he had sent toward death. The tragic incident occurred on Monday morning near the village of Xhyrë in Librazhd. The two protagonists of this tragic story—fellow villagers from Xhyta—met by chance as the girl was heading to school. Sina approached her and offered to drive her to high school in his car, and Çepi, without the slightest suspicion, accepted. But only a few minutes into the drive, Sina’s “trap” began to become clear: instead of taking the usual road, he turned the vehicle onto a dead-end track. The girl reacted immediately and insistently asked the driver to turn back. But it was already too late: Sina stopped the car and pounced on the girl, who continued to resist the 32-year-old’s intentions. For several minutes the girl struggled against Sina, but she could not overpower him. Çepi managed to open the door and run, pursued by her assailant. But the young woman could find no other way out: the road was blocked and she had nowhere to go. Her only escape was to jump into the river. Sina was now only a few metres away, and the girl decided without hesitation to leap into the water, plunging into the cold waters of the Shkumbin. The girl’s unexpected act seems to have cleared Sina’s muddled mind, and he followed her into the river—but turned back to save her. The knock of death had restored the noble feelings of a human being in him. But remorse came too late. The girl was swept away by the river’s whirlpools, and moments later Sina’s body also disappeared beneath the water. The incident was witnessed at close range only by a few villagers who happened to be there. They were the ones who later pulled the two drowned people from the water. Carried by the river, the two bodies were once again laid beside each other, but sadly this time lifeless. Mentor Kikia

Tirana, rifles also on sale EDMOND LAÇI TIRANA - Guns? Head to the shop. Now in Albania too, things that kill no longer “kill” as they used to. In shops with a certain kind of information, for everyone accustomed to seeing every shop—surprising when, instead of things to eat and wear, they find long rifles. And the ke[?]

Leaders of the Serb-Montenegrin association speak from Shkodra INTERVIEW On page 3

The government is alarmed by expenses TIRANA - The government will reduce spending, but first and foremost the budget in some of its sectors is being drained. The large sums on telephone bills have alarmed senior officials and forced them to take measures to curb the countless impulses recorded by Telekom. “Only ministers and deputy ministers will have an international telephone line. Special switchboards will be installed in all the Ministries and kept under constant supervision.” This is the plan discussed at the government round table, and it will be implemented as soon as possible. Naturally, this is not very good news for Ministry employees. Conversations with friends, relatives, loved ones, or girlfriends, and especially calls to acquaintances abroad—some have even enjoyed calling special telephone numbers after the working day—will be reduced to a minimum. Each department will be assigned a daily quota of telephone units, which must never be exceeded. The ministers themselves will determine which people have official dealings abroad, since their international lines will not be cut off because of the work they are assigned. Thus, before long, government offices will cease to hear “chats with friends” as in the past, and the ringing telephones that used to fill the offices will fall silent. Arlinda Causholli Debt exceeds 106 million lekë State institutions do not pay for electricity On page 5

Former owners leave the Right and warn of a storm

Former owners leave the Right and warn of a storm TIRANA - The heated debate over the Law on the Sale and Purchase of Land is taking on international dimensions. Soon, the “Property with Justice” Association, one of the most active groups in the Right Front, will file a complaint against the Albanian state with the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Association itself made this known in a statement approved on Monday, which also announced its departure from the Right Front. Collection of signatures against the land law

Controversy TIRANA - No regrets about the party. His much-publicized accusation against the PS, despite having had a very heated exchange—even addressed to the State Committee of Helsinki—has now become an issue for Kola… On page 3 Kurt Kola

Parliament TIRANA - Perhaps today will be the decisive day for the changes at the helm of RTSH that have been talked about for some time. is due to decide today on the composition of the Board of Directors; at least, that is what had already been set down in the agenda. It will be the new Board itself that will choose from among its members the new management team of this television station, perhaps the most informative in Albania. Words, rumors, speculation—all of these will soon give way to a real fact: the appointment of a new name at the head of RTSH. A story that began months ago, with Butka’s harsh criticism of the current director Bujapaj, but also of the institution’s overall performance. Who will the new members of the Board be? The party has decided to announce this only today. On page 3

An unbelievable protest by a 19-year-old from Tirana; “He won’t give me what I’m entitled to” An unbelievable protest by a 19-year-old from Tirana On strike against his father “He won’t give me what I’m entitled to” ARMAND MERO TIRANA - A young man will go on hunger strike to protest against his father. Long indignant with his family, and living a quiet life on the streets, 19-year-old capital resident Artur Xh. issues his final cry for help. A call addressed to public opinion and the competent authorities, and a sort of lone battle against his father: “Don’t torment me any more.” There are about 30 lines in a handwritten letter describing the pain of the 19-year-old. “I am writing in protest against my parents, who have made my life such that I was forced to leave home, and now they won’t even let me have what I am entitled to.” The letter goes on, but Artur gives few details. He says three times that he has worked hard and, in any case, earned money and brought it home. “Everything I have done has unfortunately remained in his house, which was built entirely with my labor,” protests the 19-year-old, who ends the letter: “Forced by my financial situation, but especially by my emotional state, on Sunday I will go on hunger strike.” At the end, his new address: “An old car parked very close to the center of Tirana.” An important event, almost every day filled with strikes by miners, teachers, workers and prisoners—the voice of the 19-year-old has a chilling sound: it is a child protesting against his parent. A painful protest that carries almost the entire burden of the life we are living, filled with fatigue, stress and many demands that often, very often, remain unfulfilled. But at the same time, Artur’s decision is also the other side of what surrounds us: a life that has changed almost radically, not only in economic relations but also in social ones. A transformation that could not pass without its own crises. And this is the first sign of an internal rupture being experienced within Albanian families too.

In Gjirokastër, the dead are on the lists On page 5

The “ZP” case: manager of “Progresi” charged On page 3

Italian army stops irregular migrants who set off from Albania On page 2

EDMOND LAÇI TIRANA - Guns? Run to the shop. Now, even in Albania, things that kill no longer “kill” as they once did. In the center of the capital, very close to “Kafe Europa”, a shopkeeper like any other advertises his goods, albeit extremely rare ones. “We have hunting rifles,” he has finally added to the things sold in Albania what for a long time had crossed the border at night, been sold under the counter and under the fear of the “Law on Weapons”, which makes no “exception for shotguns” either, when it provides for a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison. The gun shop in Albania—set up almost in the heart of the capital—has been operating for only a few days. According to its owners, five hunting guns have been sold in three days. Meanwhile, more than shopkeepers, the owners are obliged to become information-office workers for everyone who needs to learn to look at every shop—indeed, a safe one—when rifles. And having one of these at home—especially when such goods are prohibited—would naturally give Albanians the satisfaction of at least learning half of the advice to follow to get one: an authorization to buy a hunting rifle from the police station in one’s place of residence, and personal identification. That is all it would take—if you had 200 to 390 dollars—for “Baikal” hunting rifles to leave the shop. Precisely that shop which today seems extremely unusual, but perhaps only a few months from now will be nothing more than a simple sporting-goods store, much favored by hunters. Hunters, that is, who do not hunt people…

Today, the great final: Juventus - Parma for the UEFA Cup On page 2