Pyramid-scheme administrator: First the trial, then the audit . VFA before the judges within the week OPINION Capitalism with Enverist methods? Teodor Keko Capitalism with Enverist trials? Recent developments in the fiscal world unexpectedly revealed the fact that we still retain the syndrome of Enverist judgments regarding certain phenomena—which, if true, is a considerable force for development. The change in VAT brought a shock to market prices. Immediately, in near-perfect unison, politicians, financiers, and the press, from right to left, called traders “speculators” and demanded that the state exercise control over traders’ prices. The term “speculator” was a favorite term of the dictatorship, for reasons that are already known. In today’s system, this term has been reduced (if only this usage had at least ceased to function). Today traders set prices according to the market, their tactics being based on making a profit and the rapid circulation of capital. It is well known that the common denominator of all traders in the world is making a profit. In our society there are no good traders and bad traders, and the state has no right to control them. High prices are determined by market competition; thus, no trader will accept bankruptcy solely because of the price. This is why politicians and analysts speak with enthusiastic logic about a new concept, one welcomed and thus unfamiliar to Enver. In 1991 Gramoz Pashko put forward the new concept, which today should be called “above all”: the state does not have a relationship of vassalage with traders, but a partnership relationship. Unfortunately, these words fell on deaf ears, since today people speak about traders in the language of 1946. Those who should speak today about the real functioning of the market are the traders. But no one asks their opinion, because they are “bad” “speculators”—that’s what you call speaking as if you were balancing on the tip of a knife! Or, to borrow a phrase, instead of grapes, sloe berries… Farudin Arapi also explains the “Cenaj mystery”: “He is not under investigation; the police are pursuing a Greek company” On page 2 Alimuçaj reacts again: “Minister Malaj urged the bank to block my accounts” On page 2

Today: 12 pages, 30 lekë On pages 5–8 TV GAZETTE SUNDAY, 5 OCTOBER TO SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER 1997 Demi’s latest surprise The week’s horoscope Paul Mc...

BERAT On page 10

REPORTAGE On page 4

Tour in the South . Gjinushi: The SP can’t do without us. TIRANA – Gjinushi visits Gjirokastër and promises political stability. The Speaker of Parliament and leader of the PSD attended yesterday the conference his party organized in Gjirokastër. The Social Democrats reviewed their victories as well as the political directions they will follow in the future. All the speakers expressed the conviction that the coalition is necessary for Albania and its future. This was also the view of the Social Democrat leader, who said that people’s grievances should not be scrutinized with a magnifying glass, but... the relationships that the coalition parties have placed at the center should be taken as an example. Gjinushi then addressed some of the basic directions of PSD policy, the government and the governing coalition. On page 3

TIRANA Student City

On page 4

The DP gathers its people in Tirana. Yesterday, the branch assembly [aktiv(i)] TIRANA – Bamir Topi refuses to run for chairman of the Tirana branch of the DP. TIRANA – Bamir Topi refus[es] to run for chairman of the Tirana branch of the DP. His refusal came as a surprise to the capital’s Democrats, who had gathered yesterday at a branch assembly. “I will stand with the DP, but I cannot accept my candidacy.” That is all the former agriculture minister in the Meksi government said. But his position met with strong opposition from Berisha. “Change your mind; the hall wants you,” the DP leader repeated several times. But Topi stood firm, also putting forward his own arguments. The assembly of the DP’s largest branch, held yesterday in Tirana, avoided the criticism and attacks seen at branches elsewhere in the country. A speech by Berisha followed by one from Memia was enough for the assembly to be declared concluded. On page 3 Berisha

Public Order Reform TIRANA – Officers of the Ministry of the Interior will undergo testing[?] “Around 80% of the employees here are working outside their job profiles,” Deputy Interior Minister Sokol Baré told Gazeta yesterday. According to him, all ministry officers are on probation and will be assessed after 60 days of work. One of the police units [is] to account for the work they have done. If they prove effective, they will continue in their respective positions. Otherwise, measures will be taken, including dismissal. “This is not a reform, but an assessment based on professional standards,” Baré says. While the work-assessment filter will be activated at the center, nearly all the transfers at the local level have already been completed. On page 4

Nine clandestine migrants rescued at sea DURRËS – Another tragedy in rough seas has been averted. A group of Albanians set out for Italy, but a fault in their small speedboat and the rough sea threatened their lives. Italian servicemen from the 28th naval group rescued nine Albanians who were heading clandestinely for Italy. They were men and a woman who had tried, in the early hours of Saturday, to begin their adventure toward their desired destination. The speedboat set off from Durrës beach, and a few miles from Bishti i Pallës their vessel suffered a serious engine failure and came to a complete halt. For hours the speedboat was battered by the powerful waves of the rough sea, until an Italian coast guard patrol vessel approached. On page 11

IT SOUNDS ABSURD, BUT IT’S TRUE Confined at home out of fear of a bee A 40-year-old risks death from another sting TIRANA – A bee has confined a 38-year-old man to his home, even threatening him with death if they “meet” again. N. L. from Lezha is spending his days in isolation until October 20, when a vaccine against the allergy is expected to arrive for him from abroad. N. L. was stung by an insect several years ago, which was caused by a strong thing. After a long time and precisely after him, he is stretched out, and consequently, has remained in debt to himself, he was stung by a bee in the finger. The man from Lezha experienced clinical death, but was saved only thanks to his sister-in-law, a nurse, who knew how to act correctly and quickly. She took him to Tirana, and doctors explained that he is allergic to insect stings, especially bee stings. The only way he can be saved from this is with an “anti-venom” vaccine, which must be brought from abroad. Until then, the man from Lezha is forced to stay at home and guard against possible insect stings. Another “attack” could truly be fatal for him. Cases of people being confined because of insect stings are not uncommon in Albania. Dozens of people are allergic to a poison found in these insects’ stingers. After the first sting, which causes only an allergy, a second can cause death after a severe swelling forms in the throat as a result of the venom allergy. There have also been deaths from such allergies, partly because of the lack of vaccines that could combat this condition, now quite rare in the world. Health sources confirm that these vaccines are very expensive. Ifan Rama

On page 12 Pictured: Kuntz and Tole during yesterday’s match (Photo: REUTERS) Pictured: Kuntz and Tole during yesterday’s match (Photo: REUTERS)