PD Presidency meeting. Ready to enter negotiations over the Chairman’s fate The Democratic Party asks the International Community for guarantees PD Presidency meeting. Ready to enter negotiations over the Chairman’s fate “Do not imprison Berisha; let us return to Parliament” The Democratic Party asks the International Community for guarantees TIRANA - The PD will return to Parliament only when it receives guarantees from the International Community that Sali Berisha will not be imprisoned. The Democratic Party’s Presidency discussed throughout the day yesterday the ways of communication between the central leadership and the grassroots, and especially what has been described as shifting public opinion’s attention away from the risk of criminal proceedings being initiated against the former President. This means there is no question of a quick reconsideration of the PD National Council’s decision to return to Parliament, even after pressure from international organizations, including the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the US State Department. Meanwhile, a schedule of meetings in the districts has been drawn up, where the PD will explain, through its official propaganda channels, its definitive boycott of the Albanian parliament. Although it has been emphasized that the PD has not given up on governing the country, it will ask the government to respect the powers of legitimately elected local officials. According to the Democrats, the International Community now needs to be fully informed about the reasons that compelled the Democratic Party to abandon Parliament. On page 2 Berisha during the PD rally

Nano brings Pashko into the PAD Presidency Prime Minister: Bleta’s dismissal changes nothing SMUGGLING / Minister of Public Order: Now we will identify the real culprits TIRANA - “Malaj bears the main responsibility for the smuggling; those from Public Order come next—that is also what the law says,” Perikli Teta said. The Minister of Public Order analyzed the problem currently most talked about in Albania, smuggling, assigning responsibility but also defending some of the officials accused publicly. Teta therefore did not accept Bleta’s dismissal, because facts are needed to do that. Indeed, citing the lack of evidence, he did not call him guilty or responsible, while the Prosecutor’s Office has begun an investigation. But he added that the inspections now being carried out on roads and at customs will bring to light the facts about those truly responsible and the amount of losses to the state budget. Meanwhile, in Tepelena, Nano defended the head of customs, declaring that dismissing him from his post would not solve the problem.

On page 4 Erion Sulejmani hanged by the Kuçovë police

FRANCE ’98 WORLD CUP SPECIAL Croatia-Netherlands 2-1. All the key aspects of the match. Results of the official practice sessions for the British GP at Silverstone. Everything about the continuation of the World Cup and those who have taken part in France ’98. Everything about the final match, which will be played today at 21:00 in Saint Denis, Paris, between Brazil and France. Three pages to keep you better informed about what is happening in the world of sport.

GAZETA of Durrës DURRËS - 25 kilograms of heroin, worth 2.5 million dollars, have been seized on the Albanian ferry. Border forces in the Italian city of Brindisi detained two German citizens yesterday, who had passed through Albanian customs unnoticed with their mountain of drugs. On page 8 GAZETA of Vlora

A Terrible Situation at the Military Hospital TIRANA - Changing the bandages of patients who have undergone surgery at the Military Hospital has been done at the same time of day for years. The nurse on duty arrives in the morning and helps the hospital staff clean their wounds. In addition to fresh blood from their wounds, patients often still have an old, bruised stain on their skin from the blood they lost during their operation a few hours earlier. The new wound lies over the old scar, and the nurse covers the wound with a bandage. But a patient’s blood seems not to be so sacred once they are outside the operating room as when they are under the surgeons’ scalpels. The water needed to wash it away is now lacking even in the operating rooms at the Military Hospital. At the entrance to the country’s largest hospital, only two poorly dressed guards in mottled uniforms are present as representatives of state authority. On page 5

REPORTAGE From Zurich with the Kosovars Heading Toward Death The account of a Swiss journalist who joined the adventure of the young people setting off for war. Lugano, Bari, Durrës, all the way to Drin: these are the stops on the journey of the young people who leave emigration behind. On page 11

VLORË - The battle between clandestine speedboats and Italian patrol boats ended with two speedboats arriving and more than two hundred and fifty people being turned back. After three nights of rough seas, dozens of rubber boats carrying clandestine migrants aboard have set off again from the coast of Vlorë. On page 7

SHKODËR - “The former owner has not agreed to accept compensation for their lands”—this is what Zef Fusha, chairman of the Returns Commission for Shkodër, stated. In fact, the properties of the Old Bazaar, near the Buna Bridge, are a chapter unto themselves. On page 6

FATOS ÇOÇOLI An old wound, nearly 8 years old, seriously constrains the performance and effectiveness of the state administration. It is called a lack of professionalism, a failure to meet the requirements of the job and to apply them. Many projects in cooperation with international organizations that could have been carried out have been avoided precisely because of this wound; others have remained on paper, and a good number of those that were implemented were only partially completed. An ineffective and unmotivated state administration weighs on the country just like the other wounds of crime and corruption, because this seemingly insignificant and quiet wound puts at risk the very prospects for economic and institutional development, and the very possibility of improving people’s standard of living. The question arises: could it be that we Albanians have no intellectually well-prepared people? In reality, according to the words of impartial foreign observers, the opposite is true. The country’s intellectual potential is considerable, among both the older and middle-aged generations and the young. Even in today’s public workforce, although depleted of trained personnel by the constant brain drain, there is a layer of qualified and talented people, but they stay and change [unclear in source] because they are unmotivated. From this follow two simple paths that must be pursued to make the state administration more effective: stop the brain drain through measures, including administrative ones (requiring the payment of fines or the seizure of material assets in cases where public officials who go abroad for training do not return to their previous jobs), and motivate promising staff or those who can contribute more even today through differentiated pay. The structures in the Prime Minister’s Office dealing with institutional reform need to understand that their primary task is to help the administration become better. They should use inter-ministerial ties and the (remaining) authority of the Prime Minister’s Office precisely in this direction and to find ways to motivate staff. Running things today is a kind of business, too: if you do not invest in personnel, every initiative undertaken is pointless. Motivating staff and coordinating their work is now the key to the success of an enterprise. And the government is the enterprise that matters to every Albanian.

FATOS COCOLI

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