GOVERNMENT CRISIS / Law and Order: “The Achilles’ heel.” Berisha: The way has been opened for a political solution Majko Prime Minister, Nano leaves Teta after resigning: PS and PAD are Albania’s cesspools Dokle and Islami also candidates for the prime minister’s seat Organ transplants now in Albania too Living with someone else’s kidney Terror and panic near Nano’s villa. Parliament’s headquarters reinforced Commando’s bullets kill a woman TIRANA - Nano has resigned from the post of prime minister after failing in his efforts to form his fifth government. At an emergency meeting, the Socialist Party leadership decided to appoint Pandeli Majko to form and lead the new government. At 4 p.m. yesterday, Nano handed his resignation to Meidani, while the PS leadership was urgently summoned to a meeting, which Nano did not attend. Nano failed in the negotiations to form the new government. Who would take the post of Minister of Public Order was the biggest question mark that triggered the government crisis that forced Nano to leave. He managed to wrest this portfolio from AD, but none of his own people would accept it. Islami, Meta and Dokle had refused. Under these circumstances, he was forced to resign. In a press statement distributed immediately after the news became public, the Democratic Party described Nano’s resignation as fulfilling half of the opposition’s demands.

Skifter Prime Minister Fatos Nano resigned after disagreements with the other coalition partners over the formation of the new government. The leadership of PS has proposed its secretary-general, Pandeli Majko, for prime minister; PS’s KPD is expected to vote on him today. Nano’s position is no longer secure even within his own party, and speculation has grown that he may also leave his post as party leader. Nano’s resignation prompted strong reactions from the Minister of Public Order, Perikli Teta, who, in a very harsh statement, made clear that he does not intend to have anything to do in the future with either PS or his own party, the Democratic Alliance. But it seems that Nano’s resignation is not linked only to internal factors. Recently, [the text is unclear] brings the crisis to an end, while continuing to insist on a technical government. Meanwhile, Berisha and PD, even if they may consider the resignation a victory for themselves, will from now on find it difficult to justify street actions in front of a 30-year-old Majko who has no connection whatsoever with communism. If PD does not change its tactics of boycotting and taking to the streets, there is a strong possibility that its isolation from abroad will become a reality. Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, like Nano, will not find it easy to form the new government with the other coalition partners. First, he will have to maintain the same balance as in the previous government. Second, it will be very difficult for him to bring capable people into the government after this upheaval, in which every politician also learned in the future, neither with the PS nor with his own party, the Democratic Alliance. But Nano’s resignation appears to be connected not only with domestic factors. Recently, especially after the unmotivated and hasty arrest of six former PD officials and the murder of MP Azem Hajdari, his credibility suffered greatly on the international stage. In the letter that US President Bill Clinton sent to Albanian President Meidani after the recent unrest, he indirectly singled out Nano as a political factor. All foreign envoys in Albania added their voices, saying that Berisha should leave together with the Albanian Prime Minister, as two poles generating perpetual conflict. President Meidani’s voice joined this pressure too; his relations with the Albanian Prime Minister had been strained for some time. Berisha and his party welcomed Nano’s resignation, but do not see it as an act that will bring major change to Albanian politics. First, he will have to maintain the same relations as in the previous government. Second, he will find it very difficult to bring capable people into government after this upheaval, in which every politician learned once again that in Albania, the seat of power is temporary, and when the end comes everyone has the knife ready to squeeze out even more. Above all, Majko’s government is viewed as temporary. Its main task is the adoption of the Constitution and the maintenance of public order. After the Constitution, the way remains open for new elections. Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano left office as a politician who could not build a state, could not stabilize public order, and allowed corruption to continue without making any effort to fight it. Nevertheless, his act of resignation is a civilian act, one that Albanians rarely see.

TIRANA - Nano has resigned from the post of prime minister after failing in his efforts to form his fifth government.

Parliament is preparing to discuss tomorrow the new law on electronic media, a law that, for the first time in Albania’s history, will officially establish the emergence of private radio stations and television channels, setting stable rules. It is a fundamental law not only because it allows Blendushi to play the hero of freedom of information by moving from TVSH to TV Klan with the flag of the independent journalist in his hand (forgetting that in his [sho[n]] he carries the membership card of a party in power), but also because—and this is a fundamental point of democracy—it definitively breaks the State television monopoly (which will be called public, but whose essence will not change). This law is very delicate precisely because, by regulating the new rules for freedom in radio and television broadcasting, it determines to what extent private television can compete with public television. The disputed article is the one stating that no private television owner (Albanian or foreign) may own more than 33 percent of the shares. If it were applie- applied in the United States, CNN and the like would not exist. It is as if tomorrow another law were passed saying: anyone who has taken part in a tender for an apartment is required to share the rooms with two other families. This is pure communism, disguised as capitalism. It is understandable that the ownership limit should apply to foreign partners, but it is intolerable for the same restriction to be imposed on Albanians too. If pluralism of information is to be guaranteed, it is wrong to restrict ownership of a television station; it would be more appropriate to stipulate that the owner of a television station may not control (also taking into account the circulation of newspapers they own) 33 or 40 percent of the entire information market. This is the difference between a market economy and a state economy, that is, a socialist one.

Organ transplants now in Albania too. Living with someone else’s kidney

The soldier fired after being provoked by two armed men Terror and panic near Nano’s villa. Parliament’s headquarters reinforced TIRANA - A commando soldier accidentally kills a woman in central Tirana. As he fired into the air to drive away two people who were provoking him, the guard at Parliament’s Presidium seriously wounded an innocent passerby. One of the bullets fired into the air, after a collision, ricocheted toward the 37-year-old woman, causing severe wounds to her neck. The assistance she received at the military hospital could not save her from death. Meanwhile, the commando must provide further explanations about the incident, and the police have begun work to identify the two people who interrupted the soldier’s duty. The commando justified firing his weapon into the air by saying that the two provocateurs were armed.

AGRÓN ÇOBANI After shocking events, it has become customary here for various people or social or state bodies to concern themselves with the press as well. Is there freedom of the press or not? How is freedom of expression used? Is it investigated? How aggressive is the journalist’s press, how much does it inform and how much does it misinform? Does our press help or harm public opinion? These problems are discussed, statements are made, interviews are given, debates are organized, etc. This happened after March of last year, it is happening again now after September 13–14, and may it not happen again in the future—that is, may such events not occur. Without taking on the role of arbiter or analyst, I would like to say a few words about reporting, or more precisely, about the different accounts that various newspapers give of the same event. As for the news, without going into the different journalistic genres, there are various theories about Continued on page 2

New secrets about September 14 come to light TIRANE - One of the secrets of September 14 has been uncovered. The telegrams sent by the Ministry of Order on the morning of the rebellion never reached several northern police stations. While the Ministry has now identified those people who wanted to leave the building in the hands of armed men, similar scenes are also being uncovered at local police stations. In Fier and Laç, certain people tried for days to enter police stations by various means.

The Prosecutor’s Office is ready to make five more arrests over the unrest On page 4