THE PRIME MINISTER: I WILL NOT NOMINATE THE FORMER PS LEADER, WE WILL CHOOSE IT WITH THE ALLIES Berisha: The next president, from PD THE PRIME MINISTER: I WILL NOT NOMINATE THE FORMER PS LEADER, WE WILL CHOOSE IT WITH THE ALLIES “NEITHER TOPI NOR NANO” Berisha: The next president, from PD The leader of the PS, Edi Rama: Nano’s name, food for the media. Ilir Meta: We will consult with PD. Ndoka: We will join Bamir Topi’s new party

INTERVIEW/ THE WELL-KNOWN SOPRANO On page 26

“KATERI I RADES” On page 17

Opinion of the Day It is known that all dictatorships, left and right, European or African, cannot survive without being fed and tended to every day by the cult... By KIÇO BLUSHI The effects of the cult of personality on democracy Continues on page 23

HISTORY REVISITED On page 21

The Greeks’ “hero”, the bust is unveiled by Luiza Xhuvani Minority member Filip Papathanasi was convicted of hostile activity in 1946, together with 18 other accused. He died at 31 in the prisons of the dictatorship. The Gjirokastër Metropolis is against placing the monument inside the courtyard. The SFEVA organization: Papathanasi was convicted only because he defended the minority EXCLUSIVE (In photo:) The monument of Filip Papathanas in the church of Rahull in Gjirokastër. Papathanas’s descendant, Luiza Xhuvani, unveiling the monument Minority member Filip Papathanasi was convicted of hostile activity in 1946, together with 18 other accused. He died at 31 in the prisons of the dictatorship The Gjirokastër Metropolis is against placing the monument inside the courtyard. The SFEVA organization: Papathanasi was convicted only because he defended the minority On pages 8-9

Prime Minister Sali Berisha, in an interview yesterday for the program “Opinion” by journalist Blendi Fevziu on Tv Klan, confirmed that Bamir Topi and Fatos Nano will not be proposed by the Democratic Party as candidates for the office of President of the Republic. Mr. Berisha, was your health condition on 12 December viral or emotional? These are episodes; this is the third one that has occurred in the context of a virus. It happened to me in 1998 and I recovered quickly; I collapsed in a brutal way, and after examinations it turned out to be a virus. It happened again in May 2002 at the rally in Vlorë. I had a bad flu before going; that day I had no fever and I set off. It was somewhat deeper. This time, I have been in a viral state for two weeks. I took antibiotics as a precaution, but the combination of that environment with the heat together with the virus created the same phenomenon, which was milder than the previous times. Afromsclerosis increases with age... Continues on pages 4-5

PD-PS PACT On pages 3, 6

THE MESSAGE FROM BRUSSELS On page 13

XHANI DE BIAZI On page 24

FREDERIK NDOCI On page 20