Our editorial If these days we heard about the attempted mass exodus of young people at the Port of Shën-të, in the district of Lezhë, this did not mean it was a simple matter. Thousands of people faced the police and the risk of losing their lives just to set off and leave Albania. They were thousands, but there are thousands and thousands more throughout the country who have no means to live and have lost all hope that either the new regime or the new team at its helm will do anything good. If television and a newspaper (perhaps only our newspaper) reported this exodus, that did not mean it was the only one. Immediately afterwards, large gatherings also took place in Durrës and Vlorë, with attempts to leave Albania. Since this happened, everyone should understand that the Albanian people once again find themselves at a major crossroads and in a state of great disillusionment. If, during the gathering at the Port of Shën-të and the attempted exodus, police intervention resulted in some people being imprisoned (and later released) and others being beaten, does this mean that Albania has thereby restored order and calm and stopped attempts to flee? When people are leaving their land and families because they cannot secure the means to live, what is there to ask in the face of such minor risks? If the only measures being taken against the exodus are police measures, and not government, parliamentary, presidential, political, social, etc., etc., measures to make even some of the promises given a reality, then what difference is there between this democratic era and the era of exoduses under the PPSH? If these gatherings and attempts at exodus are being encouraged by the government and the Albanian leader themselves, solely to force people to get us more aid (as is being said publicly in many circles), then this is state demagoguery at the expense of the dignity and lives of people who set out to go abroad. And finally, if this is what is happening—if people want to leave Albania because they have no hope at all in the country's new leadership team—would it not be more humane, more patriotic, and more reasonable for this group of people to leave their leadership posts, instead of the people leaving and abandoning their leaders? If so, let them be replaced, from the youth to the government and all the way to parliament. Let us hold new elections as soon as possible.

THE DECISION WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FEBRUARY 8, 1993, AT 10 A.M. On January 25, 1993, at 10 a.m., the challenge submitted to the Constitutional Court by the candidates on the Democratic Party’s multi-name list, Messrs. Demeti, Zogaj and Kadare, was examined. The parliamentary group of the PS has also referred the same matter to this court. Mr. Preç Zogaj responds on this issue, but the presiding judge, Mr. Rustem Gjata, clarifies that the subject is the same. It was established that although they had been notified, no representatives of the other parliamentary groups had attended. The two petitions were then presented, along with an addition from the PS representative and Mr. Demeti, who was interrupted by the presiding judge because, in his view, he was straying from legal reasoning. The lawyer in the case, Mr. Ngjela, asks whether the Constitutional Court has the legal authority to try the case, and then adds that, in favor of the three gentlemen mentioned above, point 7 of Law No. 24 on the reorganization of the judicial system in Albania should also be taken into account. On this basis, he asked that the skipping of candidates in the multi-name list be deemed unlawful. Mr. Kadare presents his arguments for a legal, rather than political, resolution of the issue, because this would constitute proof that the judicial branch is not subordinate to the political branch. Mr. Zogaj states: “The reason we insist on our right goes beyond the desire to be members of parliament; we are motivated by the separation of the state from the parties in its entirety.” The panel of judges asked many questions, which were answered by lawyer Ngjela and Messrs. Demeti, Zogaj and Kadare. Reported by VANGJELI

Regarding the report in our previous issue, which concerned some compromising facts about several corrupt ministers in the Meksi government that, according to the source, were in the possession of MP Arben Lika, editor-in-chief A. Frangaj met with Mr. Lika in person these days. He told the editor-in-chief: “I do indeed have some compromising facts about some of the current ministers, but for now I do not wish to comment to the press. “I will speak when I see that the time is most appropriate,” he stressed.

As we have been informed by one of our correspondents in Greece, a few days ago one of the Greek television channels reported an ugly incident involving Albanians attacking one another. On the island of Rhodes, two Albanians stabbed two other Albanians who were working in a Greek shop. The two who were stabbed survived and are in serious condition in hospital, while the other two Albanians have been detained by the police. According to Greek television, the attempted murder was motivated by robbery. Greek television and the Greek press commented quite harshly on such an act, and the departure of Albanians from the island began immediately.

“Albanians are intelligent enough not to trade communism for fascism” READ ON PAGE 2