— Pjetër Arbnori refuses to comment on whether or not he was a State Security spy. — Gazidede declares that approval for SHIK to surveil MPs is given by the Presidium of the Assembly. — Azem Hajdari will sue Pjetër Arbnori. Unwilling to comment, [the article mentions] humorous sketches with parliamentary themes; Television no longer broadcasts the parliamentary sessions. On 9.0 [?] March [?], MP Azem Zyberi [?] of the PS, in his speech, reported on behalf of the Parliamentary Commission for Defence, Public Order and SHIK, after meeting together with MP Llazar Llëngu of the PD with Bashkim Gazidede. The Commission’s meeting with the head of SHIK came as a result of Mr. Hajdari’s statement in Parliament a few days earlier, in which he called for SHIK’s work to be investigated, since he had information that they had been under surveillance for six months. He also asked Gazidede to clarify the document sent to the Minister of Justice requesting that lawyer Spartak Ngjela be stripped of his right to practise. According to MP Zyberi, Gazidede denied that a file existed for the surveillance of Mr. Hajdari, but did not allow the Parliamentary Commission to see the list of files. (continued on page 2)

— Some gentlemen in the PD leadership and members of the Government have begun building villas for us under concealed names. — There can be no honest Communists. — The PD Presidium and some officials have obstructed reform. — In the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministries of Public Order, Defence, Foreign Affairs, etc., there are people tainted by the crimes of the past. — There are cases of nepotism among state officials. — The leaders of the PD Youth Forum engage in immoral activities. The newspaper «DT», the organ of the Tirana PD, announced in large letters on Thursday that the Tirana PD conference was being held. In the resolution published at this conference, the extremist wing of the party in power calls for sweeping purges and the punishment of political opponents. What should be emphasized is that this time, too, the Tirana branch has come out against the activities of the Government and the PD Presidium. The resolution states: «The Tirana PD conference protests against the equivocal and yielding positions of the Party Presidium and the heads of several departments, which have obstructed the implementation of economic reform. The resolution also states that the conference condemns the policy of personal favoritism and, in some cases, nepotism in the practices of certain state officials. The resolution further states that the Party Presidium and the Government bear grave responsibility for the laws on the return and compensation of owners having been delayed for more than a year without any objective reason. The conference also expresses concern about the immoral activities of the PD Youth Forum, where facts are being exposed about a morality «that we would no longer allow our children to have». In one of the resolution’s points, the Tirana PD demands the right to suggest to government departments the changes it considers necessary. In his speech, the head of this branch, Minister Kalkula, says that the Tirana conference will once again have the historic merit of giving a new boost to the locomotive of democracy in Albania. He then accuses some parties, calling them whores who flirt with one side or the other in order to gain political credibility. According to Mr. Kalakula, Communists are either scoundrels or fools. «You cannot accept,» he says, «that there are honest Communists.» It is not stated which category he places former Communists in the PD and the President himself in. His theory in this case allows no exceptions: either a scoundrel or a fool. After speaking in very harsh terms about political opponents and expressing ingratitude toward international organizations, Mr. Kalakula reports a fact that the judicial authorities should investigate. He says that some PD leaders and some members of the Government are building villas under concealed names. «Let them tell us where they got the money?» Others seek luxury homes using state money, or are seen at lunch and dinner with foreign businessmen. «These actions amount to what is called corruption,» declares Petrit Kalakula. As can be seen, the PD is in crisis. What will happen next?

On Thursday at 9:00, the trial of Aleksandër Frangaj, editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha jonë», was scheduled to take place before the District Court in Shkodër. On Thursday, at 9:00, the trial of Aleksandër Frangaj, editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha jonë», was scheduled to take place before the District Court in Shkodër. The lawsuit had been filed by the Prosecutor General Alush Sali [?], after the case at the Lezhë Court, with Judge Ristani, had been dismissed. In addition to the article «On spreading false information that causes panic», Frangaj is also accused by the Prosecutor General of «disclosing state secrets». At 9:00 in the morning, and then at 12:10, Mr. Zylfi Beqja, a member of the judicial panel and of the Court of Appeal in Tirana, did not appear at the Court of Appeal in Shkodër. He had been assigned by order of the Minister of Justice, Mr. Kudret Çela, to try Mr. Frangaj. After a long wait at the doors of the Court of Appeal in Shkodër, Mr. Mërgim Dragusha, Deputy President of the Court of Appeal, informed Mr. A. Frangaj and lawyer Spartak Ngjela that the trial had been postponed to another day.

The SD parliamentary group will not take part in the discussion of any draft constitution on June 16, as a way of protesting against the main headline of the newspaper «Alternativa SD», which is returning after a break of several weeks. The publication of this newspaper also demonstrates the seriousness with which PSD has taken its position this time.

Read the MPs’ opinions in the next issue.