Selami’s move could block Berisha’s return to the DP The DP chairman’s resignation was nothing more than a bluff The Democratic Party seems to have begun thinking seriously about the upcoming parliamentary elections. Press predictions that the formula of government could be changed in favor of the prospect were Selami’s message. After three years at the head of the party that won the elections of 22 March 1992, Selami is offering his resignation not because of evidence from the past, but to avert evidence in the future. In any case, when he made his resignation offer. However, Selami’s request did not sound like, nor was it articulated as, an ultimatum. “I am ready to resign so that the demand for the premiership is not taken as a personal ambition,” the party chairman is reported to have said.[?] Having made the proposal, the leader was certain that the request for resignation would not be approved, as indeed it was not. Berisha and Meksi themselves opposed it. What matters in the whole “game” Selami has begun to play is [?] for the DP, at a time when the upcoming elections could significantly reduce the DP’s current majority. Selami’s game appears to be long-term and is being played for the sake of a not-too-distant future, when the DP will be in opposition and preparing for the fourth parliamentary elections. After the request to become prime minister and the resignation request were rejected (Selami must have anticipated both possibilities), a third solution was found: the DP’s statute should [The article continues with a proposal that the party chairman automatically become prime minister when the party takes power.] At the same time, this move blocks Berisha’s path back into the party, something he appears to be attempting. Because until 1997, with his five-year mandate, Berisha is the country’s president and, according to the constitutional provisions in force, has the right to set the date of early elections by dissolving parliament, which by all indications will be dominated by today’s opposition. All these calculations, now that the DP confirmed on Sunday evening, when E. Selami demanded that the party chairman also be prime minister. At the meeting of the DP National Council, Selami offered two alternatives: Prime Minister or resignation. that the demand to become prime minister is not taken as a personal ambition,” the DP chairman is reported to have said. In explaining his request, the leader says that something must change from the practice so far, in which some people make promises and others keep them—or do not. These people should be one and the same, he proposed. Selami began playing on Sunday is not the request to resign, but that the party chairman should also hold the post of head of government. The request truly comes very late (almost three years after 22 March), but it comes at a time when the upcoming fourth parliamentary elections could significantly reduce the DP’s current majority. third solution was found: the DP’s statute should provide that the party chairman automatically becomes prime minister as soon as the party comes to power. And if this is achieved—that is, if this clause is inserted into the statute—then in the fourth elections Selami automatically becomes [?]. Under the constitution currently in force, [the president] by today’s opposition. Selami and Berisha themselves are making all these calculations now that the DP is at a disadvantage following the referendum. After 1997, if he does not receive a mandate of BEN BLUSHI (continued on page 3)

Albanian-American maneuvers conclude Successful maneuvers at sea and failed ones on land This is not a suitable place to play, boys! page 3

Interview with Ilir Dibra, accused of fraud, kidnapping and rape —“I deceived girls in order to sell them in Macedonia, but I did not rape them” page 4

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Bulqizë Miners on hunger strike The hunger strikers are confined 160 meters underground, but their exact number is still unknown For three days, a group of miners at the Bulqizë mine have been on hunger strike. Although their exact number is unknown, it has been reported that they have barricaded themselves on the eighth level of the mine, about 160 meters underground. There is no information about their health, because so far the miners confined at this level have not allowed anyone to enter. The hunger strike and its causes once again bring to light the many disagreements between the Government and the Trade Unions, which have understood that remaining under its “shadow” means destruction. While Albanian Television was announcing the “happy” news the evening before yesterday that work had resumed in the chrome mines, the Bulqizë mine, one of the best-known producers of this mineral, had stopped work because of the strike. Television, as usual (continued on page 2)