Arbnori proposes a parliamentary commission to draft the Constitution. Most of the seats are left to the opposition Gjinushi: They want to create a political credo before the campaign “Let us create a new Commission for drafting the Constitution,” Pjetër Arbnori said yesterday in parliament. In this way, the PD is placing the fate of the Constitution on the shoulders of the opposition. “Although the PD has the majority of deputies in parliament, it is asking for only 40–45% of the representatives on the Commission,” says the new proposal. Exactly one year after the failure of the constitutional draft presented by Prime Minister Meksi, the PD seems to want to rehabilitate itself by putting the word Constitution on the political table, but this time it offers the opposition as the solution. page 3

Last night the residents of the “Gurra” neighborhood in Lezhë were startled shortly after 8:25 p.m. by a dynamite explosion. The perpetrators placed dynamite on the door of the apartment of the director of the newspaper “Koha Jonë”, Nikollë Lesi. It was reportedly a quantity of tritol, which caused extensive material damage. Fortunately, it caused only a slight injury. It was an incident that ascertained a possible tragedy. Lesi’s wife, who at that moment was alone with her two minor sons, first noticed the smoke from the dynamite and went outside to look. She immediately raised the alarm, and one of the neighbors helped her leave the scene of the explosion with the two children. Later, the officer on the upper floor tried to avoid the explosion but without success. The explosive blew open the apartment doors on the fourth floor and caused additional material damage. It seems that the planting of the dynamite was a serious warning and not some other random incident, since at that time the director of “KJ” was not at home, where only his wife and the two minor children were present. The police arrived immediately at the scene and, after expert examination, focused only on the type of explosive, while the perpetrators of this criminal act remain a mystery. The police forces, which were put into action immediately, are searching for the perpetrators of the criminal act. A. ROZHANI

Arbnori: “I urge you to vote, otherwise you’ll be left without cars” Dokle: “With such speculations, the state turns into the Political Bureau” Among other things, in the work program of parliament for the last two months of the year, Arbnori also mentioned yesterday the approval of the 1996 draft budget and the draft law on the assessment of the figure of allied persons. After Arbnori read the work program approved by the presidency and the heads of the parliamentary groups by consensus, parliament moved on to approving several amendments to the customs tariffs law, amendments that were approved after extensive debate. These changes exempt the presidency, the prime minister’s office, and parliament from paying customs duties. The debate was opened precisely over the value of 50 million new lek allocated to parliament from the state budget, but without specification. After deputies asked what this amount represented, Arbnori said that it was equipment. Later, after the deputies persisted, Arbnori said that the value of the 50 million lek allocated consists of cars for deputies and equipment. So, it was about exemption from taxes on the cars with which deputies will be equipped on the eve of the end of their mandate, or more precisely in order to be “fresh” for the election campaign. “We will bring cars for deputies; we do not have money to pay the customs duty,” Arbnori told the deputies. Voting went on, while Arbnori often addressed the deputies: “I urge you to vote, otherwise you’ll be left without cars.” The exemption from taxes on these vehicles and equipment worth 50 million lek seems meaningless, since this value belongs to the state itself. Meanwhile, some experts consider this a way for the winners of the tender to gain a benefit from the amount, since it may have been calculated together with the customs duty payment. In any case, everything concerning the above-mentioned amount has been left unclear. In explaining the vote against, deputy Jani stated: Baleta: “When the state exempts itself from paying customs duties, it opens the way to speculation and corruption.” Dokle: “With such speculations the state turns into the Political Bureau” Rakaj: “The exemption from customs duties is incomprehensible, since these go to the state.” M.L.

The photo of the 11-year-old in all police checkpoints No connection with the kidnappers who had demanded 200,000 dollars page 2

The exclusion of Nano and Gjinushi from the elections compromises them page 5

The League looks toward PDD page 3

Each square meter cost 5 million p.2

They forced the minor to prostitute herself She was forced to prostitute herself on behalf of two young men who sold her cheap pleasure to foreigners. But now they are under arrest after the girl herself, who was only 14 years old, reported them to the police. Her bosses are named Alban Shahi, 20, and Isuf Ozuni, 29, both from the village of Babru in Tirana. According to the judges, who yesterday ordered their arrest, they had used the body of a 14-year-old girl for profit. After the report was made to the police, the girl’s father was found to have a number of sexual pleasures [?] for foreigners who came to Albania, since they paid more. The young men even aimed for more than that. They had tried to take the girl abroad, attempting to find a good market for her in Italy or Greece, but their capture by Police Station No. 4 crushed their sinful desires. Z.D

In the USA, dozens of Albanians gathered at the American air base Wright Patterson to protest the exclusion of Albanians from the Peace Conference, where Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia are trying to reach an agreement to end the war. photo REUTERS