A government directive denies the opposition the right to collect ballot papers and submit the minutes SP: Kosorasti blocks and dictates to the Central Election Commission A government directive denies the opposition the right to collect ballot papers and submit the minutes Government: Opposition kept out of the vote SP: Kosorasti blocks and dictates to the Central Election Commission

Those unfortunate enough to follow the programs of Albanian state radio and television, few though they may be, cannot have failed to notice, among other things, the eagerness of government institutions to contradict the country’s largest daily newspaper, “Koha Jonë.” Yesterday too, the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, speaking over radio and television, used the stereotypical formulas of the communist regime to contradict “KJ” over a story published in yesterday’s issue concerning the alarm caused by several calls to police stations and other police posts reporting bombs placed in public venues. Using expressions such as “the journalists or those behind ‘KJ’ are seeking to sow fear and terror,” the Ministry of the Interior spokesperson tried to reassure the public about what he, or those who hired him, called the newspaper’s fabrications. According to the spokesperson, “‘KJ,’ with its ‘bombastic headlines,’ is seeking to hasten its own bankruptcy.” But while presenters on the successive radio and television news broadcasts solemnly read out the Ministry of the Interior’s statement, as they customarily do on such occasions, Tirana police forces invaded one of the capital’s main squares and kept it cordoned off for a long time—a situation that could not occur without causing alarm. At almost the same time, near the offices of the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” an armed police squad stopped and swiftly surrounded a nearby alley. The leaders of the Ministry of the Interior either do not understand that the police themselves should be doing what “KJ” does, or they continue to be obsessed with this newspaper. Just three days earlier, the police had ordered the premises in central Tirana to be evacuated following an anonymous call reporting a bomb. And in that case, it was not “KJ” that raised the alarm. These events, witnessed by residents of the capital as well, show that it is not “KJ” that fabricates stories and spreads misinformation. In this field, there are several thousand designated information [sources], funded by the state, whose purpose is precisely that. Fortunately, readers do not suffer from amnesia and have not forgotten the tales, trumpeted by the official media, about Greek and Serbian funding for “KJ.” Before accusing “KJ” of fabrication and misinformation, the state and its servants should make public the findings of its parliamentary commission tasked with examining “KJ”’s finances, or at least publicly ask it to account for itself. KJ Photo: A. Baban

Yesterday on TV: Dokle and Fagu record the socialist program for the local elections

Bombs and automatic weapons found at the hideout of the wanted man page 2

The jury, headed by “RD” editor Fatos Kongoli, has decided to name the editor-in-chief of RD the best short-story writer page 17

Since 14 April 1996, the newsroom of the newspaper “Koha Jonë” has been working without a single working telephone, because Telekomi i Tiranës has cut the telephone signal to the two numbers 28781 and 28796. Meanwhile, Tirana mayoral candidate Albert Brojka promises to give Tirana not only streetlights but also telephones. To convince us that Brojka will keep his promise, let him begin his campaign by reconnecting the telephone at KJ. We await a reply at 28781 and 28796. Naturally, once Brojka and his associates have restored the signal.