Secretary General: The credibility of the elections is at risk page 3

In his election campaign, PD leader Sali Berisha had leaned heavily on the thesis of “the danger of another red boycott,” seeking above all to discredit the opposition in the eyes of international public opinion, which, among other things, would also help restore his image around the world. Nevertheless, Berisha was unable to escape a boycott. But this boycott came from where he least expected it. Quite unexpectedly, just as Berisha was rejoicing at the advantages he would gain by eliminating a criminal organization on the eve of the elections, the OSCE came to the aid of the Albanian opposition. Yesterday, following a special meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, where the issue of Sunday’s local elections in Albania was considered—a discussion dominated entirely by ODIHR’s decision to withdraw its observer delegation from these elections—it was decided that the OSCE, fully supporting the action of its ODIHR office, would also withdraw all its observers. Thus, the conflict between Berisha and the ODIHR Office, which began immediately after the 26 May elections, took on dimensions he had not foreseen. Coddled until 26 May by a large part of international public opinion for the bold steps he had taken in the context of change, but also accustomed to PD meetings and conferences where nobody stood up to him, and to an opposition too powerless to put him in a difficult position, President Berisha wanted to “draw the line” with the OSCE and other international institutions, imposing restrictions not only on the number of observers but also on their activities in Albania. As had been stated immediately after the 26 May elections, the local elections would serve as a kind of test for Berisha and Albania regarding their ability to organize... Continued on page 7 GAVROSH LEVONJA

From an opposition rally Photo A. BABANI

Detained as an aide to the “Hakmarrja” organization page 2

Half of it was cut Yesterday, the well-known journalist Marash Mirashi interviewed me for TV in connection with the high-profile arrest of the terrorist group. For accuracy, I must clarify that the interview was not broadcast in full, as a passage was omitted in which I explained: “... According to the information available to the journalists of ‘KJ’, the group in question was arrested 15 days ago, and it is being used for bitter electoral propaganda. Why is this fact being made public only four days before election day? Nevertheless, as a citizen and the owner of the largest Albanian newspaper, I am glad when handcuffs are put on real criminals and not on innocent citizens.” Perhaps the passage was removed by the TV editors for lack of time, but in any case, leaving it out distorts my view of this matter. NIKOLLË LESI

Since 14 April 1996, the editorial office of the newspaper “Koha Jonë” has been working without a single working telephone, because Tirana Telecom has cut the telephone service to the two numbers 28781 and 28796. This time we thought we would appeal to the chairman of the CEC, renowned for his extreme generosity on 26 May when he was a member of the “manipulation commission.” Thereska himself should be interested in giving us the new telephone number, because only then would he learn the real result of 20 October. Knowing the exact result through our telephone numbers, he will find it easier to overturn that result in favor of the PD.