The wives of officials secretly collect the deposits. Police take bags of money from Xhaferri Police arrest “Populli” and “Xhaferri” at midnight. Protests today in Shkodër, Vlorë, Fier, Durrës pages 2, 3, 12, 14

When the usury scandal broke out at the end of December, everyone rushed to find out who was to blame: the state, the competent authority, the pyramids or some anonymous wealthy moneyholders. At the moment when the bells of usury began to toll in Albania, everyone had forgotten a voice that rang out in October, a few days before the local elections of October 20. A voice that came from the mouth of the Albanian finance minister and that was the IMF. In October the IMF made it clear to Berisha that the dismantling of the usury system in Albania was a condition for continuing relations between the two sides and for concluding the agreement for 1997. At that time Berisha gave signals that he did not intend to respect the IMF formula, especially on the eve of the election campaign. During their stay in Albania, IMF experts were provoked more than once by the president’s party, which pasted posters on walls bearing the names of usurer sponsors. For their part, some usurers who are now in prison or very close to it mocked the IMF quite a bit. In the ignorance or arrogance fostered and encouraged by the support of the PD, the usurers called on the IMF to deposit its money at their counters. Meanwhile, after the euphoria of the October 20 victory subsided, Berisha remembered that these battles had been fought with great sacrifice. The battles against the socialist opponents had come at a very high price, one the state finances could not bear. The budget deficit for the year that had just ended turned out to be 260 million dollars. The IMF had promised to cover this sum, but in October the door had been shut to it. It was precisely at this time that the state began to take usury seriously as a condition, a sine qua non, for improving relations with the Monetary Fund. Then came the collapses of Sude, Gjallica, and later the death sentence: the state closed the banks for usury, whereas until the elections it had flung the gates wide open for usurers. After all these measures, including the creation of several anti-usury commissions and the imprisonment of three usurers, Albanians are more than convinced that it is now the state that has sentenced usury to death. The usury commission is only a political lever that moves according to the interests of the state. Yesterday’s arrest of Xhaferri and Driza, before the commission’s final investigations have even been made public, says a great deal. Xhaferri, Drizdrhe and those who will come after them are sacrifices of the Albanian state in favor of the IMF. They could also have been allowed to operate normally for some time because the deposits show how much money there is, but now, as for the firms, it is the state that is not waiting. From behind there is an ultimatum that must be respected on time and in silence. But if the state has already solved October’s dilemma, with the IMF or with usury, it currently faces another dilemma. This dilemma is shown by the statements of the usurers. Their arrest was not based at all on investigations into the pyramids or the organization. The arrest was made first and foremost on the basis of the state’s affinity with the rentiers as well as on the number of depositors. The state now clearly knows that the number of clients of Xhaferri, Populli and Sude is not so large as to cause enough systematic demonstrations to make governing impossible. On the other hand, the three large companies Vefa, Kamberi and Gjallica could drive more than half of Albania to despair, both because of the number of clients and the large sums deposited. Their crisis and the key to it, more the end of hope for them, would send hundreds of thousands of people into the streets. In times of crisis the state is in doubt. How much and to what extent should the IMF condition be fulfilled? If the usuries were to be overrun all together, as the agreement requires, that would not be of much value because power would shake so violently that no agreement with the IMF could keep it on its feet. That is why the middle road has been chosen with Sude, Xhaferri and Populli. BEN BLUSHI (To be continued on page 3) Circulation of “Koha Jonë” for today: 60,160 copies

A bronze cross found in Jerusalem believed to date from the 4th–5th centuries Photo: Reuter

Last night at midnight Brutally beaten Edi Rama Last night at midnight, unknown persons struck the well-known painter Edi Rama on the head with iron bars. Rama, who had just returned to Tirana after specializing in France, was writing a very harsh interview against Berisha’s politics. After this incident he was taken to hospital and his condition after the serious injuries is still unknown.

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