Flames over the Municipality and the police. The national road is blocked. The release of General Xhaferri is being demanded People and Xhaferri: “We are not a pyramid. Television has lied.” Shkodra: “New elections” Flames over the Municipality and the police. The national road is blocked. The release of General Xhaferri is being demanded Lushnja is burning... Berisha is combing his hair The President: SHIK has successfully prevented the robbery of the money People and Xhaferri: “We are not a pyramid. Television has lied.” Shkodra: “New elections”

According to Greek mythology, all the evils of the world, locked inside a box, came out when a woman opened it by mistake. The evils of Albania seem to have come out on the day the first financial pyramid, also bearing a woman’s name, declared bankruptcy. Six cities have so far risen in massive protest, buildings of local government have been burned, police vehicles have been overturned, the president has been insulted and the removal of the government has been demanded. In the south and in the north, the words have stirred people to their feet and the protest shows no sign of calming down. Yesterday in Lushnje, demonstrators burned the Municipality, the District Council and the Cinema Theatre. There was also tension in Kavajë. The arrests of the heads of the foundations and the blocking of their bank accounts have not produced the effect Berisha and his government expected. This time Albanians have shown that they are not appeased by cells and handcuffs, but insist on getting back the deposited money. Amid fire, smoke and hatred, Albania has taken the road to total chaos. President Berisha yesterday gathered the highest state representatives in search of ways to overcome the usury crisis. From the conclusions reached, the meeting seems to have worsened the situation. In the presence of the prime minister, the speaker of parliament and the prosecutor general, Berisha called for the intervention of two additional commissions besides the transparency commission. One of them, the government commission chaired by Minister Halili, will contact the rentier companies to establish their financial condition, while the second, made up of economists and experts, will seek the fastest ways to distribute the blocked foundation funds to their clients. Although the prime minister promised on television last night that the commissions would begin work “as early as tomorrow morning,” it remains very difficult to understand what they will do. First of all, regarding the problem of verifying the financial condition of the firms and companies, there already exists a non-parliamentary commission set up by the People's Assembly. For several weeks this commission has been dealing with verifying the nature of the foundations and rentier firms. Bringing the Halili commission into play only makes an already confusing situation even more confused. Not only that. According to what was said at yesterday’s meeting, the procedure for retrieving the money blocked in state banks will be the task of the commission of economic experts, whereas a few days earlier financial institutions were calling on citizens to file lawsuits in court in order to recover the blocked money of Populli and Xhaferri. As can be seen, chaos begins right at the top of the state pyramid, then descends to ordinary people, who now understand less than ever whether they will ever get their deposited money back. If the Albanian government does not know clearly how it can emerge from a situation that it deliberately ignored for four years, this is not the fault of the betrayed creditors. The blame for the usury schemes is moving at dizzying speed. Within a few hours, queues of clients have turned into protest rallies where violence has not been absent. No one now believes that this government, which yesterday used the usury schemes as the showcase of new Albanian capitalism, has the will and sufficient sincerity to solve a tangle that it created itself. This loss of faith in the state and its institutions is perhaps the gravest for a society that, for much of its history, has been dominated by self-justice. Just as happened in 1991. Just as it may happen now. SKËNDER MINXHOZI Circulation of “Koha Jonë” for today: 65,000 copies

Yesterday in Lushnje Photo: Reuter

Police Commissariat No. 2 in Tirana granted the relevant permit The opposition has obtained permission to organize a protest rally tomorrow, January 26, at 11:00 a.m. in the annex of the “Dinamo” stadium in Tirana. The rally will focus on the defense of citizens’ economic rights. The opposition parties have invited to the protest all members of the public interested in taking a stand against the deep economic and political crisis. This will be the opposition’s second rally, after the one in “Skënderbej” Square, where thousands demonstrated against the state. According to the notice from the chief of Police Commissariat No. 2 in Tirana, the police will act properly and in accordance with the law. We note that among the ranks of the police in Tirana’s four commissariats, a commission has been formed for the protection and return of the deposits of police employees who have invested their savings in the rentier firms.

Around 30 thousand people at the rally The opposition parties and the trade union confederation of the Vlorë district have stated that tomorrow in “Flamurit” Square at 11:00 a.m. they will hold a peaceful rally concerning the difficult economic situation created as a result of the sudden collapse of the rentier firms. The number of participants is estimated at around 30 thousand people, who will demand the return of their money.