The proportional electoral law is presented. The Election Commission will not be pluralist Pages 3, 5

Yesterday, soldiers of the “Alba” mission entered Vlorë. Around 850 Italian and Greek troops entered by sea and land, accompanied by 320 armoured vehicles. The Bersaglieri and armoured vehicles entered the city of protest, surrounded by an overall atmosphere of welcome. Despite the fear that had accompanied them over the 30 kilometres from Fier to Vlorë, the “Alba” soldiers discovered a new face of the protest capital and received flowers instead of Kalashnikovs. The local authorities and the Rescue Committee showed that the international mission was just as welcome here as in the rest of the country. Along with Vlorë, the first doubts about how the arrival of around 6,000 international peacekeeping troops would be received on the ground also faded. Now the countries organising the mission are more at ease, since it has been shown that, at least for the moment, the message of aid and neu- neutrality has been understood in the same way on both sides: in Tirana and in the South. The European soldiers have seen for themselves that the “unity of Albania”, so often proclaimed by Italian Prime Minister Prodi, is a tangible reality. But after the first day, the mission will have to begin carrying out the task assigned to it. And this is where the difficulties seem to begin. Having seen Tirana and Durrës, Vlorë and Shkodër, the European soldiers will have to start distributing aid. The 6,000 heavily armed personnel will be tasked with escorting three million ECU worth of humanitarian aid, which is expected to arrive soon at the country’s main ports. This quantity of aid, far too small for such a large number of soldiers, seems insufficient to justify a mission whose humanitarian purpose has been reiterated more than once by Western chanceries. Faced with a chaotic situation in the country, under pressure from political reactions within the participating governments, and confronted with the risk of becoming a party to the escalating Albanian conflict, the multinational forces are suffering from the lack of a precise objective—one that European politicians were unable to define. Disarming the population, restoring order and taking part in creating normal conditions for the transition to elections were issues on which Western governments hesitated for a long time, creating considerable uncertainty and clashes that obscured the reason for their troops’ arrival here. When they landed in Durrës, some Italian soldiers said they still did not know what they would be doing in Albania. It is hard to believe they have found out even now, a week after setting up in the wrecked barracks of the Albanian army. Nevertheless, the “Alba” mission can do something worthwhile for Albanians. After escorting aid convoys, securing ports and airports, and protecting European representatives in Albania, the soldiers can use their presence to help calm the situation and be here on the day we go to the polls. We hope that will be within June. This is the most valuable contribution it can make for the West, since elections are the only way to begin the final pacification of a country that has rebelled against its bad government.

The journalists of the magazine “AKS” and the newspaper “Sport Ekspres” are hereby notified to report to the “Koha Jonë” company to begin republishing their publications.

Above, Agim Shehu and Turkish soldiers of the “Alba” mission Photo Reuters Above, Agim Shehu and Turkish soldiers of the “Alba” mission. Photo Reuters