PS decides to take part in the elections. Opposition: “The opinion of the roundtable must be taken into account.” Fino speaks with Vranicki and Ollbrajt Committees: No guarantees, no elections A convoy of military vehicles at 21:00, on Kavaja Road heading south. Only 50% of the troops agree to carry out the order. Alarm in Vlora

It seems that at last we will have elections. The government and the opposition have reached the broad outlines of a compromise that should bring everyone to the polls on 29 June. So, in 36 days, if nothing unexpected happens again in the political arena, we will vote to renew the parliament elected last May, which has now been dissolved. In the meantime, Prime Minister Fino has picked up the phone to inform Vranicki that the parties had agreed to overcome the political crisis and that the elections would be held on 29 June. First the PS, and then the other political forces, agreed to a formula of conditions that Prime Minister Fino was able to negotiate with President Berisha, backed by enormous international pressure. Everyone is going to the polls, but even this time there are many dissatisfied in the anti-PD camp. Not with Berisha, since bridges with him have been burned, but with the other side. The PS, it became clear, once again made its decision without being bound by the eight points signed with the other parties. The sensational news that the eight pre-election conditions were being set aside and that the party would enter the elections, announced by Socialist leader Nano himself and then turned into a decision by the PS Central Committee, has reminded students of the history of Albanian pluralism of May last year. Then, too, everything began with a threat to boycott the elections and ended as expected, when the Socialists presented their partners with a fait accompli. The opposition took part in the elections, and the outcome is now known. As for these conditions put forward by the Socialists and the rest of the opposition, whatever the rhetoric, it can be said that everything is still at the starting line. Beyond any guarantees the Socialists may have received behind the scenes from the international community and the Albanian president himself, and beyond the fact that abstaining from the elections this time would have extremely serious consequences for the country, the PS must take account of a grouping of political forces that set aside programmatic differences in order to confront the PD as a united anti-election front. All the more so given that in Albania guarantees—even those that have been given—have never enjoyed a high degree of credibility. The negative experience inherited from elections that were influenced and not properly considered or written down should prompt the Socialists to exercise greater care in their public statements, which are now being scrutinized closely both at home and abroad. Nano knew that President Berisha had to be dealt with only in writing, through detailed political agreements signed by more than two parties. A spoken promise and the handbooks of pledged trust count for little in this case, while the international factor also seems to have lost its former control over the number one figure in the Albanian state. The dogged insistence on the 115 majority-vote districts in the electoral law that was drafted has shown that the style of those who govern us for a few years has not changed. Meanwhile, this game with the elections by the Socialist opposition indirectly lends credence to those who say it is joining the PD in an attempt to force the roundtable to be blocked. Now that everyone seems to be deciding to enter the elections, with the deputy president relieved by the opposition’s largest party, all that remains is to hope that everything goes well. Otherwise, Albania would find itself on the brink of a crisis whose end everyone would struggle to predict.

TIRANA — Plan number 2 against the southern districts of Albania? Sources from the capital’s special forces were the ones who told “KJ” yesterday evening the sensational news of a rapid police deployment. Only 48 hours after these troops failed in their attempt to reach Tepelenë, it has emerged that the South is an undisguised target of the police chiefs. “The order has been given unequivocally by the Director of Police, General Agim Shehu, for the troops to carry it out. Anyone who hesitates or objects is to be stripped on the spot, under the charge of disobeying military orders. Nearly 90% of the personnel in these units do not want to go, but some do follow the order. They are mainly people who have only just put on the uniform, mostly from the north, and are still under the spell of the 300,000-lek salaries and the general in the capital. It is understood that the official explanation for the deployment of almost all the special forces stationed in Tirana is that they ‘must go and establish local government structures in those towns where they have not yet been set up.’ It is in this name that operations are said to have been carried out in the town of Gramsh nearly a week ago and in Tepelenë a few hours ago. Finally, according to “KJ” sources in the special forces, the targets are the towns of Tepelenë and Gjirokastër. This time, the troops are reportedly to travel not by the shortest route, but via Elbasan, Korçë, Ersekë and Përmet, ending in Gjirokastër. “You feel terrorized. Why should thousands of troops and vehicles, even the presidential guard, be mobilized to restore local government structures? We cannot go and risk our lives for a broken crate, then bear the shame.” After a late-night phone call to the newsroom, it was learned that 50% of the troops would leave that evening; the rest refused, after being promised they would be stripped of their uniforms today at 08:00. Last night at 21:00, thousands of Tirana residents saw with their own eyes military vehicles and transporters, loaded with armored vehicles bearing the inscription ‘police,’ traveling along Kavaja Road in the direction of the South. K.J.

Ever since the “Demokracia” printing house drastically raised newspaper printing rates by 20%, many independent newspapers have been facing serious difficulties. Adding other problems with distribution and the total lack of advertising (since many companies have gone bankrupt), independent newspapers are being squeezed financially. Yesterday, too, several independent newspaper editors appealed to international institutions for help, but their response was that “we will provide partial assistance.” Faced with this situation, some newsrooms have been forced to reduce the size of their newspaper print runs or to try other methods

Movement of military troops in Turkey Photo REUTERS Movement of military troops in Turkey. Photo REUTERS