La Lumiere divides and unites Albanian politicians. EDU against postponing the elections. UN discusses the “ALBA” mandate Page 2

The fate of the elections continues to hang in the balance, at the muzzles of Alba’s guns. Twelve days before voting day, doubts about holding the elections within the set deadline have poisoned the election campaign as never before. The picture has now been turned upside down, and Albanians watch in astonishment as those who insisted until the last moment on respecting the date of 29 June are now suggesting that, at least in part of the territory, the ballot boxes will not be ready by that deadline. Standing in the game being played by the chancelleries deciding the fate of Albania’s elections is the immovable factor of Alba—the force—and the position of more than 6,000 multinational-force soldiers stationed in Albania since last 11 April. Three days ago, General Forlani, who leads the operation, gave a blunt “no” to the Central Election Commission’s request for help transporting materials from the local-zone commissions to Tirana. Twenty-four hours later, the deadline expired for the agreement between the OSCE and the CEC to send these materials, which were to be duplicated abroad, in Italy. The delay set off the alarm at the Palace of Congresses, and talk began of an unavoidable postponement of the elections. This seems not to have impressed the Italian military officer Forlani in the slightest—and therefore neither the states behind him. Having arrived to distribute a paltry amount of aid, Alba’s soldiers have already earned their first derisive epithets from the Albanian and foreign press. Meanwhile, the doubts about the unclear mandate that accompanied the troops’ arrival have given way to the certainty that, unlike in Somalia, where multinational forces committed crimes, and unlike in Bosnia, where they often fell victim to ethnic conflict, something entirely different is happening in Albania. Neither war nor peace: our country has become the ground on which the West apparently decided to experiment with a policy of waiting, while Albanians need external assistance more than ever. This decision sounds astonishing, given the high cost of keeping the contingent in Albania. Thus, after a Greek delegation promised Albanian commissioners that it would safeguard the ballot boxes and count the votes; after talk of a limited foreign military presence at polling stations; after several versions were given and none confirmed; and after the West failed to decide what its soldiers would do on the day we go to the polls to fight among ourselves—Alba risks entering Albania’s history as a great and pointless spectacle of a policy that is often wholly unworthy of European democrats. If Alba does not participate directly in safeguarding the integrity of the elections, they will not be clean. This message must already have reached the relevant authorities. The West must decide quickly and correctly. Otherwise, if 29 June turns into the failed 26 May, or is erased from the calendar as an election date, the 6,000 soldiers of the Alba multinational mission will be remembered as the most heavily armed tourists ever to set foot in Albania.

Pictured: those injured in the Skrapar tragedy and yesterday’s police operation in front of Hotel “Dajti” Photo G.SHKKULLAKU

TIRANA - Berisha decorates Foresti. The diplomatic figure most praised in Albania recently will today receive on his chest the decoration awarded by Albanian President Sali Berisha. A ceremony within the walls of the Presidency, attended by many politicians, diplomats and several journalists, will formally announce the highest honor the Albanian Presidency awards to the former Italian ambassador in Tirana. Foresti is leaving Albania, taking with him a “precious” gift, Berisha’s decoration, even though his departure was brought about by the highest echelons of Italian diplomacy out of spite, with the stated reason: scandal and unwitting involvement in Albanian politics.

Yesterday, while Tirana police were conducting an operation in the center of the capital, Genti Shkullaku, photojournalist for the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” was struck and left bleeding. He was photographing the operation with the permission of Tirana Police Director Pashk Tusha when two civilians from the Republican Guard, led by the Presidency’s electoriostin, a short, stocky man who took part in the burning of the newspaper’s newsroom on 2 March 1997, approached the photojournalist, insulted him and hit him on the head. After this, the photojournalist went to the police for help, but they did not intervene, avoiding a possible confrontation with the guardsmen. Attacks by guardsmen on “KJ” journalists are becoming numerous, contradicting Berisha’s statements about protecting the free press. But it is Berisha’s own guards who are maiming journalists. Patience has reached its limit—which means that patience has a boundary, and that boundary has now been reached. A.Gj.