Page 3 PD, only Pollo in Parliament; the statement is not read. Anti-Berisha celebrations, rejoicing and injured people throughout the country. Nano: I will choose the ministers myself Sali Berisha signs his resignation. After five years, Albania is without its autocratic leader. The former president: From the Palace of Brigades to Parliament

By SKËNDER MINXHOZI Albania has turned a page. Yesterday Berisha chose the terrible end of abandoning the presidential mandate, rather than the endless terror of confronting the repressive left-wing opposition in Parliament. Just three hours before the Assembly was to review his other mandate, that of deputy, Sali Berisha announced his resignation from the Palace of Brigades on the outskirts of Tirana, preparing to take his seat in the parliamentary chamber in the very same armchair from which, in 1991, he began his dizzying rise to power. At last, 75% of Albanians said yesterday that their vote had not been cast in vain. Three weeks after ousting the president’s party from power, they also awaited his fall. Over the course of twenty days, the balance of Albanians’ optimism shifted dramatically in the face of the endless pressure Berisha exerted to make him sign a document drafted back in March. This joy mixed with fear was the instinctive reaction of a people unaccustomed to seeing their absolute leader step down during the past six years. The story of Sali Berisha’s rule is that of a typically Albanian leader. Regardless of the historical context and political environment, Dr. Berisha’s career resembles those of his predecessors who dominated Albania in this century. This man, who in 1992 was identified with hope, turned within a few years into a national nightmare, and this metamorphosis followed a pattern that modern Albanian politics has seen more than once. What has been called Albanian fatalism finds its most classic proof in the five years of Sali Berisha’s rule—a proof that cost us, the citizens of the former president, far too dearly. The end of Sali Berisha’s rule seems set to mark the end of strongmen at the helm of the Albanian state, who turned their desire to accumulate unlimited power into the core doctrine of their leadership style. This man, who was voted out on June 29, will long be remembered as the first leader in power to succumb to the temptation of holding on to power by force, something Ramiz Alia had not done in 1990 when faced with him. He will also be remembered as the president who abused the name of Albanian democracy more than anyone else. A victim of a struggle he prepared slowly and with exemplary stubbornness against everyone, former president Berisha watched miserably as news of his resignation was put to the test. Sali Berisha leaves today the record of his five-year rule. In his resignation statement, this record is presented in rosy terms, strangely at odds with the image offered today by a country of one million weapons and dozens of victims of an undeclared war. While he must defend this lost cause, we Albanians (and with them this newspaper, which had more than a few problems with the former president’s rule), hope that Sali Berisha has closed a door behind him and that it will not open again in the future. The simple role of a backbencher in Parliament is the best lesson history can currently offer the new leader of the PD. Not only him.

Just a few minutes after Albania’s president of five years signed the resignation document, the presidential building was ransacked. Sources close to his guard confirmed the startling news to “Koha Jonë.” Carpets, sofas, chairs, curtains, as well as furnishings and other items from the palace at the western end of “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard, disappeared as if on command. Sali Berisha had stayed at the Palace of Brigades throughout yesterday; it seems that those who had served him as president, after learning of the resignation, launched their final raid on the Presidency. A few days earlier, the six cameras out of the seven surrounding the building of the superpower were the first items sold from the inventory list, disappearing in a more than mysterious manner. Yesterday, the looting went further, as the looters did not spare even ordinary items. It is not known whether the operation was intended to conceal items more important than those seen being stolen. Members of Parliament observe 1 minute of silence for the thousands of victims of recent months. Photo GENT SHKULLAKU

The staff of the independent newspaper “INDIPENDENT” informs its readers that, for technical reasons, it was not available on the market yesterday or today. Following several changes and restructuring, it will be back in your hands in a few days.