Pangallos in Tirana, a consulate in Vlorë and dual citizenship for minorities. Athens: Vorio Epiri takes over athletics. The army will now recruit for pay Page 3 Minister of Defence Sabit Brokaj during the press conference. Behind him, State Secretary Teta. Photo REUTERS

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA Given the issues confronting the country, it cannot be said that party round tables are out of step with the times. This is because it would be wrong for problems of such great importance to gain legitimacy only through the voting cards of members of parliament. This is all the more true when the Socialist MPs hold the necessary absolute majority of votes. The experience of the 1992–1996 parliament, dominated by the blue colour of the PD, is a bitter one in this respect. From endowing the president with powers, to manoeuvres over the voting procedures for the 1994 constitution, the Land Law and the law on its sale and purchase, and on to laws such as the electoral law, Article 24/1, or the anarchic “Law on the Verification of Figures”—all were passed thanks to the strength of the parliamentary voting cards. Thus, today too, without wishing to prejudge the Socialist MPs, there is a fear that the voting cards may be abused to pass laws favouring the parties that hold the majority. For this reason, bringing the parties together at a round table ahead of the discussion of any important law is a useful step. At the very least, by listening to the suggestions of other political forces, the law can be amended as necessary before it is voted on in parliament. In addition, a round table of the parties can help launch joint action when it comes to resolving a difficult problem that requires the mobilisation of everyone’s forces, such as disarming the population. But the moment at which the PD is raising the idea of the need for a round table leaves much room for suspicion. At the very least, one might think that the PD wants to gain political capital by presenting itself as a champion of understanding and cooperation. On the other hand, the idea of a party round table, put forward by the PD, comes at a time when its MPs have not yet crossed the threshold of parliament, following a campaign of bombardment against the new government and state institutions with one statement after another—including the unread statement by its secretary-general, Genc Pollo, at parliament’s inaugural session. The PD’s strategists seem to have thought that this would put the government in a somewhat difficult position. If the proposal to hold a party round table were accepted, the PD would do everything possible to use it to carve out at least some role in parliament, where it is in the minority. If, on the other hand, the idea were rejected, the PD would have an opportunity to intensify its propaganda by accusing the government of “a fascist regime excluding the opposition from co-governance.” In this way, the government would fail to meet one of the conditions set for creating a suitable environment for receiving aid. It seems that, with the idea of a party round table, the PD and Berisha have in mind their experience during the final period of their time in power, when external actors insisted on holding a round table in order to deprive the 26 May parliament of the right to make important decisions. The idea of a party round table can be considered the PD’s first attempt to emerge from its inertia. But the first step for the PD to hope for even distant success is to enter parliament.

Lawyers: new investigations into the pyramid schemes Pages 6, 8

Tirana Municipality: crackdown on kiosks Page 9

The government: the dismissal of deputy ministers and directors of departments in the central administration is envisaged. “This programme calls for different people.”