“The government should resign. It is in its forties” Another press conference by the leader of the DP analyzes the 100 days of government War and peace in 100 days The 100-day declarations marking the last five years of Albanian pluralism seem not to have ended with the elections of 29 June. Nor have they been confined to the Democrats’ headquarters, where they have made a bleak assessment of the Socialists. The DP and its leader Berisha, 100 days after the government headed by Nano received an absolute vote of confidence, have asked for nothing more than the resignation of the Albanian prime minister. On the other hand, the so-called faction in the PS’s shadow has observed that Nano’s 100 days have been most successful in foreign policy, in the left-wing government’s relations with its neighbours and international partners. Amid this 100-day storm of governing, the only quieter place has been the office on the second floor of the Council of Ministers, from where Prime Minister Fatos Nano has made no statement about his three months at the head of Albania. Nano has been content with his work routine, with debates concerning the Crete summit, or with the government’s daily meeting. On the eve of the 100 days, the prime minister may have met Çeka and Malaj, the most successful members of his cabinet, particularly at a time when Albania’s national roads are calm and nearly one and a half billion dollars have been pledged at the Rome and Brussels conferences. That has been enough for the Albanian premier to ignore his opponents’ calendar-driven noise. In fact, Nano believes that his government’s first 100 days have been more than successful, if one recalls the circumstances in which he took the oath three months ago at the Presidential Palace. Peace after the spring’s war, the elimination of criminal gangs, the arrest of mafia bosses, avoiding clashes with the opposition in parliament, and securing substantial funds from the West are enough for the PS leader to describe his 100 days as successful. Crete, on the other hand, is only the first step in the opposite direction, away from a traditional policy that had remained stuck in 1992, at the Islamic Conference. But the DP and the PS opposition continue to criticize and attack Nano, challenging precisely what the government seems to have achieved: rapid openness and civility between the parties. The first 100 days of the Nano government do not seem to be the moment for reflecting on its work. In itself, the 100th day of Nano’s cabinet emerged as the moment when the “sui generis” faction tried not to show signs of peace, but plans for war. An open war that allows no peace to take root at any moment. Not even on the day the government opens its 100th bottle of champagne.

Municipal administration boycotts work P. 5

Investigations into the dissolution of the Albanian army are being divided P. 9

Last night, blood was shed

A 15-year-old tells investigators her tragic story Abducted in Tirana and then taken by speedboat to Italy. Torture and rape until she escaped back toward Albania “Four boys systematically raped me in a bestial way, and this went on for days, until I ended up on the pavement.” This is how a 15-year-old girl from Tirana began her account before investigators. She had left home in mid-January and escaped from the group exploiting her; meanwhile, police have arrested her neighbours, a brother and sister, as suspects in the abduction. Caught by surprise at the sight of their daughter, her mother and father, both around 35 years old, could not hold back their tears of longing for their child, even in front of the justice officials. P. 7

Prime Minister Fatos Nano during the first 100 days of his government Photo ARMANDO BABANI Prime Minister Fatos Nano during the first 100 days of his government. Photo ARMANDO BABANI

Kombinat, a police officer is killed Fight on a bus, two dead and three injured P. 2 Case files for 30 former detainees arrive at the Prosecutor’s Office Investigations concerning 23 judges and prosecutors P. 2 Gjirokastër, police alert over white poison Greek drugs are bought in the South P. 13 Yesterday, trial of four women accused of prostitution Could brothels be allowed? P. 6