“We hope that in the final year of the 20th century, the DP will be active in parliament” Page 3 “We hope that in the final year of the 20th century, the DP will be active in parliament” Page 3 President Clinton and his wife Hillary cooking Photo REUTERS

BY FATOS BAXHAKU Gji is nothing more than a blonde who sings in her own particular way. When she sang a song a year ago that had to do with the spark or with fireflies—although many people remembered the tune of the music she sang—the nihilists, the critics, the whole crowd of people who prefer judging other people’s work to their own did not hesitate to join in a contest of criticism. Contrary to what was expected, Gili went on singing about “sparks,” or other similar things, and did not hesitate to take part once again in the most important song contest in the whole country. Although she did not win any prize at the much-discussed Fest ’98, the blonde singer can take pride in the fact that on Monday evening an idea she had expressed in music became reality. “Let them kiss, let them kiss, socialists and democrats...”—this leitmotif had barely faded from the festival stage when it was heard, or rather enacted, just a few metres away, at the “Rogner” Hotel, where socialists and democrats kissed—not really, of course, but in the most unusual way one could have expected. On Monday evening, socialists and democrats really did “kiss” politically, after a very long time of resentments, quarrels and scandals that have more than once led to clashes this country no longer needs; even without their resentments—that is, those of the new political class—it has already filled its cup to the brim, with itself and with others. If Gili had not chosen this subject, no one would have had the chance to call her today the “inspiration” behind politics’ first prize. But now that the two sides of Albanian politics, who seemed to be heading as far as the rattle of Kalashnikovs and other frightening weapons, are now appearing as champions of peace, Gili must have felt something. “Didn’t I say before them that Albanians should make peace?” she must have asked herself. Now that Berisha and Majko have “kissed,” let her not feel quite so much like a heroine; perhaps I feel sorrier for Gili, the simple singer who kept singing her refrain: “Let them love, let them kiss...”

Scandal erupts / State Audit report in Parliament Trade unions, the last fraudulent pyramid scheme State Audit proposes expropriating the aristocracy Page 10 What is to be done with the Albanian trade unions? This issue has now been put forward for resolution before the Council of Ministers and in the parliamentary chamber. For months, the Supreme State Audit has been working on the land registries, the unions’ own archives, the courts and the enterprises that have cooperated with the unions. And everything uncovered is a conglomerate of fraud and abuse. It is in no way inferior to what was done by the pyramid firms and foundations.

Last night, a poll by radio “KOHA” on 98.1 MHz Last night, radio “KOHA”, which broadcasts on FM 98.1 MHz, conducted a poll with live phone calls. The question was: “What do you think of the Majko-Berisha meeting, and do you believe the dialogue will continue?” There were 180 callers, of whom 165 expressed a positive opinion about the meeting between the prime minister and the opposition leader, while 15 others were against it. Thus, it appears that 91.6% of callers think the meeting between Majko and Berisha should take place and hope that things will proceed well, although there were also reservations regarding the chairman of the PD. In this way, 8.4% said they were against the meeting and did not [??] Berisha. In a sense, public opinion is in favour of dialogue between the government and the opposition, while some political leaders are not entirely in agreement.

The Finance Department of “Koha Jonë” announces a tender for the purchase of an automatic electric generator, with a silencer, with a minimum output of 20 kW (diesel-powered), to be installed in the newsroom within five days. Interested parties should contact “Koha Jonë” every day between 9:00 and 20:00.