Interview with the leader of the DP in the Italian press. “This is how the Mafia came to power” The Italians respond: “The former Albanian President is ridiculous” Page 3 Interview with the leader of the DP in the Italian press. “This is how the Mafia came to power” Berisha: Nano is a mafioso The Italians respond: “The former Albanian President is ridiculous” Page 3

With the visit that he is expected to make on Saturday to the city of Berat, following Gjirokastra and Vlora, DP leader Berisha is breaking another taboo when it comes to southern Albania, which he could not set foot in during the electoral campaign a year ago. The electoral tours the DP is now undertaking in the southern cities, on the eve of the partial local elections, with or without Berisha, show that the largest opposition party is undergoing an irreversible recovery. Unlike the first months, when, in the absence of arguments, the DP’s propaganda was unconvincing, the left-wing coalition government has now provided the opposition with considerable material to criticize. This has caused feelings of hatred or dissatisfaction toward the DP to fade more quickly than initially expected. However, what has stood out lately as we have followed the DP’s growth is that the idea that this is Berisha’s party, that its existence cannot be understood without him, and so on, is gradually losing ground. The new people at the head of the party are slowly developing their own identities and, naturally, their own “fans” among its supporters. The rally held in Vlora was the clearest indication of this. Pollo and the others, appearing before the Vlora electorate day after day, showed that they were no less capable than the “charismatic” Berisha of generating enthusiasm, quite apart from the strength of their arguments. Perhaps, by going to Berat, Berisha may have the opportunity to reassess once again the differences between himself and his closest associates, who in Vlora achieved a success he may perhaps even envy. Nevertheless, the experience in Vlora should serve as a lesson for the DP leader to leave ever more room for the rest of the leadership. This would help create real unity within the party, rather than unity imposed from above. Moreover, this would not only increase the effectiveness of the party’s political struggle, but would also free Berisha from the concern that attacks by the government’s opponents are now focused solely on him. The DP’s increasingly frequent visits to southern cities also show, in a way, that the state itself is growing alongside it. It would be a mistake to ignore the state’s role in the normal conduct of DP activities in those areas where, a few months ago, even one of its ordinary activists could have been subjected to lynching.

A Serbian armored vehicle patrolling the border with Albania. Photo: REUTERS

A major police operation apprehends at the “Besa” stadium the perpetrators of the high-profile theft of the prime minister’s car Monday afternoon was the decisive moment that led to the arrest of the perpetrators of this high-profile theft. Astrit Mustafa, 24, and Elvis Çomi, 22, both residents of Tirana, are now in police custody. Preliminary investigations by the Kavajë Criminal Investigation Police show that Mustafa and Çomi have admitted to being responsible for stealing the “Benz.” After the initial procedures were completed, the two young men from Tirana were taken to Tirana. P. 13

DP MPs take aim at Meksi P. 2

Nano consoles the “KJ” journalist P. 2

Italian anti-Mafia investigators “illegally” in Tirana P. 6

A game of poker among police chiefs P. 6

“I sexually molested my niece” P. 7

Zani in the prison hospital P. 9

“Tirana,” privatization scandal P. 7