Yesterday the prime minister faced the protests and threats from the Socialists of Berat over backroom dealings against Nano Berat, an anti-Nano challenge Majko arrives with the emergency meeting of the PS Presidency, declares: “Tomorrow I will go to see Nano. He remains our leader” Page 5 Minister Koçi, crucified In recent years, especially after the events of 1997, he has been carrying out every order, law and decision. He has carried out every order, law and decision handed down by the top leaders of the secret service. Even the strangest ones. They send him to the top of the Gjadër airfield to resolve the land conflict with 29 villagers. And, as if that were not enough, they drag him into the most absurd intelligence operations. He is sent to the prefecture in Shkodër with a question raised by the opposition. He is ordered onto a speedboat to go to Shëngjin to catch a boat carrying clandestine emigrants. He is sent every hour with all the observers and 29 Kosovar commando forces allegedly in possession of electoral material. He is put at the head of the operation to catch the Fier protesters. He is asked to deal with their Macedonian guards. “Barely alive,” the opposition complains in its descriptions, with the representatives of the police. Madly. No one can do more than what belongs to him and go beyond it, sometimes even to the point of ridicule. He has been an enemy for his political opponents. At the same time, in resolving matters, he has always acted in the name of the state and order. He acted by order of the State and in the name of enforcing the law. He has been in charge of expert groups. He was the one placed on top of things. Why then should his name be used? Or as a tendency, putting him there by one’s own orders and for order? One of the issues in recent days has been such that, after the absurd order from Shtylla, he was forced to arrest and execute 29 Kosovar villagers. Since one man alone has endured two more years. Until 29 January, when the Kosovar forces arrived secretly with all their equipment in place. And in the name of law and order enforcement, he was their executioner. He may have done it consciously, he carried it out for the sake of the state. Not because of some absurd order. Edi Rama may make it ridiculous with his art. The foreign press may call it a murder under mysterious circumstances. But Minister Koçi has been crucified, because he was the executor of the order and of the law of the Albanian state. That is why he has never been mentioned for anything else. It seems they are preparing the next sacrifice. Not for what he has done and what he should have done. But because of the position and symbol he holds. In this way they are trying to strike at the entire Ministry of Public Order and its functioning. This is dangerous. In the end, it does not matter whether one day in Albania there will again be a minister like Koçi or not. The problem is that the state cannot function on the basis of political likes and dislikes. If we do that, then we will truly be very far from the law and the state. The 1997 February demonstration in Vlorë

LACOMKASE - Exchanges of maneuvers for every situation. Police forces arrived before the conference began and blocked the village road, while the residents of Lazarat would not give way even with words. Further on, the village turned rebellious and the residents of Lazarat themselves, outraged by the government’s stance toward them, clashed with the police. In this clash there were many citizens with flowers and stones. “The work stinks,” they said with irony as they blocked the entrance road. The residents of the “Llofte” quarter took steps to remove the law-enforcement forces. The government’s plan to seal off Lazarat was opposed. Some government representatives were threatened and the police fell silent. The elder of Lazarat came out before the residents and called for calm. Then the group entered Lazarat to meet the village leaders. The residents of the “Mënxhës” quarter, on the other hand, gathered and blocked the village’s main road. Later, from the center of the village, representatives of the neighborhoods and residents gathered again to ask for explanations from the government delegation. From these discussions, the government delegation left immediately and the road blockade was reinforced. Then, by order of the local police leaders, the law-enforcement forces withdrew. Caught in this tense situation, deputy Spartak Braho, minister Petro Koçi, and the head of SHIK, Arben Rakipi, ran out of Lazarat. The residents of the “Banorët” [?] quarter, then other groups, continued to keep the road blocked. In the end they shut us out, they told us by the resident’s hand, then the other groups remained and escorted them out of the city with whistles. In the evening they were told that 46 cars with foreign license plates from Gjirokastra had been circulating, entering the village. The mobilization of the residents was immediate and Prime Minister Majko turned back from the Kardhiq road without reaching Lazarat.

Tomorrow begins the big teachers’ strike In order to find a solution to the situation created between the Ministry of Education and the unionized teachers, during yesterday evening in the capital, the Minister of Education Ethem Ruka called for the second time the leaders of TY KOH-A [sic]. Asked by the newspaper “KOHA Jonë” whether there would be talks or not with the unions, the Minister of TV KOHA declared that he is ready for talks, but that instead of the education union, the leaders of the FSSH should be present. On the union side, the unionists declared that the general teachers’ strike will begin on Monday. Senior leaders of this union also made this known. Asked by the newspaper “KOHA Jonë”, they stated that no concession has been made by the government, all the more so because it lacks seriousness in the negotiations. According to them, the government has not taken seriously the teachers’ demand for a 20% salary increase as well as several other demands. The education union promises broad participation and a victory for the unions; for its part, the government has still not stated its public position. Meanwhile, it has been publicly declared that TV KOHA will not bring down the government and will not make sacrifices. In addition, Minister Ruka expressed that this will be the government’s last opportunity to talk with the teachers. At the same time, the union has warned that the strike will continue until their demands are met.

Yesterday evening, precisely at the time of the news broadcast on the private television station “KOHA TV”, on another television station “TV”, one of the satellite channels was airing the broadcast of the television station “KOHA TV”, and one of the satellite channels was simultaneously carrying the same program. This meant that the program was not transmitted properly and constant disruptions appeared on the screen. The persons responsible at TV KOHA made it known that this was a deliberate interference and not a technical malfunction. According to them, this has happened before as well, especially during the evening part when the news is broadcast. The southeastern area of Tirana [unclear text], in order to uncover this sabotage, the persons responsible are trying to identify the entire signal and find the source of this interference. We emphasize that TV KOHA is the only Albanian private television that covers around 80% of the country’s territory. According to the statement of its owners, such interference harms not only the broadcast but also the normal functioning of this station. Sian Bashkurti at KOHA