A final decision by the Majko government. By the end of the year, Albania should be cleared of kiosks All kiosks will be removed The Minister of Finance achieved three successes: secures 20 million ECU from the European Union, wins IMF approval for the reform, and approves the new Customs Code Pages 4, 8, 9

Berisha leaves the "ball" in the PS camp The agreement methodology is now being discussed in a closed meeting at the Brryli complex, where the leadership of the Socialist parliamentary group meets. This means that yesterday the mediation of the chairman of the Socialist Party, Pandeli Majko, had been silently accepted by both political rivals, Berisha and Nano, in order to find the formula for resolving the crisis. At least the Socialist chairman has appeared in the way Ramiz Alia likes, and he undoubtedly welcomes it as a positive development. Let us see what happens in the coming days, and especially on Monday, when a meeting of the three chairmen is expected at the new blue headquarters. Saliu minimizes the "Nano" debate in a moment of exercise in Photo F. Haxhislami [?]

The agreement methodology is now being discussed in a closed meeting at the Brryli complex, where the leadership of the Socialist parliamentary group meets. This means that yesterday the mediation of the chairman of the Socialist Party, Pandeli Majko, had been silently accepted by both political rivals, Berisha and Nano, in order to find the formula for resolving the crisis. At least the Socialist chairman has appeared in the way Ramiz Alia likes, and he undoubtedly welcomes it as a positive development. Let us see what happens in the coming days, and especially on Monday, when a meeting of the three chairmen is expected at the new blue headquarters. At Wednesday’s meeting the leadership of the group will be forced to make the final decision, based on the proposals of its experts, which it will announce publicly. It even seems that the rules for dialogue with the opposition to resolve the crisis will be defined there. At first glance, it seemed that, at least for a few days, until the opposition and ruling forums met, the issue of the three-party meeting would remain on the back burner, and with it the hope of giving the country’s political developments a political solution would also be postponed. But yesterday’s developments in Tirana and the presence of an American expert in the latest developments give hope that the first move is expected very soon. If the leader of the largest opposition party accepts Pandeli Majko’s mediation, then he has put the ball in the socialists’ court. In this way it is clear that he expects them to provide the solution, but not so much as to leave him room later to go beyond the compromise and accuse the majority. If there is such a signal, then on Monday or Tuesday the three-party meeting is expected to be held in the office of the chairman of the Socialist parliamentary group, chaired by the current chairman of the PS leadership, Pandeli Majko. This meeting may be preceded by a meeting of the Socialist leadership, where the main points of the agreement and the requests of opposition officials will be discussed. In fact, this way of resolving things does nothing more than prepare the ground for a new political pact, which in the future will have important consequences for Albanian political life. If it is reached, this pact will also bring changes in the functioning of Parliament, the government, and all the main state institutions. If there are still people who doubt the possibility of compromise, recent developments are making them think otherwise. In Tirana yesterday, there were numerous movements of politicians and intermediaries, which suggest that work is under way on an agreement. In this context, the role of foreign experts and ambassadors could be decisive in taking the process toward a positive outcome. In the days ahead, it remains to be seen to what extent the parties will stick to moderate tones and whether harsh rhetoric will give way to concrete negotiations. At this point, public opinion as a whole expects not only signals but also measurable steps. If a compromise is reached, it could mark the beginning of a new stage in Albanian politics, where constant confrontation is replaced by institutional dialogue. But if it fails, the country will once again remain in a state of prolonged uncertainty. A.N.

The solidarity tax will be paid The conflict between the Ministry of Public Order and the Ministry of Finance is resolved For several months AMC has had problems with mobile phones because of theft, as public order and calm in Tirana have deteriorated day by day. The Ministry of Public Order feels this more than anyone else. Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Finance Agron Musaraj met with the Minister of Public Order, Ilir Konomi, and promised and received the judge of the tax and the judges. It was loudly trumpeted yesterday that the conflict between the two ministries had been set aside and the rules for paying the police had been established. Meanwhile, a number of public order directors had received orders from their minister not to issue any invoice for payment of the solidarity tax. This situation arose after some of the police officers serving in the nearest units decided to declare that their payment should come from state funds and not from the solidarity tax. Up to this point, nothing new. In fact, the Minister of Public Order Kogjaku and the Minister of Finance Anastas Angjeli are interested in the standards of payment for the police and in the discipline that the administration must maintain. This problem became public after a series of statements and counterstatements that suggested a strong clash between the two institutions. Ultimately yesterday the parties raised joint claims and, according to sources, a compromise was reached for the solidarity tax to be paid. In line with this compromise, payments will be made according to a new scheme that will be specified by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Order in the coming days. Sources close to these institutions said the decision aims to avoid misunderstandings and ensure the normal functioning of police structures. Page 3

In its transformation, everything seemed easy and with the acceptable stealthy precision, it tries to achieve a different subtext, not only much more intelligent, but presented with an ordering in the logic of the issues. Although strange, what it really aimed to do was to give the nearly editorial face of the newspaper, but the ambiguities that follow it in relation to AMC had to be placed in a clearer discussion. The changes, especially in dealing with the issue of effective private stations, tried to draw public attention to modernization issues, but in any case the General Director of AMC is facing a climate of distrust. For several months AMC has had problems with mobile phones because of theft, as public order and calm in Tirana have deteriorated day by day. The Ministry of Public Order feels this more than anyone else. Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Finance Agron Musaraj met with the Minister of Public Order, Ilir Konomi. In this way, it is believed that a new crisis in relations between the institutions has been avoided. Having the authority of the AMC director, he is exercising[?] the day of the council[?], while looking at the authorization of entry and circulation in several urban areas, a measure that seems linked to the control of suspicious vehicles. Nevertheless, the many interpretations of his role and obligations toward other institutions have brought a new wave of debate in public opinion. A.V.

The campaign against stolen cars begins The Ministry of Public Order authorizes the moment with the Prosecutor’s Office Page 2