21/09/1999
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Koha Jonë

21 September 1999

America’s tycoons, dinner with Meidani

Soros gathers billionaires to assess the investment landscape in Albania. Ollbrajt and Klinton the President’s first hosts. page 5 Soros gathers billionaires to assess the investment landscape in Albania America’s tycoons, dinner with Meidani Ollbrajt and Klinton the President’s first hosts page 5

The PD’s victory over Berisha begins

. The Durrës conference was the great hope for the PD’s return to power. “We can no longer be led by former communists.” This statement by Xhaferri, a close ally of Pollo, seems to have awakened understanding within the PD. And the great former communist, Berisha, has lost miserably, while Durrës has shown that it remains a stronghold of democracy, as it was in the early years of pluralism. The same is expected of the conferences in the other major cities, to bring down once and for all the old edifice of communism, Sali Berisha. Pollo is moving confidently toward victory in the PD, as the only alternative capable of bringing this party to power. Very few predictions had favored the new candidate for chairman, but after the Durrës conference, the odds are increasingly in Pollo’s favor. What happened in Durrës shows that the early democrats, the idealists of the early ’90s, are still active in the PD: they did not want the party to be taken over, but to develop; they wanted a Democratic Party that would govern for as long as possible in order to achieve Albania’s integration with Western democracies. Durrës rekindled their hopes, and the beautiful Jalli is expected to confirm this, followed by all the major cities, which brought democracy into being amid difficulties and have continued to uphold it firmly to this day. Everyone is waiting impatiently, after the disappointment of the old governments, for a new politics to come knocking and for them to breathe like Europeans. Everyone has their eyes on the promise of the developments in the PD, following the impressive showing in Durrës. Everyone is waiting for a true future, without Berisha’s compromises with the left. Everyone is waiting for Justice to be restored, for Berisha to be held accountable for the millions he rewarded himself with, and for the democracy he rewarded with his own gang. With their minds on the PD, Berisha and his gang are waiting. With their minds on the PD, the early democrats are waiting for the mediocre figures Berisha is putting forward not to win, but for the intellectual and new figures Pollo is putting forward to prevail. After Durrës, it is clear that Berisha will begin using every means of manipulation to prevent democracy from winning in the other cities; the PD’s dictator will launch a fierce campaign to prevent the party from coming to power, because only in opposition can he be chairman of the PD. This is precisely the moment when the early democrats and idealists must get involved by every means to stop Berisha from making a mockery of the activists and deceiving them yet again. This is the most critical moment for the PD. In 9 days, the journey toward the future and power will begin.

School begins, flowers and packages in children’s hands

. page 21

AMC in Germany, Albania in the EU

On the eve of Schröder’s visit, a project is needed The German Chancellor’s visit to Albania should find the Albanian government with concrete projects, so that it can move beyond fine words. And it seems that the large delegation Schröder will bring with him will have as its objective precisely Germany’s economic entry into Albania. The first step appears to focus on the purchase of Albania’s mobile phone company (AMC) by German Telekom. This would bring a surge of German business investment into Albania, as well as a step toward the European Union with German support. This idea is supported by the Albanian ambassador in Germany, Bashkim Zeneli. page 7

Majko should be open with the Prosecutor’s Office

Yesterday at the General Prosecutor’s Office, Pandeli Majko, still Prime Minister of Albania, filed a complaint over the article in “Koha Jonë”, in which he was accused of abusing his power in favor of his father-in-law. Yesterday at the General Prosecutor’s Office, Pandeli Majko, still Prime Minister of Albania, filed a complaint over the article in “Koha Jonë”, in which he was accused of abusing his power in favor of his father-in-law, Shoshi. The newspaper’s editorial staff is open to the justice system, should criminal proceedings begin, presenting it with two complete files of facts and documents that substantiate our public allegation. However, we note that Prime Minister Majko would do well not only to issue a public apology, but also to be more careful with the press and not imitate Berisha of 1992–1997. We make it clear that, had the newspaper been mistaken, it would have been right for it to apologize publicly and be punished under the law; but unfortunately, the file against such a small prime minister as the young Majko is very large. If the Prime Minister wants to be transparent, let him publish the documents from the State Supreme Audit or declare that his father-in-law is the lawyer for the private company about which the newspaper accused him. Naturally, we have criticized the Prime Minister because we want him to be fairer and better, so that all of us can be governed equally. Nevertheless, “Koha Jonë” has been critical of Meksi and Nano, and now of Majko as well. We are in opposition to every government, whether it belongs to the PD or the PS. Better to face lawsuits than to be sycophants of those in power. The editorial staff of “Koha Jonë”