The Minister accuses local government chiefs and the DP deputy of cooperating with gangs From Kruja, the head of Public Order warns of a fierce election campaign page 7

By GAVROSH LEVONJA At long last, Socialist leader Nano has remembered the significant role played by the party’s grassroots, ordering the people at the top of the SP to go down to the grassroots as a matter of obligation. It is an undeniable fact that the grassroots of the largest party in the governing coalition, since the SP came to power, have not only cooled their relations with the central leadership, but, worse still, their activity has been stifled. The unjustified division of power with the smaller allies dealt the first blow to the ties between the party’s center and its grassroots. Most rank-and-file Socialists, especially in districts that had been opposition strongholds during Berisha’s government, felt disappointed when they saw PAD and PSD politicians in important posts—a situation that had led to the sacrifice of quite a few capable people active in the SP’s structures. Second, Nano himself, while trying to present himself as a modern politician with slogans such as “inclusiveness,” and treating party activists with contempt, contributed significantly to deepening the gulf between the grassroots and the center. On the other hand, confident that they would no longer be driven from their comfortable offices and seats, many Socialist leaders no longer give a thought to the concerns and problems of ordinary Socialists, who, like most of the population, would suffer the consequences of the incompetence and misdeeds of officials who had secured their positions thanks to their votes. Moreover, those Socialists who joined the state apparatus ignored the party’s grassroots organizations as well, failing to take part in their activities. By then they had forgotten that without these votes they could no longer remain in power, and the day of reckoning would not be long in coming. Under these circumstances, ordinary Socialists would soon abandon the idea that their leaders had supposedly thought only of themselves. The creation of such relations left the Socialist electorate indifferent, or even turned it into a silent opposition to some of those in power. But such a situation could only play into the hands of Berisha’s opposition, which is effectively exploiting the card of the discrediting of the electoral promises made by Nano and the other leaders of the coalition three years ago. And now, with little time remaining before the local elections, Nano—more aware than the others of the defections, and above all of the negative impact that detachment from the party’s grassroots would have on the election results—has sounded the alarm, ordering his associates to travel out to the grassroots. However, it is not known whether this order from the Socialist leader, too, will remain mere words, as has happened so far, for example, with the implementation of the party statute.

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Interview with Luan Pobratin — pages 16-17 -- pages 16-17 --

Today at 15:30 at the “Qemal Stafa” stadium Today, the two second-division teams, Besëlidhja of Lezhë and Besa of Kavajë, will face each other to determine the second-division champion, who will play in the first division next season. The losing team will face the Elbasan team to decide definitively which second team will enter the first league. The match will be filmed in its entirety by the TV station TV KOHA. According to information from the Lezhë city hall, more than 10,000 fans may arrive from the city of Lezhë, hoping to see the cup end up in Lezhë.