In the name of the lives of children, of the black-veiled mothers, and of people who want guarantees for their safety, the Albanian Police must kill all criminals without a trembling hand. And there are many: 1,300 criminals wanted by the police. So, a bullet to the forehead! Yesterday, the director of the Shkodër Police Directorate, Colonel Arben Zylyftari, was killed by two dangerous bandits. The number of police officers killed in three years has reached 151 page 3 - Colonel Arben Zylyftari, killed yesterday in Shkodër

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA The procedures for selecting candidates for the local government elections...

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA The procedures adopted by the country's two main political forces for selecting candidates for the local government elections could hardly fail to provoke reactions among their smaller allies. Thus, the Socialists, after making an effort to find out the preferences of their grassroots, left the decision on the names of the candidates to the Presidium, which saw fit not to “make a fuss” about accommodating the allies—even the Social Democrats of Gjinushi, with whom plans had been made to merge, if only by a hair’s breadth. After the problems that arose during three years of coalition life, the Socialist leaders realized that, by maintaining relations with their minor allies on the basis of the mentality prevailing until now, they risked widening the rift with the party grassroots beyond repair. For its part, the Democratic Party, by deciding to leave its branches all the powers concerning the selection of candidates for local government, is mainly aiming to energize and put its local structures to effective use. In this way, the allies of the DP in the “Union for Democracy” have every hope of receiving some alms through the votes of the opposition’s largest party extinguished once and for all. And, bearing this in mind, by leaving everything in the hands of the grassroots structures, Berisha is freed from any obligation, even a moral one, toward his allies of the past three years. Yesterday’s revolt by leading Democrat Bushati, as well as the voices coming from Gjinushi’s camp, where the feeling of divorce is dominant, express their concern at being forced to stop playing under the “umbrella” of the big parties. But in reality, by giving them the opportunity to measure their own strength, the two “big parties” have done their allies an enormous service, since until now they have played the role of a parasitic factor. For example, although it may be somewhat late, faced with the need for votes, the leaders of these parties will be compelled to rush to their branches, first to see how many soldiers they have behind them to face the current electoral contest and then to organize them so they can compete with a minimum of dignity. But most importantly, under the circumstances, the small parties are given a chance to create an identity and personality of their own, which until now have been nonexistent as a result of their being the “tail” of the big parties. The possibility of forming groups without the participation of the SP and DP is not excluded either; this could be seen as the embryo of the much-discussed “third force.” And if alliances with the big parties were to be considered after the elections, the “small ones” could enter them with their own strength, capable of changing the balance. But the discontent, even panic, that is spreading among them shows that they are more afraid of the realization of a final scenario.

as manipulated “The Italians’ speedboat crashed into the rock” Our inflatable boat swerved and did not touch the Guardia di Finanza vessel at all “The Italian Mafia executes people with Albanian weapons and throws them away so nothing turns up in the investigations. You don’t know how investigations are conducted over there; they’re not like our prosecutors...” page 13 An eyewitness describes the deaths of two Italian police officers as manipulated

They use them to irrigate the land The police carry out checks and catch the offenders page 19

Colonel Arben Zylyftari, killed yesterday in Shkodër