A deserved, but frightening, victory for the SP: OSCE, ODIHR and the Council of Europe recognize the election results The Socialists won for the first time under Prime Minister Meta and because of Berisha’s fault page 3

By Edi Lesi With the closing of the first round of the local elections, the scenario passed almost entirely into the hands of the absolute winners. These elections, which produce a new local governing majority, shifted in favor of the left. The notion that the authors of this victory are, without a doubt, the weight of the administration in the municipalities and of local democrats, proved decisive on the political scene. Whereas a year earlier, with the first crisis over Kosovo, all the parties that bore responsibility for the crisis lost. Besides those who took part in the first round of these elections, Albanians also voted for a new opposition. It would truly be fatal if this entry into the millennium still leaves Albanians at the stage of moving backward. For all those young people who have not properly experienced what it means to live under a regime that destroys the future for the sake of the present, these elections could provide at least some degree of reflection and a form of political awareness. Everyone feels that the power that won has taken it. Certainly, the future government will resemble the model of a normal left more than an adventure. What will the Albanians’ choice resemble? If democracy has worked, and if we also have a worthy opposition, this victory for the left should produce a stable local government, a possibility that in every case ensures relative calm and is similar to other countries in transition. If the preliminary results of these elections are translated into a clear and undisputed victory for the left, responsibility for this will lie not only with the opponents but also with the winners themselves. A rotation that on the one hand produces a functional opposition and on the other responsible governments is the best news the country can receive. If there are enough reasons in the arithmetic for the representatives of the right to be held accountable, then this year’s local elections can also serve as the cause for a necessary renewal of the conservative camp. It would truly be fatal if this entry into the millennium still leaves Albanians at the stage of moving backward. At the very least, the local election process of 1 October, closely followed by the international community, should become part of a new political culture and an acceptable model for the future.

Berisha: The elections are manipulated

The only station in Albania that broadcast every minute of the progress and results of the local elections 53 journalists in the districts and 21 in Tirana were at the television station’s disposal page 2

Today “KJ” with 24 pages We apologize, dear readers, because our issue no. 210 of Tuesday (shortened from the Tirana Conference?) we published in separate computer printouts[?], so today they come out in 24 pages We apologize once again, without trying to make a citizens’ edition of the newspaper available on the market today.

TIRANA Tel: ++355 4 234-170 PRISTINA Tel: ++381 385 49901 DIBRA STREET, 91

8 October 2000 5 tele-bingo with 6 MILLION each Mega-Bingo with 5 MILLION Super-Bingo with 1.5 MILLION And lots of other surprises!