Should Fatos Nano rejoice over this victory? Assessing and presenting as a spectacular victory the result in the 26 July elections, so astonishing and paradoxical to the world, Fatos Nano let loose the reins of his cynical joy and injected it in large doses into his communist-socialist followers. Among those who nearly flew into the air with joy over this “historic” victory was the official and veteran former official Sul Baholli. On the morning of 27 July, he gathered beneath his balcony a large group of idealistic, educated people to announce the voting results to them... And then people are supposed to believe Fatos Nano when he says that the PS has distanced itself from the PP, from communism, and has been renewed— But who really won and who lost? Calculating the total number of votes received by the PS on 26 July shows that those who voted for it were the very same people who gave it their votes on 22 March. As expected, it retained its most stubborn communist electorate and ordered it to go to the polling stations without any fear, persuading them that this victory would deliver a decisive blow to the enemy. Naturally, such was the battle for comrade Fatos, who had known defeats and failures throughout his career. Had he lost on 26 July as well, he would have been the “jinx of Pojan” for the PS and would have had to say goodbye to his long-held position as its chairman. To save his honor and continue his career, he decided to use every weapon, means and method, the rich Enverist legacy, and—whether consciously or in rare moments of sincerity—they have openly spread this when calling for the incitement and support of strikes. But a new political crisis in our country is due solely to the cynical, careerist and anti-national ambitions of Fatos Nano and company, of Milošević and his followers in Belgrade, and of the Northern Epiriots, and not at all to our long-suffering people, cruelly tortured for 47 years by communism and Fatos Nano’s socialism. For now, our people are like someone who has just emerged from a long coma and need a relatively long period of calm to recover. But apparently it has been decreed that as long as communists-socialists are around, they will not see or experience a single peaceful, decent day. For 47 years Enver and Ramiz made their lives miserable; now Fatos Nano has taken up their mission. He has sworn to build his personal paradise on the hell of an entire people. A new political crisis would be a great loss for us as a country and people in the eyes of the world. The world has done its part and continues to do so; it has come to our aid and is extending a hand to pull us out of the abyss into which Fatos Nano’s socialism threw us. If we continue down the dead-end road Fatos is pushing us along, the world will lose patience, turn its back on us, offended, angry and astonished that a country could fail to understand and want what is good for itself, and shut the door in its face when it comes to its doorstep. By no means can we blame or judge everyone who voted for the PS, nor be angry with them or hold a grudge. But we cannot leave unsaid that they are helpless victims of the demagoguery and unforgivable manipulation of the socialists, of the PS’s discredited 47-year-old practices, which make them feel betrayed and let down by the PD merely because its government could not give them in four months what the PP or PS gave them... ... was the final, decisive battle. Naturally, it was one only for comrade Fatos, who had known defeat and failure during PS and would have had to say farewell forever to his comfortable method, the rich Enverist and Ramizist legacy in the fields of demagoguery, deception, manipulation, slander and intrigue, as well as his entire potential as a worthy and creative disciple. His [?] indicate that even before the final official results were known, “victory” was celebrated at Fatos’s home with a grand banquet attended by Gramoz Ruçi, Bashkim Zeneli, Kastrio[t] Islami. So, on 26 July Fatos Nano won. After this, he is calculating how to continue his profoundly anti-national scenario: climbing, at any cost, into one of the highest state offices and regaining for himself and his courtiers the paradise and privileges lost on 22 March. It is clear that Fatos Nano wanted and sought this victory at any cost, not to establish political balance but to create imbalance, to stir the waters even further, to sabotage the reforms of the PD and the inclusion that the blockmen deserved, and to provoke a new political crisis. He and other socialist leaders, who... ... set out toward democracy and a more serious, predominantly political, difficulty for the reform. Afterwards, Mr. Selami answered the many questions from those present. Asked in areas where the Socialist Party defined and regulated by law, regardless of which party wins the local government elections. Asked how it could be explained that the Democratic Party (PD) won in the main areas but lost in the countryside and in been strongholds of democracy and of most developed centers, and the ones bringing Albania closer to Europe. Given that this democratic movement has taken on broad and Albanian nation, and have given shape to this current on the side of progress—a development that help the municipalities and towns municipalities and towns had voted freely for the PS and not for the PD, so they had no reason to seek help from the PD at the local level; instead, they should ask the PS to resolve their problems, since they had given it their vote of confidence.

The PS keeps declaring, through its leaders and spokespeople, that it is against “violations and transgressions that are now being initiated as a final point”? It has tried to threaten that democratic forces are acting against the world, to denigrate democracy and democratic forces by portraying them as acting against the law, trampling it and even violating the Constitution. The truth is quite different, and it hangs like a stone around the necks of the authors of these false and confusing accusations. First, it is easy to recall that the PS itself declared a month ago that it had severed its links with the PP, from whose womb it emerged. It neither submitted a request to the relevant authorities, as required by law, nor considered it necessary to obtain their approval in accordance with the Constitution. Unilaterally and arbitrarily, it is once again registering itself according to the relevant procedure presented and approved by the People’s Assembly for political parties. In fact, it has continued the tradition of the PKSH or the PPSH, from which it also inherited movable and immovable property, of placing itself above the law and ignoring it. Along this path, at an extremely critical historical moment for the fate of democracy and the very existence of the nation, the Socialist Party made efforts through its own organs; its newspaper, “Zëri i popullit,” made a positive appeal last year to the illegal organization “Vullnetarët e Enverit,” which had not been approved by the judicial authorities and sought to plunge the country into an insurrection and civil war. In the same way, recently “ZP” published petitions with destabilizing aims from strike organizations that had not been approved and were carrying out unconstitutional activities. Through “ZP,” the PS thus once again became a shelter and a source of support, an instigator of this activity. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to do this in its well-known newspaper. Indeed, if it felt that someone outside its organization and control had made a mistake, it would have withdrawn part of the material and taken the appropriate measures. But the PS needs tension, it needs a lack of stability, it needs unconstitutional activities, because it feels that within the law its old and new ambitions find no ground. The same is indicated by some “spontaneous” political strikes in districts where the Socialists have won. Their emissaries have reportedly been sent there to propagandize and demand the fall of Mr. Meksi’s government. It is not difficult to understand who benefits from such illegal activities. Albania does not; democracy does not; the people do not. But none of this matters to people and plans devoted to and working from the center of a person of influence, educated and trained in the anti-Albanian and anti-democratic core of Albanian communism. For communists there is only one temple: seizing and holding power by force, by illegal means, at any cost. Losing power is a defeat for them. Illegality is their oxygen cylinder. After losing political power, the Albanian socialist-communists are known to have engaged in all kinds of dubious and unlawful activities to seize key positions in Albania’s weakened economy, in other words, to hold economic power in their hands, secure the greatest possible income, and use speculative ways and means. Along the same lines, in blatant violation of the law, the PS has put its premises up for auction and sold them, even though they are in fact state property placed at its disposal by the government. Thus, a good part of the “ZP” offices have been emptied of their newspaper equipment and either handed over, for a hefty payment, to firms such as “Kristal,” or turned into warehouses for goods unloaded from trucks with TIR plates in front of the “ZP” entrance. The Albanian state, as the rightful owner, may use the designated spaces of “ZP” in its own interests, which are protected by law; the PS, as is quite clear, has other, greater interests that it places above those of the state and the people and that are guaranteed by law. Certainly, the PS has found opportunities and exploited weaknesses to operate in violation of the law and the Constitution. It seems it has still not realized that no political force wishing to operate within the framework of the Constitution is allowed to engage in such activities. This is the ABC of democracy, or of preserving its balance.

. Bulgarian prosecutor Krashimir Zhekov sought a ten-year prison sentence for the ousted communist dictator, Todor Zhivkov, accused of embezzling national wealth. Zhivkov, 80, is accused of misappropriating 26.5 million leva from public funds to buy expensive apartments and Western cars for his family and favored aides. “Since its existence, there has never been anyone in Bulgaria accused of stealing 26.5 million leva,” prosecutor Zhekov told the court. The court will decide toward the end of the week what sentence to impose on Zhevikov. He is accused of giving his relatives and friends 64 Western cars and 123 apartments. Four other charges have also been brought against him: illegally assisting terrorist movements, discriminating against Turks, establishing Stalinist-style labor camps, and destroying the economy. On all these charges, his relatives are under investigation.

- Representatives of students from Tirana’s universities have asked the State Control Commission to carry out an immediate financial audit of the premises of Q. Studenti, where economic corruption is believed to have reached a high level. With no changes to the administrative staff since 1990, corruption has been encouraged and permitted by the dictatorial managers, in complete contradiction of the principles of democracy and the character of the student environment. This year alone, more than 20 percent of the basic materials needed for ordinary student life have been damaged or stolen. The substantial fish stocks off our sea coasts are being seriously depleted by the high-capacity harvesting of modern foreign vessels. The economic profitability of our fishing enterprises lies in exporting fish to the markets of other countries, where selling prices are high, but illegal exploitation by foreign vessels from abroad, which are unauthoriz— (Continued on page 4)

Meetings of the chairman of the PD, Mr. Eduard Selami, in the district of Mirdita - RUBIK - Speaking at the meeting, the chairman of the PD, Mr. Eduard Selami, after thanking everyone who voted for the PD and democracy on 28 July, emphasized that the democratic forces of Rubik should go out and vote for democracy and persuade the approximately 35 percent of the electorate who did not vote to return to the ballot boxes, because democracy needs them. “I am sure,” Mr. Selami said, “that many of those who did not vote on 26 July have regretted it after seeing the initial election results, because they have realized that the struggle for democracy’s final victory is not over and that it needs everyone’s help and contribution. I appeal to all of you who did not vote to vote at the ballot boxes, so that democracy may be strengthened and, as on 22 March, the year may be turned around.” Focusing on the results in Mirdita and analyzing some of the causes of these losses, the chairman of the PD emphasized that these results pose a threat to democracy and constitute a further serious political difficulty for the reform. Mr. Selami then answered the many questions from those present. In response to the question of how relations between local and central government would be regulated in areas where the PS had won, Mr. Selami replied that these relations are defined and governed by law, regardless of which party wins local government. Asked why the PD wins in the main areas but loses in the countryside and small towns, Mr. Selami replied that the main cities, such as Tirana, Kavaja, Shkodra, Korça, Durrësi, Elbasani, Vlora, etc., had been centers of democracy and support for the PD since its beginnings. These are the most developed centers and the best prepared for the new democratic and progressive processes of bringing Albania closer to Europe. Since this democratic movement has assumed vast national dimensions, we must acknowledge that these cities have historically been the most enlightened and politically conscious part of the Albanian nation, which has given stature to this cause on the side of progress, as is happening now as well. Asked whether the PD would help the communes and municipalities communes and municipalities had freely voted for the PS, not the PD; therefore, they should not seek help from the PD at the local level, but should ask the PS, which they entrusted with their votes, to solve their problems. Asked whether he thought 26 July had been a “soap revolution,” the chairman of the PD replied that the expression “soap counter-revolution” symbolizes the great difficulties and their negative politicization on 26 July, but he thought that the results of 26 July should not be identified solely with these inherited economic difficulties. IN MIRDITA Mirdita has been one of the centers of culture and Albanian identity; it has been an example of communist resistance against the Albanian people. Therefore, the election results sound very strange here in Mirdita. I fully agree that Rrëshen should be a municipality, and I think it was right to take this possibility away from Mirdita. The elections here could have been better organized, since many people were left unregistered. We seek the help and support of all young people and intellectuals on this new path we have embarked upon. We assure you that this new path is the best and most successful one for Albania. The chairman of the PD then answered the many questions from those present. Asked why he did not accept a coalition with the PS, Mr. Selami replied: “We do not accept a coalition with the PS because we consider it the heir and continuation of the PP. On the other hand, we have already tried a coalition with the PS and it failed. Although the PS tries to justify its request for a coalition in terms of the national interest, it is precisely in the interests of the nation that we refuse a coalition with the PS, because we want genuine democracy in Albania, not a democratic farce. The PS would do well to fulfill the promises it made in the areas where it won, because the time when it pulled chestnuts out of the fire with other people’s hands is over.” Asked whether the election results would have a negative impact on the progress of reform and what the international opinion was of these elections, Mr. Selami replied: “This result will certainly affect the progress of reform and will have a negative impact of its own. But how it will do so will become clearer when this government begins to function. As for reactions and the impact on relations with others, no official reaction has yet been expressed; but it should be said that, given the particular nature of local government, these elections do not have a major influence on government circles or international relations. However, I think that the disruption of the political balance at the local level in favor of the former communists will be one more reason for concern, especially for serious foreign investors.”

NOTHING AT ALL. Nothing, because it is not capable of building the future; it is capable only of speculating on its own communist-parasitic mindset which, through no fault of yours but at its own expense, it inherited from the past. With terms such as “bread,” “oil,” “soap,” “prices,” “enemy of the people,” “criminals,” “overthrown classes,” “class struggle,” and “authentic reversal of Enverist strategy,” it is presenting your future in a single word, while it has no other promise of its own. At most, it can promise you only the past—the wounds you carry in your souls. DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE DESTRUCTIVE DE-MAGOGUERY OF THE PS! God, too, has come to our aid. May His light guide us as we cleanse the country of the plague of communism... The present is the brief pain you must endure in the face of the endless socialist terror. Can there be a birth without pain?! The present is not a reflection of the future promised by the PD and all the genuine democratic forces. IF YOU WANT YOUR FU-TURE, VOTE FOR THEM!