Brojka meets with residents of Zone 57 in the capital. Prime Minister Meksi in attendance Brojka meets with residents of Zone 57 in the capital. Prime Minister Meksi in attendance A city infrastructure development plan coming soon In focus: the model for the future municipal employee, “capable and honest” PAGE 2

Berisha and Shehu in Korçë, Devoll, Pogradec, Librazhd, Kavajë Korçë On May 26, we chose the integration of democracy after 50 years of dictatorship, while the Enverists of the PS sought to sabotage it and incite Albanians against one another. Taking advantage of the breadth of democracy, they issued calls to occupy the streets and squares and to fight one another. These calls were part of scenarios for its successful future on the political scene. Korçë: Left-wing voters should break away from the adventurers of May 26 They boycotted them. They had the boycott as their last card, with which these adventurers believed they could make their accusation against the DP, democracy and Albania more credible. According to them, by not being present during the vote count, the Socialist electorate would believe them.

President Berisha received Mr. Claude Haegi The regional and local authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Claude Haegi. “The elections of October 20 will be free and fair,” President Berisha emphasized at the meeting. “The government has taken all the measures for an electoral process meeting European standards, which will take place in the presence of hundreds of foreign and domestic observers. I express my gratitude to the Council of Europe and your institutions,” President Berisha said, “for the assistance you have provided and the cooperation we have established.” For observing and coordinating the observation of the local elections of October 20, we have chosen your institution as the international institution most specialized in this field. Regarding the opposition’s claims that polling hours would change, President Berisha emphasized: “No request has been submitted to change polling hours. The law will be fully respected.” Mr. Haegi spoke positively of all the efforts made by the government and political forces in these elections. The President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, received the President of the Congress of the Council of Europe’s regional and local authorities, Mr. Claude Haegi.

… on May 26, we chose the integration of democracy after 50 years of dictatorship, while the Enverists of the PS sought to sabotage it and incite Albanians against one another. … another. These calls were part of their scenarios to destroy Albania’s streets. They thought that with the violence they created they would undermine Albanian democracy. But Europe punished them, gave them the place they deserved as underminers of democracy, did not support them, and abandoned them. Thousands and thousands of residents of Tirana, Korçë, Pogradec, Elbasan, Prrenjas and Kavajë supported President Berisha’s invitation on Sunday to vote on May 26 for a resounding victory for the Democratic Party. The only swift alternative for a distinguished democratic Albania, and all the candidates in its name, have been valued at these meetings as … communication with the Front …, which has been noticeably abandoned by the electorate and more isolated than … Europe. President Berisha assured the electorate in these … that the step-by-step implementation of the … renewal would leave the … Democratic Party a party that … the future, an alternative … for all Albanians. Berisha guaranteed that … of local government and … of the levels of governance … would make it possible to … the problems of … Albanians, giving Albania the face of … 2000. …: The DP is … the … contract … with this … Municipality … and …, said President … Berisha held an electoral rally organized on Sunday in the town of Bilisht. You have supported and continue to support the DP. Naturally, I do not ignore criticism, because the DP has a contract with you, the renewal contract. We have understood this very clearly. You have supported us on the condition that we renew ourselves, because you want us to remain a party of the future. That is why we are renewing our parliamentary group, renewing local government and the party structures, because only in this way will we remain a party of the future, of your aspirations. Introducing to the electorate of Devoll Mr. Avdyl Spahiu, the DP candidate for mayor of Bilisht, President Berisha said that your future mayor is one of the founders of the DP in Devoll, a well-known intellectual, honest and devoted to democracy. He will be a candidate who will have the support of the Democratic Government for the problems Bilisht has or will face, such as urban development, sewerage, telecommunications, schooling, etc. He is one of the intellectuals, one of the best candidates presented by the DP in the entire history of local government in Albania, and I am convinced that you will vote for him, for the alternative of the future. While denouncing the anti-national act of the May 26 boycott, President Berisha drew a certain parallel with events in Armenia, where the Communists indeed did not leave the elections or the vote count, but the next day they were the ones who carried out the bloodshed. Albanian Socialists wanted to do the same after their crushing defeat on May 26. It was the wisdom of the people that kept them from following them, the President noted. Neither 10 people from Devoll, nor 10 from Shkodër, nor 10 from Korçë, nor 10 Albanians answered their calls to occupy the squares. This was the electorate’s rejection of the Red Front. In closing, Berisha invited the people of Devoll, like all Albanians, to vote for the DP candidates and make October 20 Albania’s day of reckoning. The DP chairman, Tritan Shehu, said in his greeting that Democrats were convinced that on October 20 an even greater victory than on May 26 would be secured, because the DP was entering the local elections after a historic victory. The scale of this victory would also grow because our opponent, the extremist left grouped in the Red Front, is now more than ever taken over by conservatives and is more than ever characterized by aggressiveness and political ignorance. The Socialist Front has nothing left but its red slogans, while the DP is more certain than ever of should break away from the adventurers of May 26 “The Socialists’ program offers no alternative for Korçë,” said, among other things, in his greeting, Bujar Isak, chairman of the DP district branch in Korçë. The Socialist left is alien to the people of Korçë because it stands for regression, the past and dictatorship; therefore, on October 20 Korçë will vote for the DP, for its candidates, for the alternative that promises development, prosperity, security and Western civilization. Korçë will remain inseparably linked to the DP. Addressing this rally, President Berisha expressed his gratitude to the people of Korçë for the strong support they had given the DP since the first days of its founding. Korçë’s support, Berisha said, had been one of the most decisive and important factors in all the DP’s achievements. On October 20, too, Korçë would know how to protect what it had achieved in these four years as a democracy, thanks to its freedom-loving and industrious traditions. The May 26 election campaign, Berisha continued, was the most civilized campaign Albanians had ever seen in their history. Two alternatives faced one another there: the one of construction and integration into Europe, and the alternative of denial and the brutalization of democracy. On May 26 Albanians showed that they had nothing in common with Communism, since their vision had been and remained the West. The Enverists, however, in a cowardly and immoral act, walked out in the middle of the election and boycotted it. DP, democracy and Albania more credible. They thought that, by not being present at the vote count, the Socialist electorate would believe their boycott. On the contrary, they suffered a defeat far deeper than the one their own electorate had dealt them on May 26. Ordinary Socialists despised the sinister calls to occupy the streets and squares. On May 26, the Socialists of Korçë and all Albania voted as free citizens in a free country, because the DP’s alternative is the alternative of the future, the alternative of Albania, not of the boycott. Did the Enverist adventurers ask their electorate when they decided not to count the votes? The truth is that they did not ask them, but trampled on their trust. For four years, the Socialists of Korçë and all Albania had welcomed and seen off these adventurers in good faith, thinking that they upheld Western social-democratic principles, but May 26 was the great disappointment, Berisha said. Albanian morality is one and indivisible, the President went on to say. It does not allow you to accuse another person when you have always worked alongside them. In any case, what matters is that we learn from the consequences and do not follow the adventurers, because they have taken this position for four years. In Parliament they voted against every law on which free enterprise was based; they voted against human freedoms and rights, ultimately going so far as to provoke social conflict among Albanians. That is why I invite all of you to engage in a vigorous dialogue with the Socialist electorate in the coming days. We are not a miracle, but … continued on page 3

Nano on his knees before Alia PAGE 3

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At the Seventh Conference on Security and Cooperation Issues PAGE 2