Minister Malaj celebrates Zani’s birthday When asked about Zani’s birthday, held a few days ago, his associate is silent for a moment, then recounts. Everyone was given ... ON PAGE 4

Committees finance the socialists’ campaign Under the slogans “We want them for Vlora,” communist godfathers are emptying the bags of hundreds of businesspeople, who are now forced to pay ... ON PAGE 3

Multinational forces frighten the gangs Four observation checkpoints have been present over the past two days on the national highway between the capital and Elbasan... ON PAGE 4

. Albanian Democrats yesterday began their new road toward victory in the 29 June elections, while their opponents are trying to undermine a fair and free electoral process, something that would lead them to certain defeat. In Kavaja, Berisha brought back the days of enthusiastic rallies, promising Albanians the long-awaited end of the rebellion and the return of stability and calm to the country, following another victory for the Democratic Party. But while the President announced 29 June as the date for the elections and invited all parties to begin campaigning, the traditional leftists of Albania’s political spectrum and several phantom parties openly declared that they were in favor of blocking the elections. The Socialists cancelled a press conference yesterday because Fatos Nano had nothing to tell the journalists; meanwhile, after the left-wing parties’ meeting at the Palace of Congresses, the politicians, frightened from the very start of the campaign, managed only to say that “we will complain to Vranicki about the electoral law.” PS leader Fatos Nano yesterday demonstrated his party’s usual inferiority when facing the strength of the Albanian Democrats. The fact that the Socialists are trying to hold the elections hostage because of the electoral law is the most eloquent expression of the fear that an equal contest with the Democrats inspires in them. Their hesitation about accepting the race offered by the campaign after the election date was announced is, in fact, the clearest evidence of the Democratic Party’s coming victory. If Nano says he will wait for Fino to decide whether or not to leave the government, or for Vranicki so he can complain about the Democratic Party, the Socialists have already lost the battle at the starting line, and this has nothing at all to do with the law. Complaining to the West is part of the Socialists’ tradition, perhaps dating back to when they changed the name of the Communist Party. But they cannot convince anyone who will be neutral about developments in Albania, since the Democrats have honorably respected all the points of the political agreements that accompanied the crisis in the country. Before complaining about the electoral law, the Socialists should explain to Mr. Vranicki why Prime Minister Fino did not turn his mandate into a prime ministerial proposal and submit his draft to Parliament; indeed, he had not even passed it through the government he leads, even though the deadline was at the end of this period. The answer is very simple: Socialist Fino deliberately delayed the bill in order to create grounds for his party and the other leftists to protest and delay the elections. It is in Mr. Vranicki’s interest to distinguish those who are leading the country toward elections from those undermining the start of a civilized and peaceful campaign by creating a precedent for pre-election tension, as on 26 May. Like in an election campaign, the Democrats are completely confident of victory and of the scale of all elections since 22 March 1992, perhaps also aided by the left’s inferior style. For them, the electoral law matters greatly; the PD’s confidence in another triumph, the PS’s confidence in its prospects, and the consolidation of the alliance of other right-wing democratic forces are among the pillars that will determine their victory, which will be seen in the 29 June elections.

Berisha announces 29 June as the date for the elections ...We will present the emergency program, a program that will aim to quickly repair the damage caused by the rebellion, and we will continue to insist on consolidating the institutions so that no one thinks they can oppose the power arising from the vote through violence and terror......

Five parties sign the electoral alliance . The Union for Democracy is formed. PD, PLL, PDK, PBSD and PBD predict a sweeping victory in the June 29 elections. Yesterday, five parties from the center to the right decided to establish the Union for Democracy, predicting a sweeping victory for this alliance in the June 29 elections. The announcement of the new political alliance between the Democratic Party, the Legality Movement Party, the Christian Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Union Party and the Democratic Union Party, at the start of the election campaign, was for all its signatories a good opportunity to preserve the country’s orientation toward building democracy. At its core is electoral cooperation, under which the parties agree to leave uncontested areas to one another, run joint candidates and present a joint list for the proportional vote. The statement signed by the leaders of the five parties says they will also support one another in the second round of the elections, independently of the decisions of the interparty commission that will coordinate this cooperation. The right-wing and centrist parties have left open the possibility of the National Front Party joining their alliance. In the statement, they commend President Berisha’s initiative to return the electoral law to Parliament, with the aim of expanding opportunities for small parties, lowering the threshold to 2 percent and calculating the proportional vote in a way that favors small parties. A. KOPANI

Thousands of Kavajë citizens support President Berisha. Photo: A. Dhimitri

Malaj: No compensation for those who lost money in the pyramid schemes PS abandons everyone, but certainly not those who helped it cause chaos in Albania. These are not the creditors; rather, in a socialist fashion, their names will replace the names of those who lost their homes in the usury firms. Once again, Malaj is categorically against dipping into Albanians’ pockets. The heavy taxes he has imposed on small traders have not been enough for him, but ... P. 4

The Democratic Party on the electoral law The Democratic Party signed the political agreement of May 9 in the presence of the OSCE envoy, Mr. Vranitzky, being fully committed to honoring the undertakings it had signed, the PD’s statement yesterday said. It included holding elections by the end of June (point 1), approving a law based on a majoritarian system and with a proportional component (point 2), as well as implementing the Anti-Genocide Law (point 5). For the elections to be held on June 29, the latest possible deadline for amending the electoral law had to be May 13, so that the President of the Republic could decree the election date 45 days in advance, as provided by law. By May 12, no law or amendment had been submitted to Parliament either by the Council of Ministers or by any other party, except the Democratic Party. The amendments submitted included all the recommendations made by the Council of Europe and the OSCE concerning improvements to many aspects of the elections, such as the formation and procedures of election commissions, the allocation of television airtime during the campaign, etc. Also, in the spirit of compromise, the law incorporated the maximum proportional component of the 1992 law, added to the majoritarian component of the 1996 law. The threshold for entering Parliament was lowered from 4% to 3%, and the votes cast for parties that failed to reach it would benefit the small parties. The experts and representatives of the OSCE and the Council of Europe were informed and consulted by us about our proposals, the PD statement continues. Although the amendments submitted by the PD were entirely in the spirit of the Political Agreement and were supported by other parties, parliamentary procedure provided other opportunities for amendments submitted by other parties, particularly the PS, to be discussed and possibly adopted. Unfortunately, the Socialist deputies chose to abandon parliamentary cooperation, continuing their old policies. We must not forget that yesterday Parliament also approved a relaxation of the Anti-Genocide Law, something the PS had strongly requested and which had also been included in the Political Agreement. Since the amendments are substantial improvements to the law and create more room for small parties, the PD expresses its conviction that representatives of international organizations, from whom neutrality and objectivity are expected, will assess the law after receiving the experts’ evaluation of its character.

The left-wing parties reject the May 9 agreement The parties of the rebellion front have openly declared themselves against the May 9 agreement. In a joint statement, they call for the May 9 agreement between the political parties to be reviewed. This means that the parties of the Boycott Front are determined to block the holding of elections on June 29 at any cost. Our left-wing parties, for whom the way has been cleared for the June elections, are calling for them to be blocked, rejecting the May 9 agreement between 10 political parties in the presence of Vranicku[?]. Thus, they have finally come out publicly and openly against holding the elections, confirming what has been said repeatedly: the parties of the rebellion are against holding the elections.

Municipal councilors call for a return to normality ON PAGE 2

After the meeting, President Berisha said: “The parties support my initiative for a review of the electoral law, which will again make room for small parties and create a different distribution in their favor, so that small parties can be represented. I think that tomorrow Vranicki will have problems with those who have asked for the agreement to be reviewed. I will tell him that I support implementing the agreement, and the agreement is and remains a document to be implemented. On the basis of the agreement, they announced the election date as June 29, a date which, they said, should strengthen democracy.”