With just 10 days to go before the elections, the Socialists’ stubbornness in holding the party roundtable hostage by refusing to sign the social pact is directly proportional to the escalating terror inflicted by PS gangs throughout the country. The Socialists are trying to run down the clock and avoid taking even formal responsibility for stopping the violence and bloodshed that are staining the electoral campaign with the crimes of their armed groups. Several dozen people have been killed; Nano’s historic terror has gripped several southern cities, while violence and direct pressure on Democratic Party structures are increasing in many cities. Vlora, which bore the heaviest burden of the Communist rebellion, feels the smell of gunpowder and insecurity more keenly than anywhere else, following Nano’s rally in Flag Square, where, among other things, he dropped the super-deceptive bombshell of the blank cheque. DP rallies are being broken up with guns and bombs, while its candidates are being blocked at gunpoint by PS structures themselves, as if its armed gangs were not enough. It is clear that the Socialists have decided to sabotage the signing of the social pact to the very end. The pact could have been regarded as a rudimentary step toward calming Albanians, who are heading toward June 29 with guns in hand. Their insistence on leaving no formal trace of peace in this country, or of resolving the crisis through free elections, is further damning evidence against left-wing figures in Albania. The Democratic Party, the first political force in the country to put forward the idea of a social pact, understands that the Socialists would not call off their gangs even if they formally signed the pact. At least this… But at least it would be a reassuring message for honest Socialists, who have nothing to do with the armed criminals who have been killing and terrorizing Albanians for months. The Socialists’ insistence on not signing up to peaceful elections is also in line with the PS leaders’ refusal to give smaller parties a favorable share in the proportional system. By now, all the political forces that signed the March 9 agreement have no doubt that the only ones seeking benefits in the allocation of proportional-representation votes are the Socialists. Although the Socialists themselves proposed the 25-to-75-percent law in favor of smaller parties, later opposed it and won their case in the Constitutional Court, it is once again the Socialist Party that refuses even the new version proposed by Godo, allocating 35 to 65 percent. There is now no doubt that the Socialists’ initial show of philanthropy toward their allies is explained solely by the panic that has seized them as defeat approaches. The Socialists seem to be hoping to make up some ground with proportional-representation votes, while the Democratic Party has consistently advocated favoring smaller parties. It is no coincidence that in this preliminary contest they are calling for peaceful elections and asking for the social pact to be signed, while also offering a formula to favor smaller parties. The Democrats are heading into the June 29 elections with their branch in their hands and with full guarantees of a sure victory. The Socialists are trying to drive them out themselves with money and calm, with gunfire and bloodshed, which they are causing in a way that will finally bring about their own downfall. Although the price Albanians are paying is high, the terrorism, primitivism and medieval methods used by left-wing extremists will not shake the determination of Albanians to break with the past and shape their future. The Socialists’ militant and inhuman agony will, it seems, increase Albanians’ votes for the Union for Democracy on June 29. Ashtu PATOZI

Democratic Party candidates continue their campaign despite the bullets, obstructions and threats from PS gangs. The losers are trying to leave the political scene through new crimes Nano sets the cities of the South ablaze again. Socialist gangs escalate terror against the DP Berisha: Tirana will vote blue

Berisha: Tirana will vote blue

Statement by the Democratic Party against the Communists’ political terror If Gramoz Ruçi and Fatos Nano want to fill the new Albanian parliament with criminals such as Myrteza Çaushi (Zani), Albert Shyti, etc., that is simply an obligation criminals and thieves have toward one another, not an obligation of the Albanians who are terrorized night and day by the infamous Communist gangs. In a statement, the Democratic Party denounces the violence and terror perpetrated by Fatos Nano’s Communists and PS gangs against DP leaders and activists in several districts where the committees hold sway. Following Socialist Party electoral meetings in several southern districts, the statement says, the Communist gangs have grown more vicious and have also targeted other PDSH leaders in other parts of the country where the criminal committees operate. Taking such criminal acts, worthy of Communist guerrillas, seriously, the Democratic Party once again calls on the Government of National Reconciliation to take measures to make free electoral activity possible for… their attacks on Democratic Party members and supporters. The geography of Communist terror is seeking to expand, aiming to shrink the area in which the Democratic Party can campaign. Acts of violence and terror in Vlora continue without interruption. Democrats in Vlora have been warned not to go to their new headquarters, which Zani and Albert Shyti’s criminal gangs have mined. Meanwhile, late at night in the city of Berat, several telephone calls were made to members of the DP presidium and its committees, threatening to kill them if they continued their activities with the Democratic Party. Parliamentary candidates were also threatened yesterday, throughout the day; Democrats in Berat and PDSH parliamentary candidates were unable to continue their activities. The violence and terror continue even at this moment. Also yesterday, gunshots were fired in Gjirokastër to put pressure on Leonard Demi, Secretary for International Relations, who was presenting parliamentary candidates for Gjirokastër. Mr. Demi was threatened by Gramoz Ruçi’s people, who gave him an ultimatum not to set foot in Sarandë. Mr. Demi has been assigned by the DP presidium to present the candidates in Sarandë, but he was threatened at gunpoint not to travel to Sarandë together with the candidates. Ylli Vejsiu, organizational secretary of the PDSH, was likewise threatened and forced to turn back; he was supposed to go to Berat yesterday. Other PDSH leaders in other districts where the criminal committees operate have also suffered acts of violence and terror. for right-wing forces. The PDSH also calls on the OSCE and other international organizations to examine these gangster-like acts, which aim to sabotage the June 29 elections. The PDSH once again calls on the Socialist Party to rein in its gangs and let people freely express their political will on June 29. The gangsters whom it now shelters and puts forward as candidates in its own and its allies’ names cannot escape the pyramid of crimes they have committed while seeking a place in parliament. Albert Shyti, etc., that is day by the infamous Communist gangs. At the same time, the PDSH calls on the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” to give up its language of slander, fabrication, national hatred and national division. Albanians, who know the history of this newspaper and its founders well, can no longer tolerate bloodthirsty calls in its pages. The Democratic Party once again expresses its full confidence that the Albanian people support the free vote, and that this free vote must be defended by us all. The PDSH congratulates its leaders, parliamentary candidates, and all its members and supporters for the civic stance they have maintained so far by avoiding Communist-style provocations. They and the entire Albanian electorate know that only the losers are seeking to leave the political scene through new crimes, the Democratic Party statement concludes.

The SP insists on burying the small parties Socialists against peaceful elections The SP is once again making the signing of the social pact conditional in order to distance itself even from formal responsibility for the acts of violence and terror its gangs are inflicting on Democrats and, generally, on Albanian citizens. ON PAGE 3

Gjirokastër: DP launches its election campaign Candidates even in areas where they obstruct us ON PAGE 2

ON PAGE 3

Vlorë: The DP leadership asks the prime minister to intervene Fino, stop the terror of the SP gangs! Armed attacks and threats against DP members have increased after Nano’s rally in Vlorë ON PAGE 3

The drugg[?]ed socialist chairman does not dare repeat the Vlorë deception in Tirana. The Communists sing the Internationale while Gjinushi compares June 29 with November 29. In his speech, Fino brings Nano down Communists fail in the capital Tirana scorns the Nanos The drugged socialist chairman does not dare repeat the Vlorë deception in Tirana. The Communists sing the Internationale while Gjinushi compares June 29 with November 29. In his speech, Fino brings Nano down ON PAGE 3

Chief thug Nano insults Albanians The bloodshed in the south was caused by the SP and its gangs

Kamëz. Thousands of DP supporters greet President Berisha

The EU agrees with the statement by the OSCE Troika ON PAGE 3

PS gangs terrorize OSCE observers ON PAGE 4

Kalashnikovs and drugs threaten “ALBA” in Elbasan ON PAGE 4