The Socialists will not return the lost money to you. Their usury schemes and program make coexistence with the socialist government impossible Berisha: The Socialists are lying to you about returning the money so they can steal your vote The President's spokesman declared yesterday that there can be no connection whatsoever between the President's promises to remain or not remain in office and the fulfillment of the Socialist Party’s election promises to return to lenders the money lost in the pyramid schemes. Rejecting press speculation that the President of the Republic must remain or will remain in office as a guarantee of the full return by a socialist government of the money lost by lenders in the pyramid schemes, the spokesman declared that Berisha can in no case link his remaining or not remaining in this post to the program of another party. Precisely the programmatic differences overall, and especially in the handling of the usury issue, between the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party, are among the basic motives that make coexistence of the President with a socialist government impossible, he stressed. The spokesman underlines that in dealing with the usury problem, there is an approach based on different legal and moral principles. The Democratic Party has acknowledged responsibility for the prolonged toleration of these schemes, and for not preventing in time the risk of high interest rates. Considering debt a private matter for citizens, it has not promised full repayment of the money, but it promises that it knows this would be an election promise to pull the Democratic Party into its program. It has committed itself to full transparency of these schemes, the return of citizens’ deposited money, as well as the other assets of these firms, to their lenders, the crediting of homes and businesses lost in these schemes, the provision of social assistance, tax cuts, and the creation of free zones. The Socialist Party, the spokesman reminds us, until today has not recognized any responsibility for the prolonged toleration of these firms and for not warning lenders about the risk of high interest rates. It has blamed the Democratic Party for all this, has declared that the money was taken by the PD government, and finally, after blocking government transparency for four months during the election campaign, making the issue of usury fully public, it turned it into a wholly governmental matter, promising lenders the full return by the socialist government of the money lost in these schemes. In his statement, the spokesman says that the President of the Republic urges all citizens who have lost money in the pyramid schemes not to believe the Socialists’ lie that the PD government stole their money; they specifically organized the rebellion with this lie, while now, if lenders believe this lie again, the new rulers will use it to bring back to Albania the unchanging tradition of their power, dictatorship. The statement says that the President of the Republic and the PD, rising above political interests and adhering to the principles of law, hope that they will not believe the Socialists’ promise of full repayment of the lost money. For the PD, the Socialists, with this seductive promise that steals the vote of lenders and ordinary people, will end everything by bringing quarrel and grief through deception, and feels the moral duty to warn that those who continue to believe in the full return of the money will make a grave mistake, just like those who believe that the stolen money was stolen only by the government, while the government is lying. Government spokesman Vladimir PRELA Deceived citizens waiting at the counters of one of the pyramid firms. Now they feel doubly deceived after the Socialist Party’s promises to return the lost money.

The collapsed pyramid scheme trial is postponed again ON PAGE 4

The aircraft base in Kuçovë is attacked. ON PAGE 4

20 illegal migrants travel by force toward Igoumenitsa ON PAGE 4

Durrës. The Socialists are for continuing the revolution A group of Socialist MPs in Durrës have sworn, having announced the ambitions of the Socialist Party to use Kalashnikovs to overthrow even the local elections of last October 20. Announced as a very quick project, it may soon turn into a real initiative similar to the anti-regime one that was also proclaimed by the communists of Durrës; this ambition risks causing total political destabilization. The demand of the Socialists of Durrës for power, threatening party militancy, together with the PS secretary Nano in a newspaper in France when he visited Strasbourg before the elections, declared that the elect- ON PAGE 3

The demagoguery of broad-based political governance comes to an end

Tension rises after the Gostivar tragedy. ON PAGE 6

The governing coalition shows its first cracks, even before the cabinet is formed ON PAGE 3 According to the chairman of the PSD, the slanderer Frrok Çupi got what he deserved from the people of Vlorë

Breaking news In a letter sent to the Prime Minister by the organizers of the meeting in Thessaloniki, Albania’s participation is requested in an international meeting of gangs in the city of European culture. In the government, after the message in the paper, they were found to think that in this way Albania is also represented with dignity, and the comrades who are also prime minister are apparently pleased by the letter given to them by the many gangs in the south of the country. Immediately, the gang of Zeni in Vlorë and that of Gjolleka in Tepelenë were notified to make the necessary preparations to honor the country in this event. A note was also sent to the Greek embassy for the issuance of visas. Only a few minor formalities had to be completed; a form had to be filled out regarding the gang’s activity, its cleanliness, and the instruments used. In the “activities” column it was written that they had plenty of killings and robberies; in fact, to boast, they even noted robberies against Greek artists themselves. As for the “instruments” section, they corrected it with the word weapons. The embassy immediately reacted, and wrote to the government that this is a question of wind bands and musical activity. The government replies that we have no time for musical bands and that they should make an exception for Albania, accepting it as it is with its armed bands. The negotiations continue. Government spokesman Vladimir PRELA

Undermining constitutional institutions — a dangerous precedent against democracy ON PAGE 4

Foreign Minister-designate Paskal Milo betrays his profession Milo proved yesterday that Mrs. Valentina Duka was right when she said in an article that his appointment as head of Albanian diplomacy means that Albania will no longer function as a state, but will return to being a servile principality for its neighbors The Foreign Minister of the future government, Paskal Milo, proved that he is not Greek, nor is he a distinguished historian, and that he does not deserve even to be a typist in the Albanian diplomatic building. In a statement about the tragic events in Gostivar and Tetovo, Milo spoke on behalf of the PSD, considering Albanians living in the so-called former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to be a minority. In this way, the future head of Albanian diplomacy insulted, in the most unavoidable manner, the great efforts and sacrifices of the Albanians of Macedonia of the twentieth century, during which many lost their lives because Gligorov’s state spread and imposed itself by considering them a minority, just as Milo does. This official must know and fully acknowledge that Albanians there make up at least 40 percent of the entire population, and they can in no way be treated as a minority. If he likes to call the Albanians of Macedonia the same as the Greek minority in Albania, for known reasons, that has nothing to do with the position of Albanians on the two sides of the border. The Foreign Minister-designate, Milo, should see how right Valentina Duka was when she said that his appointment as head of Albanian diplomacy means that Albania will no longer function as a state but will return to being a servile principality for its neighbors. Under these conditions, and Milo’s eagerness to accuse the Gligorov regime in harsh tones, does not seem to come from the position of an Albanian man, but also very much from Greece, which has known problems and disputes with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. If Milo uses the term minority to refer to the few Greeks who claim from Athens that they live in the southern areas of Macedonia, that is another matter, but it has nothing to do with the Albanians, who are almost half of all the inhabitants living there. Therefore, the statement by Mrs. Duka that every honest Albanian should tear down Milo’s chair as Foreign Minister makes sense and perhaps is a national tragedy, saving him. A.N.