Terror threatens the institutions ON PAGE 4 Terror threatens the institutions Bomb at the Court of Appeal ON PAGE 4

Senior officials: “Order has been restored” ON PAGE 4 Senior officials: “Order has been restored” Çeka leaves the cities to their fate ON PAGE 4

The verdict against Sude is delivered after a marathon trial ON PAGE 4 The verdict against Sude is delivered after a marathon trial Five years in prison for the female usurer ON PAGE 4

The state seeks the opposition’s death. The four MPs demand an agreement to respect the Arbnori amendment. Berisha and the hunger strikers at a press conference. The Italian Embassy is freed from “prison” Nano: A mine under the parties’ roundtable The National Council of the PD elected the new leadership. Genc Pollo, chair of the parliamentary group, deputy chair of the PD; Ridvan Bode, Secretary-General. MPs on the sixth day of the hunger strike

The National Council of the Democratic Party elected the party leadership and its secretary yesterday. The National Council of the Democratic Party elected yesterday the party leadership and its secretary. There are 19 people in the leadership, four of whom are women. Most of those elected to the party’s highest body are young, but they are people who proved themselves during the PD’s most difficult period. Yesterday, the Democratic Party decided who would lead it in opposition. Yesterday’s election was the strongest message that the PD will be a powerful opposition: an opposition of protests, but also of alternatives and of the capacity to govern and bring down the ex-communist government. The Democratic Party leadership is made up of people who have consistently sought and worked for a strong PD, confident in the people and with great potential to bring democracy to a country enslaved by dictatorship. It now consists of people who aspire to build democracy even when it is at risk, when it is attacked with weapons, and amid the violence of the political police, communist revanche, and police terror. They are people who drew closer to the PD during its difficult days. They did not opt for parties with 3,000 votes or for those of the buses, but stood up for the democratic values built in Albania over the past five years, confronting the communist rebellion head-on. Among the current members of the leadership are prominent specialists in economics and politics, people from science and diplomacy, people experienced in democratic practice and active protest, people with different alternatives, and champions of free thought and human rights. They are all committed to the PD competing honorably for power, for the good of the country and democracy. The current PD leadership team also elected the secretary. Genc Pollo, one of the founders of the PD, one of the party’s most highly regarded members and among its most resolute, was elected deputy chair of the PD. Ridvan Bode, former Minister of Finance and one of the country’s finest specialists in economics and finance, was elected its Secretary-General. Leonard Demi, an eminent diplomat, former director of the Embassy office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former state secretary at the Ministry of Defence, was elected Secretary for International Relations; Fatos Beja, a prominent democrat, was elected Secretary for Organization, while Vili Minarolli was elected Secretary for Public Relations. In all cases, when selecting the party’s senior leaders, it can be said that people have come to the helm who understand the major role the party must play in establishing constructive governance and presenting itself as determined not to abandon its position in defending democracy and its development in the country. The PD brings this team forward after losing the election campaign marred by violence on 29 June. The Fourth National Convention of the PD is recognizing elections as the solution, and the PD has called for new elections at an appropriate time. Although it is making every effort to ensure that this team, which must advance the path toward those elections, also devises and implements a credible strategy for its members and for the future. Elections must take place at a certain point, and preparations must therefore be made in every way to face a new election campaign, which it must win at all costs. The National Council has made the right choice this time, taking from them all that they have previously achieved and all their strengths, while breaking with all their shortcomings and mistakes. The PD’s struggle is a continuous effort for democracy and for Albania, so that it may stand within its borders and at the moment that brings all the teams together in loyalty to this party during the country’s difficult times.

Press conference of the “Union for Democracy” at the hunger-strike site Berisha: Nanokratura, a police state without equal The parliamentarians are holding the hunger strike in the name of those values that are just and sacred, not only for the Albanian people, but also sacred and precious for all people, for all nations Bode, after being elected Secretary-General of the DP My motto: the restoration of democracy ON PAGE 3

Resolution of the National Council of the DP

The capital protests in support of the four striking MPs ON PAGE 2

EDU expresses solidarity with the hunger strike of the four MPs

At the invitation of EDU President Alois Mock The DP MP, Pjetër Arbnori, is leaving today for a visit to Austria. Invited by Alois Mock, the leader of EDU, Arbnori will stay in Austria for over a week. A series of important meetings have been planned between the DP MP and senior Austrian officials, which will further consolidate the DP’s relations with Europe’s centrist and right-wing parties.

Sali Berisha Fatos Beja

Sali Berisha Pjetër Arbnori Genc Pollo Azem Hajdari Ridvan Bode Albert Brojka Albina Karamitro Vili Minarolli Leonard Demi Jemin Gjana Fatos Beja Ylli Vejsiu Bamir Topi Natasha Shehu Maksim Cikuli Zhozefina Topalli Ferdinand Xhaferi Margarita Qirko Uran Butka Deputy Chairman of the DP - GENC POLLO, Secretary-General - RIDVAN BODE Organizational Secretary - FATOS BEJA Secretary for Foreign Relations - LEONARD DEMI Secretary for Public Relations - VILI MINAROLLI