Cigarette unloading continues in Velipojë ON PAGE 4

Sixty passengers are mistreated and robbed ON PAGE 4

Albanian jurists oppose the purge of the judiciary ON PAGE 4

The constitutional laws guarantee them local autonomy, while today’s government violates it in the most flagrant manner. Defending and respecting the laws is the guiding principle of local officials The capital against Nanokratura

The overwhelming majority of Albania’s local officials yesterday reaffirmed their determination to resist all the antidemocratic efforts of the central government to extend its fierce revenge into every cell of the Albanian state and society. At an expanded meeting in Tirana, those elected by the free votes of 20 October 1996 asked the Nano government to abandon violence, terror and the undermining of local government, reminding it that in every case it would be met with their resistance and commitment to defending the fundamental values of democracy, seriously endangered during and after the armed rebellion that brought the socialists to power. The heads of districts, municipalities and communes throughout Albania once again highlighted the most flagrant cases of terror, violence and pressure by the government installed after the elections against locally elected officials, elected only under the conditions of 29 June, emphasizing that nevertheless nothing had shaken their resistance in defense of democratic laws and values. In a resolution adopted yesterday, local officials warned the Nano government of strikes and other forms of peaceful protest if the latter did not stop its blackmail, undermining or obstruction of local government, solely because it is not run by former Albanian communists. Yesterday’s meeting of locally elected officials, held once again in Tirana, … The central and local governments in Albania are in open conflict, and it is quite clear that the government is playing the aggressor, while the district officials are the victims. This conflict, provoked in the most overt manner by the government installed after the elections of 29 June, bodes nothing good for the country; indeed, it is a serious threat to the future of democracy in Albania. Those who gathered yesterday in Tirana, driven by the need to unite in their stance against the fierce and constant pressure exerted by people who came to power with the help of armed gangs, are in reality the only legitimate elected officials in Albania, since the 20 October elections received the highest praise both at home and abroad. And yet this government, whose legitimacy has never been questioned, except in cases when Gjilnushi and Çeka have met with their comrades-in-arms and made clear statements about the level of the armed gangs, now finds itself seriously threatened by those same people who burned and called into question Albania’s very existence. The SOS from the local officials who gathered yesterday in Tirana means that local government in Albania may be more endangered now than during the days of the March chaos, when Socialist Party committees ruled in many Albanian cities. And this is very easy to understand, since cases of direct violence against locally elected officials have been far more frequent after the 29 June elections than before them. This means that democracy in Albania is more endangered now that they have come to power across the whole country than when they were out in the streets, burning, looting and violently assaulting innocent people. Yesterday the local officials counted…

Following the rectorate’s silence on the announced demands Following the rectorate’s silence on the demands that were announced Elbasan students begin strike The rector seeks out the organizers like an agent of Fatos Klosi’s secret police ON PAGE 2 Brokaj turns the Communications weapon into a PS headquarters

Adem Demaçi on the Nano–Milošević meeting: Kosovo lost Albania “Now it is becoming very clear that Fatos Nano is obliged to do what his masters tell him and to act in a way that weakens the Kosovo factor and the rights of Kosovo as much as possible, leaving us at the mercy of Milošević.” ON PAGE 2

Arapi remains silent before the press. Still no criminal complaint against the company In a press statement, the president of VEFA-Holding says that he will not meet Malaj in the presence of television cameras or at the prime minister’s offices, but is reserving a confidential meeting for the minister and chief inspector.

Alimuça, letter to Arapi: Isn’t freezing the money illegal administration? ON PAGE 5

Brokaj turns the Communications weapon into a PS headquarters

PD renews its invitation to the Republicans to fight neodictatorship Genc Pollo, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, yesterday renewed his party’s invitation to the Republicans to join the “Unity for Democracy” coalition and fight together against the neodictatorship that the former Communists are installing in Albania. “Our cooperation is imperative given the situation the country is going through,” Pollo told the delegates at the PR congress in his address. “I heard Godo’s criticisms of the PD, but I would point out that the things we have in common outnumber those that divide us,” Pollo said. Republicans, like Democrats, support the role of the individual in a democratic society, oppose a Communist revanche, hold the same positions on resolving the national question, support a constitution not belonging to the PS but to all Albanians, and oppose the Communists and their violent hold on power. In his address to the Republicans, the leader of the Balli Kombëtar, Hysen Selfo, recalled that we had not been consistent in some of our positions during the period of the Communist rebellion, serving not the country but the parties we represent. Calling on them to continue an uncompromising struggle against Communism, he warned that the Communists had settled themselves firmly in Albania. “After November 29, the Communist Party brought out the flag with two heads,” Selfo said, calling for the unification of the right in defense of national interests and the restoration of democracy.

Albanian emigrants in Geneva accuse and attack President Meidani: You have betrayed your homeland and sold Kosovo The President of the Republic, Rexhep Meidani, barely managed to escape being struck in Skënderbej Square in Geneva, while at the same time he declared himself opposed to Prime Minister Nano’s meeting with Serbian President Milošević. Meidani was in the city a few days ago for the unveiling of a bust of our national hero, Skënderbeu. It was at this very ceremony that the major confrontation and the anger of Albanians living in Switzerland erupted, immediately after they saw the Communist president in the square. At first, the protest took the form of shouts of “Down with the traitorous government,” insults directed at the Albanian President and prime minister. Many of those attending the ceremony voiced their concerns, saying that Kosovo was being sold, that they had joined forces with Milošević against Kosovo, and so on. This pressure forced Meidani to seek at least some protection from a large group of demonstrators, who could not tolerate the man arriving from Tirana just after the leader of his party—and, at the same time, his head of state—had decided to meet Milošević in Crete, Greece. Neither several journalists from “Zëri i Kosovës” nor the director of the magazine “Republika,” well-known figures in the diaspora who supported the Communist revolution in Albania, of which Meidani was also a product, could withstand the emigrant demonstrators. At that very moment, the President gave his explanation of the current government’s position, declaring that he had opposed a meeting between Nano and Milošević and had consistently been against such a dialogue. He told those attending the ceremony that he had received from the Albanian Prime Minister a [??] to cancel such a meeting. “He did not listen to me and did not ask me,” Meidani emphasized. Meanwhile, right at the spot where Skënderbeu’s bust had been erected, President Meidani even forgot the name of the square. People beside him had to tell him that the square was called “Skënderbeu,” explaining that this was also the reason the bust had been placed there. [??] This is not the first time that Albanians’ protests [??]. Two weeks earlier, at the port of Brindisi, he barely escaped being lynched by relatives of the victims of Otranto, who accused the President and his government of causing the unforgettable tragedy and of collaborating in concealing its causes.

Republicans remain stuck in place at the congress. Constructive opposition with the left and scrutiny of the PD

Parliament steals the chlorine belonging to the Mat water utility. Gjinushi and Majko remain silent

The MP meets Gramsh voters: “Let foundations solve your dependency, not the state”

SOS from local officials: Nanokratura threatens the only legitimate authority in Albania