Only new elections will unblock the tense political situation “New elections will be held not when the majority wants, but when the conditions are ripe—and these conditions are already ripe” ON PAGE 3

Four days after the tragedy, Italian police find the 9 unfortunate survivors near Brindizi. Otranto remains the channel of death for Albanian refugees

. Smuggling by Albanian state officials has exploded since the first day of socialist government and the state budget. It has begun and operates as an institution in its own right, except that this time it is incorporated into government structures as a mafia-like channel weighing on the Albanian economy. One need only look at Nano’s four months in government to understand that the only thing done well during these four months has been smuggling. In almost all of Albania’s customs offices, a theft network has been established involving customs officers, customs police, police commissioners, traffic chiefs and tax police, and then climbing the ranks of the ministries where there are ministers. Everything begins at the border-crossing points and ends in the offices of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior. Otherwise, how can it be explained that not a single pack of cigarettes has been seized in three months, while trafficking in Kurds, Pakistanis and Chinese has begun—without even mentioning the trafficking of Albanians, which operates efficiently in Vlora, Durrës, Fier, etc.? Albanian ports have at times become inns without doors, but only for cargoes addressed to companies managed by government officials. Meanwhile, the Nano government has, for the first time in the country, invented new ports, such as the one at Velipojë. Smuggling continues without being punished by any part of the state, and the only ones who may suffer at its hands are some unfortunate people who have no means of paying the interest into the pockets of some government official. Moreover, those involved in the smuggling trade are mainly people from the officials’ own families or trusted figures in the communist rebellion in the south. Whereas until yesterday Rinasi Airport had a proportional and professional distribution of staff, today its employees are mainly from one circle—but not Tirana. The proposals of the Salvation Committees have become a reality at Albania’s only airport. It is these very people who have committed new criminal acts by detaining girls returning from Italy and reselling them or selling them in Italy. The trafficking of foreign clandestine migrants arriving at this airport can be estimated to bring the bosses of this operation around 20,000 dollars a day, a good portion of which goes into the pockets of those who run the airport’s police or customs units. It takes little effort to find out where the huge sums from smuggling go. One part is sent to the budgets of the coalition parties, another part goes toward the second- or third-tier chairs of the kiosks administered by Tirana’s ministers, starting at Rinia Park and ending in the capital’s outskirts, while the rest remains in the pockets of the most prominent people in Tirana, at places such as Rogner, Piaca, etc., where prime ministers, friends and others go to consume their daily ration of alcohol. Although people are burdened by poverty in all its crushing weight—20 percent VAT, taxes upon taxes, lack of heating, food and electricity, unemployment, lack of investment, etc.—every smuggled truckload gives rise to a strike over taxes, unpaid wages or food shortages. They begin in Mernali, continue in Fier, Tirana, Elbasan and Shkodër, and later spread to the rest of Albania.

Council of Europe delegation: The government must respect the rights of the opposition. The Constitution only by consensus The government must respect all the commitments made by the DP government to the Council of Europe. The independence of the branches of government must be protected. Transparent and objective criteria must be used in appointments to the civil service, police and army. The normal functioning of local authorities is very important ON PAGE 3 Xhon King, IMF representative in Albania, declares that he has not advised the government to The opposition is excluded from the screen. It is hidden at the end of

Xhon King, IMF representative in Albania, says he did not advise the government to approve a constitutional law for violating property rights Karamitro: “The IMF assured me it would never make such an intervention” Xhon King, the IMF representative in Albania, says he did not advise the government to approve a constitutional law for violating property rights. Karamitro: “The IMF assured me it would never make such an intervention.” ON PAGE 5

The opposition is excluded from the screen. The announcement about those drowned yesterday in Otranto is buried at the end of the news . Tele-shame shines over the corpses of Otranto. It shows not a shred of respect for those who drowned at sea the previous night, pushing the news of 17 dead, 12 of them missing in the depths of Otranto, to the end of the news bulletin. All the Italian television channels led their news programs with it, but only Albanian tele-shame hides this news somewhere it cannot be seen. This is another sin against the dead committed by executioner Mazi, after the ceremony for the Otranto victims in Vlora was presented in a spirit of unprecedented demagoguery and politicization. The heartless TV directors are also showing that this television station does not belong to the Albanians, but only to the prime minister and the ministers in the government. Among the victims, the 17 people who drowned yesterday had fled the insecurity and lack of hope sown in this country by the former communists in the spring of this year, who further reinforced the lack of prospects when they came to power. TV’s cynicism toward its own citizens, in the face of the tragic fate that pursues them, shows that Albanian TV is another tragedy lodged in the middle of Tirana, alongside Mazi and Minga, as a witness to shame. Yesterday, too, Albanian tele-shame did not broadcast the press conference of the chairman of the Democratic Party, Berisha, thereby violating the law on TV and state media and further strengthening the information barricade against the opposition. The failure to broadcast this conference shows that TV is determined to isolate the opposition, just as the government is determined to shut down its alternatives and protests as much as possible.

The prime minister continues his familiarization visits to nightspots Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano drank three bottles of wine and two double whiskies on Thursday evening, in the company of his minister of—you guessed it—wine and two double whiskies, Finance Minister Arben Malaj and former Interior Minister Gramoz Ruçi. Nano arrived at around 9:30 p.m. at a venue called “Guva e Re,” where he stayed for about four hours, eating and drinking, as part of his familiarization visits to all the capital’s nightspots. A customer at the venue, who was near the prime minister on Thursday night, told “RD” that he had been astonished by the amount of alcohol Nano and his companions had consumed. According to him, when he left the venue, the prime minister’s legs were giving way. The Albanian public is not uninformed about the prime minister Nano’s origins and expensive tastes. The Albanian press has written several times about his preference for spending hours in the company of alcohol in Tirana and other cities around the country, not excluding important visits abroad. Considering this an activity that affects the success of the Albanian government, our newspaper will inform its readers about all of Nano’s frequent visits to nightspots.

Meidani goes on a private visit to Italy . The President resigns. ON PAGE 3

Fourth day of the Foreign Languages strike . Student protest trampled underfoot. ON PAGE 5

The strike by 15,000 oil workers continues . State violence against the strikers. ON PAGE 2

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA