Students and pupils from Shkodër, Elbasan and Kamza on strike . Kamza University heading toward a hunger strike; Shkodër dormitory residents on the second day of their strike. Elbasan students skip classes: “We want order and calm!”

Political mafia is being established in Albania. The names of Albania’s highest-ranking officials are on the blacklists of Brussels’ Division 21. Fatos Nano, Bashkim Fino, Arben Malaj and others are stealing millions under the protection of Neritan Ceka’s blue uniforms In Divjakë and Karavasta, police escort truckloads of cigarettes “The challenge” of the December losers Today, seven years after the beginning of the student movement, historic December is being subjected to attempts at violence and discredit by some politicians in power and their “courtiers.” While the leaders of the student movement celebrated the memorable date marking the beginning of resistance to the communist regime, the following day several students from the University of Vlorë, along with this government’s “courtiers” in exile, arrived in Tirana to attend a government celebration. They had prepared a “challenge” to 8 December ’90. It was an attempt to draw a parallel between the movement for democracy and the movement to destroy not only democracy but all of Albania, which erupted at the beginning of this year. This was the “challenge” of the losers. Unfortunately, to stage this “challenge,” Nano also needed a few cards from that movement. Made giddy by their government seats, Ceka, Pashko and one or two others were in that hall like puppets who had now agreed to be moved by Nano. For some time, they have agreed to sell out December in exchange for a career in government. They were the ones who would say that the movement of historic December would have been marginalized without the student movement in Vlorë and the month of March. To anyone, such a parallel is more than repulsive. Comparing the students of that historic December, who brought down the communist dictatorship, with those students who helped restore communism in 1997 is, to say the least, unacceptable. The students of December did not burn municipal offices or prefectures, did not seize weapons and did not kill political opponents; instead, they chose symbols of peace, doves, to challenge communism. Meanwhile, those students whom Nano and his followers regard as heroes were pleased as they watched Albanians being killed in front of their doors by attacks carried out under the guise of a hunger strike. They were delighted as they watched one of them run, eager to get the blood of someone massacred by the comrades of this kind of student. It was more than ridiculous that television reporters should be sent to question some government officials and courtiers gathered somewhere in a hall to oppose the December movement. “So, is this your challenge to 8 December?” the journalist asked those present. December ’90 was and will remain our pride, the pride of Albanians, a day of national significance; whereas the movement of that group of students in Vlorë was a blow to all Albanians, a national calamity. December ’90 brought down the dictatorship, created pluralism and paved the way for the establishment of democracy, whereas the movement incited by that group of students in Vlorë paved the way for anarchy, rebellion and banditry—phenomena whose consequences we continue to suffer and of which, in a sense, we are victims. For Nano, it is normal to find something every day and carry out every scheme to discredit December ’90 in every possible way. He has been and remains at war with the ideas embodied in those cold days. It is only natural to think that he is seeking revenge on the students who drove him from the political stage. The first step was the arrest of the leader of this movement, Azem Hajdari. Now he has taken it upon himself to assault 8 December ’90. In any case, so far Nano has always been shown to lose his battles with the December students. They have ousted him from government three times. That is why the challenge he has recently propagated—a parallel between the student movement of ’90 and that of a few months ago—is the challenge of a failure. Bledi KASMI

The Constitutional Court “breaks” under pressure from the criminal clique. Eight members remain In his resignation letter, the former Minister of Justice defended the Constitutional Court’s latest ruling and insisted that the parliamentary majority’s amendment is unconstitutional ON PAGE 3

US alarmed by government attacks on the Constitutional Court The American ambassador expressed the Clinton administration’s concern over recent events and the communist majority’s changes to constitutional laws ON PAGE 3

Institutional crisis in Albania soon to be in the Council of Europe’s focus The two constitutional amendments submitted by the Nano government in November, as well as the crisis they have caused, will be at the center of the Council of Europe’s attention on 15 December this year. On that date, the Council of Europe’s Legal Affairs Committee will discuss the two constitutional changes, the crisis arising from them, and the confrontation between the Speaker of Parliament, Pollo, and the government. A member of the Legal Affairs Committee will report on this issue. At its previous meeting, following a proposal by deputy chair Kolumberg, a Democratic Party deputy, and Italian Socialist deputy Besosti, the committee decided that the Meidani amendment concerning the High Council of Justice and the law on the Ngjela Commission should be considered violations of constitutional principles. It has therefore requested an opinion from the Venice Commission, which is made up of some of Europe’s most prominent jurists.

The December leader rejects Meidani’s invitation. “Your meeting is the last gathering of Enverist Komsomol members” This invitation is an attempt to put makeup on the mafia regime and to hide from the Albanian people the treachery behind the communist government’s rise to power ON PAGE 3

Vlorë PS conference postponed Central representative Musa Ulqini turns back halfway The Vlorë PS conference, scheduled to be held yesterday, has been cancelled. The central representative, Musa Ulqini, turned back while on his way to Vlorë after a phone call from the city’s informant, PS chairman Eduart Allushi. He told Ulqini that the conference had not yet been prepared, but sources for our newspaper in Vlorë report that PS members have said they will not attend the conference and will disrupt it unless Nano comes to Vlorë. “We have talked with Nano,” they said, reminding the local leader of his promise to return the money, the large-scale smuggling proceeds, and so on. “They’re all thinking only of themselves,” they said. So far, Nano has only stolen and deceived. This is not the first time that the PS’s campaign to organize regional conferences has backfired on its senior leaders. The conferences in Gjirokastër, Elbasan, Durrës and elsewhere are examples: senior government officials were harshly accused and criticized there. Meanwhile, a petition against Prime Minister Nano has been launched from Durrës.

Statements about corruption set senior Albanian officials against one another Ceka against the Prime Minister ON PAGE 4 Tirana Court hears Mazreku’s account of the assassination attempt The criminal seeks to blame the victim ON PAGE 4 Trial continues against Nehat Kulla and Muharrem Haka Witnesses speak about the incident ON PAGE 4