PD sets up commission to definitively resolve the property issue Berisha: We have the will to correct the debt owed to property owners. If general elections were held now, PD and its allies would win, while the Socialists and their allies would lose ON PAGE 3

Legal Affairs Committee approves resolution: The pressure exerted by the Tirana government on the judiciary is condemned. Rustem Gjata: This is a constitutional coup. Majko asks Gjinushi to withdraw

Prime Minister Nano’s visit to England has almost been reduced to a purely technical visit after his credentials suffered a blow when British Prime Minister Toni Bler refused to meet him. Everyone may remember Nano’s return after a tour in ’91 of several Western countries. In an interview at Rinas Airport, he made it known that he had achieved nothing, and the subtext of the visit was that nothing could be achieved if he continued to lead the government. Unfortunately, six or more years later, the same prime minister does the same thing and fails at the airport of the host country. While two years ago there was a European plan to help Albania with investments supported by projects amounting to 1.2 billion dollars, the great Albanian statesman wanders the streets of Europe, unable to obtain this money, with no one even thinking of giving it to him. Since 1992, Albania as a country has never been less important than it is now, and the attention shown to it by its friends has never been so faint. The low credentials of this government, and in some cases their complete absence, ... are no longer a problem for Nano’s government but a problem for the country. Looking back at Nano’s visits around Europe and beyond, whether to Austria, Brussels, New York, Washington, etc., they have clearly contributed to a cooling of Europe’s political salons toward Albania’s political representatives. Each has expressed its willingness to help Albania, just as Albania’s top government official has been reprimanded for major escalations at the expense of the opposition and the judiciary. With this commitment by the International Community as the point of reference, the extent to which this commitment has been taken up, compared with Europe’s or the USA’s willingness to help, is very small or nonexistent. A whole month of governing in Albania is enough to understand whether you are capable of governing or not. This government’s existence rests on commerce, order, law, and the return of money. Order has not been established. On the contrary, the ministers have withdrawn from the periphery, where they were at the beginning of this summer, and have now moved closer to the capital. The main national roads are unsafe, and almost no one dares to travel after nightfall. Albanian justice has become a laughingstock in no time, to the point that Parliament is now seeking to push the Constitutional Court into an unlawful action; otherwise, its dissolution has been threatened. As for the return of the money, there is nothing to speak of. The promise that brought the Socialists to victory has been forgotten by them, thereby creating turmoil among the many voters who chose the Socialists only to be deceived. The International Community cannot turn a blind eye to such governance. But if Nano had calculated this and wanted his government’s program to be based on relations with Europe, for Albania this is a major rupture and the collapse of the diplomatic struggle of the previous five years. Just remember the credentials of the democratic government. Berisha was received in London by the King and Queen; he was received in the USA by Clinton, and Meksi also had a meeting with him in ’93. Kohl was likewise one of the great friends of the previous government, as were Italian diplomats, Austria, the countries of Central Europe, Turkey, etc. The pro-Albanian political lobby in Europe and also in the USA was at its peak, and Albania was distinguished by its economic growth, which brought it into the league of the great. Today’s situation not only lacks these standards, but the cooling has reached the point of risking rejection. It is entirely natural that, in the case of bad governance, foreigners should judge the fate of the Albanians and the way in which this wave is administered by them. Sami NEZA

Gjirokastër: The dictator’s house blown up GJIROKASTER, 15 December. Enter A woman was injured and several nearby houses were damaged yesterday at 20:45 in the Palarnto neighborhood of Gjirokastër, after a powerful explosion destroyed the house of Albania’s former communist leader, Enver Hoxha. The explosion, which police believe may have been caused by a crate of explosives, injured a woman who was passing nearby at the time; she is being treated in hospital. Several nearby homes were also damaged, two of them cracked, while the others were left without windowpanes. This is the second explosion to shake the city, following the blowing up of a small kiosk two days earlier. The police do not yet have evidence to establish a motive for taking revenge on the dictator’s house, which most recently served as a war museum. between Kosovo and Belgrade, noting the demand for implementation of the Education Agreement. He also praised German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel’s determination to find a solution to the Kosovo problem.

Berisha welcomes the Bonn conference The chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, welcomed the inclusion of the Kosovo issue in the final communiqué of the International Conference for Peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina, held in Bonn. Berisha praised the consistent position of Western countries regarding the need for direct dialogue between Kosovo and Belgrade, as well as the call for the Education Agreement to be implemented. find a solution to the Kosovo problem.

“We will fight to the point of self-sacrifice” ON PAGE 3

Lesi: The government’s anti-smuggling commission is worthless Parliament decided yesterday to hold a debate in the near future on the problem of smuggling, which, according to the press, is run by the left-wing coalition government. Independent MP Nikoll Lesi, after reminding Gjinoshi that three weeks had passed since his request for an interpellation with Minister Ilirian about press-related problems had gone unanswered, raised before the MPs the need to open a debate on the issue of smuggling. Lesi stated that nothing could be expected from the government’s anti-smuggling commission, since its members were accused of being directly involved in this criminal activity. He recalled that, according to official figures, not a single pack of cigarettes had been seized in three months, while Albanians smoke tobacco of all kinds every day. Majko, for his part, supported Lesi’s request and urged the official media under his party’s control to put the Director General of Customs in front of their cameras and microphones and ask him why no action was being taken against smuggling. T. SH.

Berisha’s success in Shkodër robbed the government officials of their sleep The fear that Berisha’s great success in Shkodër has caused among government officials is being unleashed on the people at state television. Journalists and news editors are being terrorized by constant threats from those in power, who have been badly rattled by the broadcast on the small screen of several film clips from the visit to Shkodër by the chairman of the PD. Despite instructions to select the least enthusiastic footage, and despite the control room’s efforts to disguise the film sent from Shkodër, the people in the news department were unable to hide the magnificent reception the people of Shkodër gave Berisha. Those few seconds broadcast by state television have robbed senior government officials of their sleep, and Prime Minister Nano himself has ordered that those responsible for allowing the film clips to be shown be found. The strongest accusations have been directed at the news director, Enton Abilekaj, while the entire Socialist Party is standing up for the director, Eduard Mazl. The other news staff who were working on Saturday night are likewise anxious about being fired and facing other consequences.

Sahiti publishes compromising documents. The state and Deloitte & Touche implicated “We have precise documentation of all the thefts and secret agreements between the state and the foreign management firm” Sahiti publishes compromising documents. The state and Deloitte & Touche implicated Here is how the government stole the creditors’ money “We have precise documentation of all the thefts and secret agreements between the state and the foreign management firm” ON PAGE 5