In Lazarat, an explosive device destroys a building. In Përmet, Elbasan, and Ballsh, masked gunmen have continued their shooting spree undisturbed. Hundreds of emigrants hand over their earnings to the gangs. Police are pursuing the criminals but are betrayed from above.

. Total poverty in the country. The Nano government has once again brought back the queues at the bread shops, while drastically reducing the food on Albanians’ plates. Compared with a year ago, the price of bread has risen by 30–40 percent, pushing many people below the poverty line. It is impossible for an ordinary citizen to fill their bag at a food market. Prices at these markets have risen by 50 percent compared with the same period last year, not to mention the prices of manufactured goods, which have risen by 80–100 percent. While prices have reached the levels of European metropolises, Albanians’ standard of living has fallen to that of 1991, the year of the Nano 1 and Nano 2 governments. Inflation has risen to 50 percent, while around 100,000 people have lost their jobs because of the destruction caused by the communist rebellion. Unemployment is expected to be much higher, perhaps around 300,000, since almost all foreign investors have left Albania because of insecurity. Some Albanian investors have also followed suit, closing their businesses for fear of fines, daily robberies, and even the murder or kidnapping of relatives. Perhaps this will go down as the worst year for Albanians, and also as the year of the worst government the country has ever known. Fatos Nano’s electoral deception has dashed Albanians’ hopes, while the government he formed is frightening to everyone. The bringing of criminal groups into power, the creation of a state network of smuggling and other organized crimes have hidden the sun from Albanians beneath the armchairs of the 22 most worthless ministers in the Albanian state. Three days before the New Year holiday, Albanians are afraid to go to the markets. The mentality fostered by this government has left everyone bewildered. Both traders and shoppers have been paralyzed by uncertainty about tomorrow. The former have raised prices to the limit, while the latter feel humiliated by bad governance. Neither traders nor shoppers are to blame. The 20-percent increase in taxes at year’s end on every transaction has created a world of skeptics that includes almost all Albanians. While many traders are still unsure whether they can afford to add anything extra to their holiday trade, everyone can easily work out how things were a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, or even further back. People know how to distinguish the good from the bad, and this is done better than anywhere else, and more simply than anywhere else, around a table. For the Albanian government, which has managed to secure nothing but benefits in Ti[?] rana and outside Albania, this will be a major achievement. The money stolen through smuggling must be returned, one by one, to Albanians’ pockets, while the thieves must be driven out of power once and for all. The government of masked men and gangs cannot spread its disease to all citizens. One more day in office is one more day lost, one less day in the life of every citizen. The fewer days thieves remain in power, the fewer days are lost and the less insecurity there is. This past year, which could be called the year of total impoverishment, must not be repeated. Otherwise, the country and the people who depend on it will face a great tragedy.

Greek Čubrilović, Lukrecia adviser to Arben Imami The Minister of Institutional Reforms, Arben Imami, has a Greek adviser, an activist in Vorio-Epirote associations in Greece. His name is Lukrecia, and he came to Albania during the trial of the members of the minority. His history outside his professional life defines him as a Greek Čubrilović, because of his consistently anti-Albanian positions. An active figure in Greek-Albanian tensions, he played a small role in events in the south of the country during the communist rebellion—

Berisha: Albania is experiencing a powerful moral turning point, which will be crowned by the return of democracy March 22 is a blessed day for Albanians; it is a symbol for Democrats. The date of the elections is debatable and will be decided in negotiations with the political forces, said the opposition leader. ON PAGE 3

The SP continues to block the process of drafting and approving the constitution The constitutional process is being blocked because the Socialists are not respecting the agreements between the political forces. Mediu differs from Godo. ON PAGE 3

The Prime Minister is not celebrating Christmas with Albanians The Albanian Prime Minister is continuing his Christmas holidays in France’s most prestigious destinations. We are informed that he has moved from Greece to the Côte D’Azur, spending thousands of dollars in a single day. Nano left Albania days before Christmas, forgoing the celebration in his own country. He has also forgotten—or did not want to remember—to ask his advisers to prepare a holiday greeting message. It has become customary for senior state officials to leave Albania on days of celebration or mourning. In the latter case, it was President Meidani who boycotted the funeral ceremony for the victims at Otranto.

DP: The government is bringing back the communist past Former Albanian communists inaugurated Burrel Prison, a symbol of the most brutal communist ordeal Europe has known in the second half of this century. In this prison, which the democratic government had turned into a museum, hundreds and thousands of Albanians of different faiths and convictions were martyred; they were all united in resistance against the communist dictatorship. The inauguration of this prison is the vile provocation that the ruling clique directs at the Albanian people and at the sacrifices, convictions and suffering of the 400,000 Albanians who were persecuted, imprisoned and interned during the communist dictatorship. The DP condemns this act by the former communists as further evidence of their determination to rehabilitate the tragic communist past.

his permanently a significant role in events in the south of the country at the time of the communist rebellion. His anti-Albanian activity began early, always close to Sebastianos and his anti-Albanian sermons. Imami’s ties, and those of the clan to which he belongs, with Vorio-Epirote circles date back to his collaboration with Nikolas Gages to partition Albania into two parts and then transfer the South to Greece. The inclusion of such figures in the Albanian government is among the concerns keeping Albania under tension, while positions and decisions contrary to Albania’s aspirations and its integration have been identified in the Albanian institutional reform. It is believed that Imami’s adviser is also the author of the law on the stationing of troops in Albania. R.D.

The DP expresses solidarity with the people of Lezha and condemns their abandonment by the Socialist government None of the senior state officials has visited the flooded areas, while the Prime Minister has secretly left Albania to spend the holidays abroad. ON PAGE 3

Today, 27.12.1997, at 11:00, at the Palace of Congresses, the Democratic Party is organizing its second national-level meeting with the local officials of the Union for Democracy. All elected local-government representatives are invited to attend: councilors, commune mayors, municipal mayors, and district heads.