UNDP yesterday on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty ON PAGE 5

Durrës police officers took the passports of 10 Kosovars in order to sell them ON PAGE 4

Nano strengthens the dictatorship’s former Minister of the Interior ON PAGE 3

Majko: The ovations by PS militants for Hoxha are natural and understandable. Enverist demonstrators marched through the streets of Tirana with police permission. The people of Vlora demand the money promised in Flag Square Nostalgia for the dictator returns with force among Albania’s former communists ON PAGE 2

PD Chairman Sali Berisha considers Chief Prosecutor Rakipi responsible for the arrests of the opposition The leader of the PD, Sali Berisha, considers Chief Prosecutor Rakipi responsible for the arrests of the opposition The political Prosecutor’s Office, the coalition’s axe ON PAGE 3

Statement by the Presidency of the Democratic Party

The service police officers targeted for dismissal are under investigation

Statement by the Presidency of the Democratic Party The Presidency of the Democratic Party, at its meeting of October 15, focused on the political crisis in the country. The Presidency of the Democratic Party notes that the crisis and political conflict are deepening because of the government: First, the continuity government has made no effort to investigate, find and bring to justice. ON PAGE 3

The service police officers targeted for dismissal are under investigation The names of the police officers questioned were carefully preselected in advance by several trusted employees of Koçi in the Ministry of Public Order, together with the “special” prosecutors ON PAGE 3

PD leader Berisha congratulates His Holiness Pope John Paul II On the 20th anniversary of Your Holiness’s election to lead the Catholic Church and the State of the Vatican, I send you my very best wishes. During these 20 years of your papacy, Pope Wojtyła, you have been and remain, as a champion of freedom, a great supporter of peoples in their struggle and efforts against totalitarian regimes, poverty and misery that bring discrimination and deep divisions. As I send heartfelt wishes to you, the distinguished great friend of the Albanians, on this anniversary, Your Holiness, I also wish once again to express my gratitude for the prayers, support and deep feelings of friendship that you have consistently shown Albania and the Albanian nation, in keeping with the centuries-old traditional friendship that binds our nation to the Holy See.

Today, 35 days since the murder of the December Leader Every day that passes since the murder of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, proves the involvement of Fatos Nano’s government and its successor in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The government of the former communists who are at liberty, and the unaccounted-for criminals who took the life of the December Leader, show Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names, but are untouched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can never tolerate even this fact. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

This television station, which claims to represent Albanians, has aroused nothing but hatred and disgust among them ON PAGE 3

The members of the National Council of the PDSH are hereby notified that an extraordinary meeting of the National Council will be held on Monday, 19.10.1998, at 11:00. THE PRESIDIUM

All the parties and entities that make up the “League Against Dictatorship” are meeting today, 17.10.1998, at 10:00, at the headquarters of the Democratic Party.

The Tirana branch of LDGSH informs the press and media that it is holding a meeting of the democratic women of Tirana today in the hall of the National Museum, at 10:00.

On October 22, a protest rally in “Skënderbej” Square The “League Against Dictatorship” invites all citizens of Tirana to join a powerful protest on October 22 at 17:00: 1. To protest against the government’s concealment of the organizers and perpetrators of the murder of Azem Hajdari. 2. To demand the release of political prisoners. 3. To protest against the information terror of the state media. 4. To protest against unemployment, rising prices, insecurity, crime, and growing poverty.

at the commemorative activities for Enver Hoxha

The change to the referendum law and the opposition’s exclusion from drafting and adopting the fundamental law by the governing coalition have turned the most important legal act of the Albanian state into a purely political act. Despite the opposition’s efforts to reach compromise and consensus on the country’s future Constitution, both in procedure and content, the governing coalition not only refused to accept the need for compromise, but, with unprecedented arrogance, has taken it upon itself to use the Constitution as a political card to remain in power and as a means of dividing Albanians. Without recounting the entire history of the Albanian opposition’s efforts over the course of this year to engage in dialogue and reach a compromise, so that the fundamental law of the Albanian state might be the product of a compromise among all sides—which is necessary for its long-term viability—it must be said that this willingness has now reached the point where the opposition must reconsider it, because of the government’s repeated refusals. The Albanian opposition no longer has any reason to maintain its willingness, now that the government has decided to ignore all its appeals, in the hope that the coalition might reflect. The government has turned the Constitution into a purely political, emergency measure to salvage something of its image, discredited by corruption, smuggling, political and ordinary crime, and violations and undermining of democracy, and to continue along the path of conflict between sections of the population and the polarization of the country. Since the governing coalition has reached the point of seeking to use even the country’s fundamental law for nefarious purposes, there is no longer any point in the opposition responding as it has until now. In doing so, it would merely serve the government’s purpose. Now that the government has set deadlines for its Constitution and enacted laws that would allow it to adopt the Constitution even with the participation of the Socialist Party leadership, the Albanian opposition must make a political decision on this issue, so that at the very least the country’s Constitution does not proceed along a political path devoid of value. When the government has presented not only the opposition but also the citizens with a fait accompli through the so-called Constitution of “European standards,” the opposition has no time left to seek compromise with a government that neither recognizes nor wants compromise, and indeed tramples it through anti-democratic actions. The propaganda about the so-called Constitution of European standards, supposedly blessed on all four sides—by sea, air, and land—has no value for the Albanians who will vote on it, having also been legally deprived of the right to express their views. The fundamental acts of a state, such as its Constitution, are democratic and meet such standards when they are founded on compromise between the sides, not when they exclude the opposition and citizens from the right to express themselves and contribute to their own law. The challenge issued by the government of gangs, which is using the country’s fundamental law, must not and cannot be evaded by the opposition, because its duty cannot simply be to follow the path of sovereignty: an opposition’s first duty is to protect the sovereignty of voters’ ballots from abuses of power. It is precisely for this reason that the time has come for the Albanian opposition to make decisions on this very major issue, which the Socialists have reduced to a government passport. The government passports bearing the faces of Nano, Majko, or Enver must be consigned to oblivion, where they can remain as relics. It is enough to remind Albanians that the adoption of the Constitution by deputies with Kalashnikovs began while coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Albanian father of former communism, Enver Hoxha. The opposition must use every political means to burn in their hands the Constitution of exclusion of the opposition, this government’s fake passport, which institutionalizes the anti-state or the transformation of power into the rule of the communist class. SH. PEPOSHI