TNT Express Worldwide VOICE OF THE PEOPLE New information on corruption at the socialists’ newspaper 5,000 Shkodrans deceived by “ZP” ON PAGE 4

Greek soldiers shoot Albanians with sniper rifles ON PAGE 4

“Die Welt” confirms the government agreement ON PAGE 2

Creditors, 27 days on hunger strike. Dialogue with the government begins, but still no results begins, but still no results The government wants the hunger strikers dead

Berisha greets Kosovo’s voters: At the foundations of the other Albanian state, the vote and freedom have been restored. The Contact Group must prevent war in the Balkans “Every game, every attempt to divide Kosovo pro-longs a chronic conflict in

The majority continues to ignore the troika’s requests to review the composition of the constitutional commission ON PAGE 3

According to preliminary results in Kosovo The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the main party of Kosovo Albanians, said yesterday that its leader, Ibrahim Rugova, had won more than 95% of the votes in the presidential election held on Sunday in the province. An LDK representative provided this information on the basis of partial results at the LDK’s general electoral headquarters in Prishtina. Rugova had already been elected President of the Republic of Kosovo in 1992, during parallel elections. He was the only candidate in Sunday’s presidential election. The full results of the presidential and legislative elections in Kosovo, which are not recognized by Belgrade, will be announced on Wednesday. According to the electoral commission, turnout in the two elections, held at the same time, was 84.5%.

Thousands of residents of the capital commemorated March 22, the day of democracy “Let us declare the spring that began as a spring of powerful protests against misery, against deception, against national betrayal,” said PD chairman Sali Berisha ON PAGE 2

Albanians are getting poorer by the day. The dollar is above 163 lekë The collapse of the domestic currency is directly proportional to the rule of the left-wing coalition The dollar surged sharply yesterday on the foreign-exchange market, reaching a seasonal record of 164 lekë. Meanwhile, other currencies also rose, though less than the dollar, warning of a general collapse of the domestic currency. The sharp jumps in foreign currencies on the exchange market against the lek point to the worsening situation of Albanians. It seems no one can stop the lek from sliding toward the precipice, which means Albanians have less money every day. The lack of political stability and the deepening of the country’s multifaceted crisis appear to be the main causes of the lek’s decline. A degree of temporary stability at an exchange rate of 150–155 lekë to the dollar appears to have resulted from speculation in foreign currency and other artificial operations by the bank, rather than from any improvement in Albania’s economic indicators. The collapse of the lek is directly proportional to the poor governance of the left-wing coalition. Yesterday’s exchange rates Currency | Buy | Sell USD | 163.5 | 164.5 DM | 88.50 | 89.50 LIT (1000) | 88.50 | 90.10 GRD (100) | 49.50 | 50.80 SFR | 106.50 | 108.90

Creditors, 27 days on hunger strike. Dialogue with the government begins, but still no results

Kosovo, a plebiscite vote for independence

BL. TIRA? CONSTANT TARE

Sunday’s voting in Kosovo gave the President of the Republic, Ibrahim Rugova, another governing mandate. For five consecutive years, Rugova has been the only element of the parallel state that has functioned in Kosovo and had state-level significance in directly advancing a solution to the Kosovo problem. It can be said that the other institutions either were never established—as was the case with a large number of ministries—or were forced to carry out their activities in exile, which in some way was not felt directly in the life of the Kosovo state. Only education, and to some extent healthcare, managed to absorb the output of the parallel state, while many different areas of the country’s life were neglected. Perhaps the part of the state whose absence had the greatest negative influence was the Kosovo Parliament, which never managed to convene, not even for a single day. It continued its activity in the form of reduced committees, and many Kosovo MPs were forced to leave their towns because of the violence, becoming in a way a burden on the Kosovo government’s budget, instead of going to Albania, Macedonia and the West. The Kosovo government, which remained in exile, played the role of a government by securing support for its funds, but it has never been concretely established whether the activity of government officials in exile had any strong diplomatic impact, in the sense of influencing political circles in Europe and the West. In any case, the parallel state in Kosovo took shape in many respects; it was consolidated in many aspects, in a way that demonstrated that even under complete Serbian occupation, Kosovo Albanians had a statehood of their own, despite the absence of many of the institutions that make up a state. Despite the fact that Parliament never took on its proper form, the government was incomplete and, moreover, it had never really been active and was itself left behind. Sunday’s voting has made such an opportunity possible, all the more so because it also gave President Rugova a strong vote of confidence. Put another way, Sunday’s voting can be said to have accomplished the transfer of governance in Kosovo from a parallel state to an Albanian state. On the right-hand side: Only outside Kosovo did the distinctive history of the parallel state produce substantial responses to the Serbian occupiers. These included the organization of education with programs from Kosovo’s Ministry of Education, the organization of healthcare, the distribution of humanitarian aid and assistance to those in need or those who had suffered at the hands of the Serbian military machine, as well as the collection of taxes to a satisfactory degree, which enabled Kosovo’s presidency to continue its activity without interruption. Local government functioned to a similar extent, ensuring the survival of communities because Kosovo Albanians felt a connection to their state. Under extraordinary circumstances, maintaining the parallel state was difficult; it is entirely possible for it to draw breath now, after the elections, although perhaps greater sacrifices will be required. Kosovo’s state structures must be able to pursue the aspirations of Albanians, who demand the full functioning of their state. The Kosovo Parliament will be one of the Republic’s strongest pillars, creating a complete picture of the Albanian response to any attempt by the Serbian state to keep their country under occupation. The parallel state must not remain so. Although it has never ceased to exist in Kosovo, the Serbian military hand alone has not stopped; the creation of other state structures will ensure that, whatever the Serbian response may be, it will no longer be dealing with a parallel state, but with an Albanian state that distinguishes itself and governs itself to a much greater extent. from a parallel state to an Albanian state. Sami NEZA