Albpetrol workers have gone four months without wages ON PAGE 4

The municipality seeks to institutionalize soup kitchens ON PAGE 5

European experts are paid for their assistance with money that goes to waste ON PAGE 5

The opposition attacks the government’s amateurish policy on Kosovo. The nation will be able to defend the existence of two million Albanians in Kosovo Albania must insist on establishing a no-fly operation over Kosovo and on the withdrawal of armored vehicles and artillery, as well as Serbian police, from Kosovo ON PAGE 3

Scene from the Second Conference of the Student Youth Forum. Berisha, Pollo and Hajdari with the students (left)

Students, the most vital part of the DP ON PAGE 2

Panic and serious problems after the prime minister’s Mercedes was stolen The initial investigation has focused on the possibility that the perpetrators were bodyguards and escorts of the prime minister, dissatisfied with their earnings and treatment Panic and serious problems after the prime minister’s Mercedes was stolen Prime Minister Fatos Nano had his car stolen precisely as he and his government were beginning to declare that they had established order in Albania. But while the theft of the prime minister’s Mercedes refutes all the absurd claims made by Nano himself and his government officials about the successes of their administration, the news is something else entirely. The robbers are a warning to all Albanians. It is truly distressing for anyone who owns a car or other property to learn that bandits think nothing of stealing, in broad daylight or at night, the prime minister’s car or house. What can ordinary citizens expect from the police and the state when Nano’s well-fed bodyguards cannot stop the bandits of the night from stealing the car of the government’s number one? Meanwhile, the thieves’ unexpected audacity casts a deep shadow of suspicion over the possibility that what happened to the prime minister’s car was not simply an ordinary operation by a car-theft gang. According to sources very close to Nano, the strongest suspicions fall on the circle of the prime minister’s own bodyguards and guards. His entourage numbers around 50 people, who protect and accompany him in all his activities; many of them are notorious criminals—[?] from last year, known to the security services and residents for being available for hire. Being compromised individuals, they have often become corrupt brothers [?] and have created considerable conflict with another group. Such clashes with the prime minister have caused dissatisfaction among those involved in smuggling and other forms of trafficking, whose links reach the prime minister’s office. A group dissatisfied with the government, in August and January, who knew all the movements of the prime minister and his family in precise detail, are thought to have been behind the spectacular abduction, which shook the Interior Ministry as well as all Albanian citizens who own property. This is the first line of inquiry being pursued in the police’s preliminary investigation, while Nano himself is following with interest from Greece the operation to recover the car and identify the perpetrators, who, among other things, have reminded Albanians that this country is not governed.

“Union for Democracy” on NATO’s decision: Brussels punished the discredited government Albania should offer NATO and the EU all airport facilities to ensure protection for the two million Albanians in Kosovo ON PAGE 3

VEFA creditors sue police officers at the Prosecutor’s Office for using violence against them A complaint has arrived at the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office calling for criminal prosecution of the rapid-response police unit of the capital’s 1st Police Station. The complaint names more than one hundred creditors of the VEFA company, against whom police used violence during the peaceful protests they organized. ON PAGE 4

The Constitutional Court, a refuge for criminals In 1988, Fehmi Abdiu sentenced the poet Avzi Nela to death by hanging, while another newly elected member of the Constitutional Court, Hajredin Fuga, sentenced the patriotic priest and distinguished scholar At Shtjefën Kurti to death by firing squad in 1971 ON PAGE 4

Brokaj promises to fight Nano within the SP forums ON PAGE 3 Malaj returns to Berisha The Finance Minister has accepted all of Berisha’s accusations just days after having rejected them in Parliament

Although there is still quite some time before the day of the partial local elections, the alarm has already been raised in the left-wing camp. Even though this is being stated in a mild tone, the prospect of defeat has nevertheless entered the minds of the left. This is why the entire [unclear] was declared by the Speaker of Parliament, Pëllumb Llor, Skënder Gjinushi, who is also chairman of the PSD. He has also stressed that there will be even more candidates on 29 June, in an effort to avert the certain defeat. Naturally, they have no strong words for his party, because it is just like PAD or Agraria: without an electorate, and with only a chairman. It is difficult to speak of electoral problems for such political formations, since their existence depends on their voters being aligned with the Socialist Party. But the socialist secretary Gramoz Ruçi has gone further in recognizing the possibility of defeat for the SP and the left-wing coalition in the partial local elections. He declares that the municipalities and communes are in the hands of the Democrats and that the left has “lost.” Ruçi is also preparing an alibi for the election defeat, in order to reduce the real reasons for it as much as possible. In all the municipalities and communes where elections will be held, there is another [unclear] of the government of these Albanian socialists. After a year of the best communist government, voters have caught on, and [?] is the great weapon for Albanians to come to power. Each of them will seek every possible opportunity to escape the socialist hell, at least to remove them from local government. This is a good opportunity for citizens, since the expected [unclear] from Albania’s forums and the memorandum on local-government autonomy will soon arrive, and it will be something… [unclear] an opportunity, no more, to prevent all levels from being brought under the centralized power and control. While the red headquarters have begun to feel the fever of defeat, no signs of victory are apparent at the Democrats’ headquarters or those of their allies. Senior DP officials have established ongoing contacts with people not only in the places where local elections will be held but throughout the country. The prevailing idea is that of early general elections, not merely victory in the partial local elections. The Socialists will find it harder to secure votes at gunpoint as they did on 29 June, and they will not be able to divide Albania into parts as they did with the gangs before last year’s elections. There is no doubt that people may vote for local smugglers, major thieves, and people who are agents of the authorities or their own interests. The Socialist Party gave them governance for what? For confrontations, thieves, and central [unclear] farmers. The Socialist Party gave them governance [unclear] on platforms, and thieves and thieves. In the communes and municipalities where elections will be held, bread has already begun to be distributed by list, and soup kitchens have opened in some towns. The first were [unclear] from the SP’s victories in ’92, while the latter had never before been known in Albania. The luxury of government officials has come down to the grassroots through [?] and on a large scale. The DP’s goal in the local elections is to secure another major victory in the upcoming elections. The government, they said, does not provide law and order, peace, investment, jobs, or bread; it is all about [?] and violence within twenty-four hours. In June, Albanians who vote will express with their ballots the wish of thousands upon thousands of others that the Socialists leave power as soon as possible.

Year VIII of publication No. 1003 (1924) FRIDAY 8 May 1998 Price: 20 lekë 1,000 lire 250 drachmas RD FREE

The 70 files languish at the Prosecutor General’s Office. Names of government officials in smuggling files