Broad support for the Democrats’ initiative to restore law and order. Hope for a return to normality and the subjugation of the mafia Political circles linked to traffickers and death-dealing speedboat operators react negatively. Concern among the regime’s mafia clans ON PAGE 3

The Norwegian prosecutor is merely Rakipi’s consultant While the Democrats’ draft law is on Prime Minister Majko’s desk and is expected to be submitted to Parliament for approval, the chief prosecutor of the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office, Dolores Velaj, considers it unacceptable and illegal ON PAGE 4

By Sami NEZA The Albanian opposition has made one of the most important efforts in its history in recent days to save Albania from the clutches of crime, the mafia, and international condemnation. The DP’s proclamation of a national pact to restore law and order is an event that is not confined to the walls of the opposition, but brings together all the capabilities of Albanian politics to confront one of the most serious afflictions the country has ever suffered. Since its announcement, Albanians feel somewhat more confident that they will have the chance, in the near future, to be safer, to live without fear, and not to live amid anxiety and confrontations with crime at every moment and everywhere. The call for a national pact to restore order did not arise as an opposition whim, nor as a preliminary position for it to adopt against an incompetent and powerless government or governing coalition. The pact comes after two years filled with crimes of every kind throughout the country and in all their forms, beginning with murder, trafficking in illegal migrants, women and drugs, corruption and smuggling, terrorist acts and attacks on the blue uniforms. The number of those killed has reached new heights; the state [?] does not have the strength to measure up to organized mafia and criminal groups, which are allied with all their counterpart networks in Italy, Greece, Turkey, etc. In addition, the mafia has infiltrated the administration and has representatives in the highest state institutions, such as Parliament and the government, as well as in the middle and lower ranks of the administration. Its presence in the police is significant, bringing it closer still, together with the unwillingness of particular state bodies to fight crime. Thus, the national pact is not simply a government matter. For two years, government solutions have produced no results, creating the impression that government solutions of any kind, or by any government, may be inferior to the mafia’s financial power or its persistence in crime. The pact is not a replica of power that the opposition seeks to wrest from its political opponents; rather, it is an attempt to create an anti-crime front that takes no account of political affiliations, but instead serves the national interest of Albanians in building a better and safer life in their country. This is an open confrontation with crime and criminality, with the aim of inviting everyone to join that confrontation. The point is to unite that part of politics and government which generates positive energy for the country against the political mafia, state institutions serving the mafia, the mafia itself and its activities—in other words, against everything that generates negative energy for the people, democracy and the future of Albanians. The pact announced by the DP has received broad support from most political forces in the country, and especially from the right-wing forces. Likewise, hundreds of thousands of Albanians have seen it as a chance to escape the vicious [?] web into which crime has drawn Albania. Any doubts on the part of the government and any misgivings about steps of such national scope must be overcome, just as the DP has managed to set aside any reservations it might have about any difficult governing situation. It must understand the opposition’s political tolerance, at least to the extent that the opposition is willing to support the government. The pact does, in fact, have an administrative character, but it does not personalize the contribution to the fight against crime. A country gripped by its gravest affliction must make the fight against the mafia, in all its forms, a national strategy. This is the moment for an unmistakable dividing line. Now it must become clear who stands with the speedboat operators who defy the state, with the massacres strewn along all the national roads, with the terrorists who blew up the power pylons and kidnap foreign and local traders—and who stands with Albania, with the security, morality of life and existence in this country.

Today, the high-level delegation of the National Alliance, invited by DP chairman Sali Berisha, begins its visit Fini will convey the Italian forces’ concern over the ongoing failures—

Berisha with FRPD students: We have no future without a free and independent Albania ON PAGE 3

The Municipality of Tirana wins its case against Parliament

Fini will convey the Italian forces’ concern over the ongoing failures of the PS government, which affect not only our country but also Italy and Europe, Deputy Chairman Pollo declares to over the ongoing failures of the PS government, which affect not only our country but also Italy and Europe, Deputy Chairman Pollo declares ON PAGE 3

The Municipality of Tirana wins its case against Parliament orders the demolition of Gjinushi’s apartment building The Speaker of Parliament had hoped he would be able to obtain the building permit by placing the Council for Territorial Regulation under Minister Shuli, but the law challenged before the Constitutional Court has rendered Gjinushi’s apartment building definitively illegal ON PAGE 2

PD organizational secretary Fatos Beja comments after the meeting of opposition parliamentary parties about RTSH ON PAGE 2

Right-wing leaders support the idea of a pact for public order Ngjela: The only reason the pact could fall apart is conflict within the PS ON PAGE 3

Cement strike: workers threaten Shuli: End the strike; it is illegal. We will work out solutions when we deem it appropriate ON PAGE 5

Today, 137 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 his successor in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former communists, who have allowed the criminals who took the life of the December leader to go free and have given them preferential treatment, show Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names and identities but are untouched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can under no circumstances tolerate this fact. The government must either open the case and bring the criminals to justice, or publicly declare that it itself carried out the murder of Azem Hajdari.

Austrian Press on Albania: Rome asks NATO for help Italian Prime Minister Masimo D’Alema has asked NATO for help in curbing the wave of refugees being used across the Adriatic. Meanwhile, Prime Minister D’Alema has received a positive response on this matter from NATO Secretary General Javier Solana. The Italians’ responses to date in cooperation. ON PAGE 2

Albanians are paying the price for the war within the PS. The incident involving the speedboat operators, the clash in Lazarat, the power-cut scheme, and many other serious events in recent times are linked to the clan war within the PS Albanians are paying the price for the war within the PS The incident involving the speedboat operators, the clash in Lazarat, the power-cut scheme, and many other serious events in recent times are linked to the clan war within the PS ON PAGE 2 The opposition proposed an anti-crime pact after the total failure of the left-wing coalition Legitimacy is not keeping promises ON PAGE 3

The strike by Albanian miners and metalworkers continues ON PAGE 5

Strikes, ways to get out of the quagmire of Socialist rule ON PAGE 5

At its latest meeting, the government exposed its deception of the blue uniforms ON PAGE 4