Stones and bottles thrown at the Korçë Police Directorate building ON PAGE 6

On Friday, a large rally in the center of Tirana On Friday, March 12, it will be six months since the criminal murder of Azem Hajdari! The tribune of nationalism, the symbol of pluralism, the hero of democracy, Azem Hajdari, lives on in the mind and heart of every Albanian. For six months, the government has continued to protect Azem’s killers! On Friday, March 12, 1999, at 17:00, Albanians from all over Albania will gather in “Skënderbej” Square to honor the memory of the immortal hero Azem Hajdari, holding flowers and candles in their hands. Let us gather in the square for Azem! Azem is alive! Azem is among us!

Astrit PATOZI The internal conflict in the Socialist Party degenerated yesterday into mutual accusations by the two opposing camps over who has governed Albania worse since the former Albanian communists came to power following the June 29 elections. In a climate of growing hostility, the SP clans blamed one another for the grave situation the country is going through, publicly acknowledging that Albania is in a severe, multidimensional crisis. Former party chairman Fatos Nano and his group of supporters accused the Majko government of causing the catastrophic state of public order and the other serious problems the country is facing. His opponents, grouped around Majko and Meta, once again repeated the familiar accusations blaming Nano not only for failure to govern and misgovernment while he was prime minister, but also for the internal crisis that has engulfed the Socialist Party. In this attempt by the Socialist Party's crows to peck one another's eyes out, the only positive service may be considered the clarification and acknowledgment of several truths of great importance for the country's future. The fact that the two rival socialist factions have reduced their struggle to apportioning responsibility for the crisis means that the Socialist Party is not arguing over separating the angel from the devil, but over distinguishing the greater sinner from the lesser sinner. For Albanians, it no longer matters what Nano says about Majko or what Pëllumbi or Meta says about Nano. They need not strain themselves to decide, from the statements and counterstatements of opponents within the same ranks, which socialist is more right when accusing another. Those who voted on June 29 for Nano, Majko and Meta did not do so in order to arrive, a year and a half later, at the Chinese predicament of choosing the lesser of two evils. Watching the revived SP quarrels without emotion, Albanians can easily conclude that the socialists have failed completely, having exhausted all their internal forms and reserves. In the SP there are no [unclear] from whom one might expect some hope of positive change to emerge. The fact that the entire party has split into supporters and opponents of Nano, and that the latter is being recycled as a new alternative, shows that the Socialist Party has turned into a political swamp, just as its own chairman had warned three years ago, when he sent the motion from Bënça prison. The socialists are publicly acknowledging that they have [unclear] with all their capacities and have kept none of the promises they made on June 29 while in power. No one benefits from the fact that Majko may not be as Byzantine, cruel, or involved in trafficking or shady dealings as Fatos Nano, when there has been no step forward to unblock the crisis after the reshuffling of the latter's government cabinet last year. In this situation, the opposition should not sit back and applaud as its opponents in power quarrel with one another. If Nano, Majko, Pëllumbi, Islami and Meta insult and accuse one another of being responsible for and authors of the Albanians' drama, the opposition deserves no credit for that. It cannot be pleased that political debate has shifted inside the Socialist Party while the worsening of every crisis demands the opposition's involvement. The Democratic Party, as the main opposition force, cannot in any way content itself with the socialists' self-exposure following the sharp conflict among them. It has a duty to turn Albanians' growing discontent into a progressive force to provide the country with a political solution as soon as possible. While the socialists are insulting one another in search of the biggest culprit, Albanians are left grieving over the absence of democratic prospects and the lack of a future, and over the evidence that they will be held responsible for their impatience for democracy, when what is lacking is democracy itself.

The former SP chairman launches his counteroffensive: “I have suspended myself, but I have not resigned as chairman. The SP is a declining clan-based party. Today's leaders took the positions I left vacant” Nano: Majko has failed. Failure to establish public order, deliberate delays in privatization, corruption, inability to attract investment, delays in implementing administrative reform, the malfunctioning of the judicial system, and failure to resolve land and property issues. Organized crime has reached extraordinary proportions, Nano said, pointing to the state's subordination in the face of speedboat smugglers and those who kill politicians, students and citizens, just as during the period when he was prime minister.

Majko sidesteps the criticism and threatens Nano: Those who bring in smuggled trucks will face the state ON PAGE 2

The former deputy chairman of the PS attacks his fallen-from-grace opponent. Nano is preparing to split the PS, having failed in leading the party and the government The KPD does not approve Nano’s proposal to bring the congress forward ON PAGE 2

Did the Dalmazzo-Këlcyrë Protocol exist? Here is what the participants in the meeting say In the history of modern Albania, a large and important part concerns the period from 1939 to 1944, which coincides with the fascist and Nazi occupation of Albania, In the history of modern Albania, a large and important part concerns the period from 1939 to 1944, which coincides with the fascist and Nazi occupation of Albania. During this historical period, facts and personalities who played an important role at particular moments in this period—one very intense with events of great significance for the nation and Albanian history—have been distorted and disparaged, or ignored. Over the period 1939–1944, in Albania, the outlines became clearer... ON PAGE 10

PD deputy chairman Pollo takes part in the conference on the future of Europe “TG1,” “Secolo D’Italia,” “Il Tempo,” “Il Giornale,” “Roma” and “Telemontecarlo” were among the television channels and newspapers that covered, through articles and interviews, the visit by the delegation of the PD parliamentary group ... ON PAGE 3

Pëllumbi’s supporters reappear in Elbasan The PD deputy chairman, Pollo, takes part in the conference on the future of Europe Nano has requested the situation to come to Elbasan and Cërrik. This is what a source from the PS in Cërrik told “RD” yesterday... ON PAGE 3

Alushi: June 29 is turning into a boomerang for the Socialist Party The KPD meeting identifies the factions in the Socialist Party. Nano’s supporters begin their attack. Majko’s government is driving us away from power ON PAGE 2

Even after the shocking events of recent days in the city of Berat, the government was unable to come up with a solution to the grave situation in Albania. ON PAGE 3

Today, 177 days since the murder of the December Leader Every day that passes since the murder of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, confirms the involvement of Fatos Nano’s government and adds to the evidence of a crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The government of the former communists, which leaves free and unpunished the criminals who took the life of the December Leader, shows Albanians that it has been and remains on the side of the murderers, whose identities are known but who are untouched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and admired Azem Hajdari cannot tolerate this under any circumstances. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself carried out the murder of Azem Hajdari.

Police chief Ahmetaj bears direct responsibility for the Berat tragedy A person was appointed police director in Berat who had not worked in the police for six years, but had instead been running his private business, while also working closely with his old friend, Bashkim Fino ON PAGE 6

How Albanian women feel and spend their holiday Albanian women continue to fall victim to violence and to the most negative phenomenon of recent times, prostitution, for which the government and the state are responsible, as they have done nothing to stop it and have only compiled statistics on it ... ON PAGE 5

The High Council of Justice dismisses two judges from the districts and warns four Tirana court judges that they may be dismissed. Meanwhile, according to sources from the Ministry of Justice... ON PAGE 6

18-year-old Argon Kasumi has been held in custody for six months without any evidence The young man from Kosovo was arrested back in October, following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the General Prosecutor’s Office, and has never been questioned by investigators... ON PAGE 6