Figures are recycled to defeat Berisha Here are all the names that won in the Assembly Edi Rama forgets his promise to remove the election failures, rewards them all The news Socialist leader Rama has declared that the proposals for the leadership and the secretariat will be based on merit and the result on May 8, while all the losers have been nominated, most of whom have won. TIRANA Socialist leader Edi Rama, at yesterday’s meeting of the Socialist Party Assembly, while making proposals for members of the leadership and the names of the PS secretariat, who ran without alternative candidacies, said that the proposals were made on the basis of merit. “They were selected on the basis of regional representation or the results produced in their electoral areas during the latest local elections,” was Rama’s statement at the time of the proposal. According to him, the vast majority of the candidacies are those men and women who were successful in bearing the difficult burden of the most recent electoral battle. He assessed each and every candidate for the leadership and for the secretariat, describing them as contributors. But anticipating resentment and misunderstandings, Rama tried to get ahead of any accusations that might arise. “Reasons for not liking someone else’s words, work and actions can be found at any time, but what happens is that by dealing with or seeking such things you can no longer see the most obvious reasons to value the other person. And here in this party of rivalries and occasional turmoil, from the biggest to the smallest, each person has enough reason to receive the recognition of the other,” Rama declared... In the photo: A view from the meeting of the National Assembly of the PS continues on page 2 In the photo: A view from the meeting of the National Assembly of the PS

Editorial BY MIRANDA VICKERS The obituary of Leka Zogu Leka Zogu, who died at the age of 72, was the claimant to the Albanian royal throne. His father, Ahmet Zogu, declared himself King Zogu I of Albania in 1928 and married Geraldine Apponyi, the daughter of a Hungarian count and an American heiress, in 1938. Leka was born a year later, and just two days before the Italian invasion of Albania, Zogu and his family lived in permanent exile. The monarchy was abolished by the communist regime in 1946. Leka spent much of his life in exile, in Europe, Egypt and South Africa. After Zogu’s death in Paris in 1961, Leka proclaimed himself King of the Albanians by an Albanian National Assembly in exile. He claimed that the government in exile was organizing guerrilla operations inside communist Albania During the 1970s, as a guest of General Franco, Leka and his mother lived in Spain. In 1975 he married the Australian teacher Susan Cullen-Ward. Throughout his life, he remained a controversial figure, carrying an arsenal of weapons with him, which led to several arrests on charges of arms smuggling, the first being in Thailand in 1977. Two years later, Leka was expelled from Spain on charges of supporting irredentist activities. He claimed that the government in exile was organizing guerrilla operations inside communist Albania, but until now there has been no evidence of such a thing. Finally he found refuge in Johannesburg, where his son, also named Leka, was born in 1982. With the arrival of democracy in Albania, Leka made... continues on page 7

Gjin Marku’s deals Page 6 300 euros for asylum in London BY BESMIRA MUÇAJ

The MPs’ invitation for the Royal Family in 2002: Here are the names that are missing THE EVIDENCE IS REVEALED ARBEN RROZHANI Sali Berisha did not sign for the return of the Royal Family to Albania. The current prime minister, then chairman of the PD in opposition, is not among the 76 members of Parliament who made an official invitation in 2002 for the return of the Royal Family to the homeland after 6 decades of exile... continues on page 7

Page 4 Trial for Ilir Meta, the full testimonies in court yesterday Page 5 The tax investigation, journalists from “Ora News” are assaulted

Page 5 Metrology fines, the Appeal Court keeps Roland Çelmeta in prison Page 8 The energy crisis, restrictions resume across all of Albania

Page 11 The municipality leaves kindergartens without heating, children sleep in jackets Pages 12-13 American documents on the “collaborators” of fascism

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