DECISIONS/ The government hands Berisha classified data, sales and statistics OMNIPOTENT The prime minister seizes secrets and procurement Klosi and Gjoni: A concentration of political power The News Prime Minister Sali Berisha has concentrated even more power in his hands, by removing from the competencies of the Council of Ministers even a delicate institution such as the Directorate of Classified Information. ■■■ TIRANE POLI HOXHA Prime Minister Sali Berisha decided yesterday to increase his own powers with several decisions concerning secret information, official statistical data, public procurement, and the Agency for Research, Technology and Innovation. With the four decisions made yesterday, by replacing the phrase “under the Council of Ministers” and replacing it with “under the Prime Minister,” the head of government will be the only official who will hold and administer the state’s secret information, its official statistics, data on public procurement, and those on innovation and technology. The most sensitive point, though not the only one, concerns one of the articles of Law no. 8457 “On classified information, state secret.” This is a correction to the first paragraph of Article 25 of this law. In the paragraph “The Directorate for the Security of Classified Information is... In photo: Prime Minister Sali Berisha continued on page 2

Interview Pages 6-7 Edmond Panariti: The work we will do in Tirana ARBEN ROZHANI

BLOG/Periphery BY ALBA MALLTEZI Between Berisha and Rama “I wish and hope that this year will inspire every Albanian to make a new beginning in his attitudes toward the past, the present, and the country. The performance of the Albanian economy in 2011 was such that it generated more revenue than ever in the country’s history. To every Albanian citizen I want to inform that tax and customs revenues on December 31, 2011 were 295 billion lek, $400 million more than in 2009,” said Prime Minister Berisha at the Government meeting. “...we are trapped in the jaws of fools and geniuses. We journalists are in the middle as well, but closer to criticism... The chairman of the Socialist Party, Edi Rama, responds on Twitter: “The government proposes that Albanians be happy because there is no economic crisis, no unemployment, no injustice, only great world achievements. We propose an Albanian renaissance to leave behind the old habit of lies and grabbing, and together the economy, society, the state.” Albanians are also starting this 2012 amid extreme political messages: the optimism of Prime Minister Berisha and the pessimism of the opposition leader Edi Rama. Throughout all these years, we ourselves have learned to find the golden mean of a seemingly stable balance; otherwise we would go mad. The country’s prime minister, completely different from the opposition Berisha, is projecting people much more into an unreal dimension: that of dream, of fiction; it seems as if he is dealing more with healing the soul... continued on page 7

NEW YEAR Topi, Berisha, Topalli in Albania, Rama in the USA. The mayor leaves Tirana NEW YEAR Topi, Berisha, Topalli in Albania, Rama in the USA. The mayor leaves Tirana Lulzim Basha celebrates in the Netherlands JAKIN MARENA The highest state leaders, Topi, Topalli and Berisha spent the year-end holidays in the capital, while the number two of the SP, Ruçi, was also in the capital. Mayor Rama celebrated in the USA, while the mayor of Tirana, Basha, was in the Netherlands... continued on page 4

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Lunch.com BY MIRA KAZHANI Ngjela: Albanians happy like frogs at the bottom of a well Page 9

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