- A roadside motif for a TV chronicle, but not for the satellite program, which is intended for export - - of the successes of the PD government At a time when calendars, encyclopedias, school textbooks, guides, etc. all indicate that Albania’s electrification was completed on 25 October 1970, it must be said that this democratic act continues. Yesterday, the new villagers, who have created dozens of connected families who came and settled along the line from the northeastern regions, mainly after the PD election promises. Anyone traveling along the national road to Shkodër will have the opportunity to see how residents of the northeastern areas, who came down out of necessity and in search of change during the transition period, continue to erect the poles they brought from the areas they came from. The poles are planted in this way, with no scattered supports under and over the national road, without any urban conditions; for two or three years they had been lit by pine torches and lamps in an area difficult to electrify. All the materials for this electrification, unlike the first, they have secured with their own efforts—from the income obtained after land was divided for themselves, now 1,600 dynym of land per person out of the 3,200 that had been left to the former owners of the Torovica area. Kolë Gjoni from Bugjon in Puka, who has come down over a lifetime, right between Torovica and Mali i Jushit, tells us that one family secured a transformer itself for 10–15 families that are closer together. Someone talks. Someone curses—damn the PSH. The devoted are struggling. There is also anxiety over whether the government will grant them the 10 electrifications that were “delayed.” During the conversation I had with some of them, refugees, as they call themselves and as others call them, I learned that it is not known whether this “solution” to their hardship will be accepted by the government, which seems to have abandoned these people, whom hardship has driven more than anything else to uproot themselves from their lands. KUSTIM DASI MP BASHKIM ZENELI MEETS FATOS NANO At last one of the Socialist Party deputies managed to break through the strong cordon of isolation and force, which surrounds the chairman of the Socialist Party and MP Fatos Nano. It is known that until now he has been denied, in a rather strict manner, contact with comrades, friends, colleagues and especially journalists. The silence of the prosecutor’s office has been the answer to our newsroom’s official request for an interview with him. As is known, the permission recently granted to MP Bashkim Zeneli by the prosecutor was also considered invalid by the prison directorate. Yesterday we learned that MP Zeneli managed to meet Fatos Nano in Tirana prison. About this meeting, in tomorrow’s issue we will publish an interview.

The turning point for the functioning of the rule of law is the release of the Chairman of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano, who is being held in prison unconstitutionally and unlawfully. The holding of early elections by autumn of this year would be the only constitutional path to a new political solution. The Socialist Party proposes the adoption of a pre-election social pact that would ensure the elections are held in conditions of a calm political situation.

Corruption, the truth and the law – The 4 million lek fund opened by the Government for the Shupenzë water supply system goes up in smoke. After strikes that aimed to overthrow local power, the tired accusations that the strike was organized by “uncles” (when its organizers were members of the PD and members of the leadership of this house, and the violence and imprisonment were among the main supporters of the PD), after the great madness with the TV camera, the force of hostility was gathered and paid for inside the gallery, after the conflict for power within the PD clans, and finally the local slander by the gentlemen of the PD. Now, after 5 months under your leadership, following some of the key problems in the district, raised in the Council and at district meetings by representatives of all political forces (except you), we are addressing you openly and publicly, gentlemen in power, to receive an answer about the truth and the argument with facts from our side. Who are the culprits that caused the 4 million lek in new money for the reconstruction of the Shupenzë water supply to be burned, when the Government opened it on 8 June 1993? The fund was burned. The people were left without water. Who must be brought before the law? What is the real value of the work situation for the Bulqizë water supply system? How was the 3.1 million lek difference between the contractor’s report and that of the employer (investor) justified, and where did this money go? Who has spent this money, which amounts to around 1.5 million lek? Why is no pressure being exerted on the Pastrim-Gjelbërim enterprise to settle this amount? Why are the justice authorities sleeping when the embezzlement was denounced 3 months ago? In the endless questions we have to address to you, we sincerely have no confidence, without rhetoric, that the district’s affairs and problems will go well, especially after the appointment of Mr. Lami and Mr. Mënderuar of the PD as chairman. But that does not seem to be the case for the PD supporters. Man, in power, provokes power, and power provokes corruption. The group of PS councilors of Bulqizë district

A six-year-old child dead and his mother transferred to the Tirana hospital in very serious condition as a result of a road accident in Bulqizë at the beginning of this year. The van driver who caused this tragedy says that he was full of [p]lot [?]. A. D.

From September to December - 213 new admissions It is an uncontested fact that in recent months in the district of Korçë, the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party has been shaken out of routine, greatly increasing its own value through continuous contacts with elements inclined toward change. The forms of contact of the leadership, the lines in order. These are young and highly active intellectuals, shining in meetings and known rifts, have brought it to a point that would have been hard to imagine a year ago. Now, in the offices of the Socialist Party, many people can be seen approaching—intellectuals from various fields, the unemployed, people from the deepest areas, who emigrate, and if we are not a party in power, their hardship seems to ease us. That the PD organizers have put down only a single piece of paper, our organization is becoming more and more effective every day. It is the vitality of the activities of the forum and especially the growth of its ranks, including the women’s forum. There are no longer cold areas for us socialists, but we are welcomed even where until yesterday they were regarded as strongholds of the PD, and we are listened to with respect even by those people who until yesterday lived by the principle of the chairman of the PS in the district, Niko Pandeli. PS organizations were created in Pojan, and today more than 70 members are counted in its villages. They called us to Zvezdë on 4 December, on the day of the PD Assembly, and 30 young men formed the PS organization, whose ranks today include around 57 young people from the Prespa area. Podgorie, Zemblak, Maliq and everywhere, bringing the number of memberships within less than three months to 213 new members. ALI MYFTARI

- Since the beginning of the year, anomalies and then paralysis of interurban transport from Tirana toward Lushnjë, Fier, Vlorë, Korçë, Ballsh, Tepelenë, Gjirokastër, Sarandë, etc. - The Government’s decree bureaucratically orders, stifling free initiative. - The high tax risks burdening this type of passenger ticket price. It is the order of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Protocol No. 2324-2 dated 28 October 1993, that caused the immediate reaction of the owners of buses providing interurban services on the southern lines of Albania. Signed and approved by the Council of Ministers on 17 March 1993, transforming the system of individual permits for urban transport, it aims to strike road transport of passengers and luggage in the public sector. This objective of the Albanian Government and the Ministry of Transport is worthy of note, but the fact remains that this interurban service has in reality been characterized by irregularities and a lack of discipline, with transport being free or paid and with many unlicensed operators. It seems that the government and the relevant ministry have found the most suitable path, that of bureaucratic order, thereby stifling the free initiative of the owners themselves. There is Law 107 on private activity and the free person, No. 1912, in article 2 of which it is stated that: Albanian or foreign subjects may exercise private activity a) as individuals, b) in partnerships, c) in collectives or cooperatives, and d) it guarantees free private enterprise in forms other than their activity, while respecting free liberty. Meanwhile, the latest decree in point 5 recommends seeking bus operators who cover more than one or all of the routes departing from the center. Moreover, according to the recommendation in this point, this applies to all those who carry out interurban transport from Tirana toward the South. What is strongly linked to the whole route in question and seeks to make it the object of a free initiative. Thus, those registered as natural persons and owners of vehicles on the line must remain valid under Law 7679 dated 9 March 1993, which for the transport of passengers legally imposes a minimum of 5 percent of the value, but not less than 100 thousand lek. The conditions for groups in collectives, cooperatives, etc., under the above law, are also subject to a higher tax, amounting to 30 percent of the realized profit, since in this case they are legal persons. What is most important is the fact that, in the second case, the tax unacceptable to bus owners will be passed on to the ticket price, that is, at the expense of the passenger, especially with negative consequences for the ordinary people and the living market economy. Despite the circular from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to make it public also through TV and the interurban transport parties, “Dinamika e Jugut” is clear. Before the stimulating efforts, buses left and only citizens remained; people were left in this situation to travel without clarity in the South, according to the recommendation. EIDON BIACE

The trial of the “alcohol case” has ended On Monday at the Tirana Court, Judge Andi Çeliku concluded the case and issued the verdict, finding Gjelok Zeneli guilty and sentencing him to two years’ imprisonment; Gjelok Zeneli to three years’ imprisonment; Halit Karmaku to 8 years’ imprisonment; Met Rahmani to 8 years’ imprisonment; Isuf Osmani; and acquitted Sotiraq Spirollari. After three months of trial proceedings, at the Tirana Court, Judge Andi Çeliku brought to an end the so-called “alcohol case,” which carried on its shoulders the death of around 18 people. After hearing the defendants’ and their lawyers’ final statements, Judge Çeliku on Monday issued the following decision: Gjelok Zeneli is declared guilty and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on the charge of the criminal misdemeanor provided for by Article 234 of the Penal Code; Halit Karmaku is declared guilty and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment; Met Rahmani to 8 years; Isuf Osmani to 8 years on the charge of the crime provided for by Article 73-a of the Penal Code; and for Isuf Osmani, the charge of forgery provided for by Article 121 of the Penal Code. The trial panel acquitted Sotiraq Spirollari. In addition to the charges, he mentioned that the above defendants retained the undeniable right to appeal to the Court of Appeal. E. B.

The free press facing the DOUBLE pressure of POLITICAL POWER and DARK HANDS The free press facing the double pressure of POLITICAL POWER and DARK HANDS

- The Office of the Chargé d’Affaires of Great Britain in Tirana announces that on the 24th, following the visit recently made to Tropojë by the Chargé d’Affaires of Great Britain, Mr. Stephen Nash, one of the aid measures for the Albanian people, the British Government is sending two gifts for mothers for the winter in some parts of the troubled district of Tropojë. Distribution will take place during this week.