The election campaign in the 195 party organizations of the Korçë district is proceeding in accordance with the party statute. Analyses are being made of the work carried out, tasks for the future are being set, and the designated objectives are being selected. In all the organizations, the work done so far is being assessed, while at the same time pointing out the shortcomings and weaknesses observed and ways to correct them. Emphasis has been placed on the alternatives, means and directions through which they will be implemented tomorrow. In every organization, in town and village alike, there is a noticeable demand for new party membership. These are members who have not belonged to the Party of Labour, but were unaffiliated, or who come from democratic parties as a result of their disappointment with them, their activities and their way of governing. There are 2–3 such admissions in each organization, but the villages that stand out most are Zerec, with 20 new members; Sovjan, 13; Pirg, 10; Moravë, 8; Podgoricë, 13; Marjan, 11; Moçan, 7; Erë Kërc [?], 7; and so on. In all, Korçë has around 500 new members. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»

Mr. PRIME MINISTER! You do not even have the chance to plead ignorance about everything that happened on May 29, because the state knows everything, the Minister of Public Order knows, the Minister of Local Government knows, and the prosecution knows. Yesterday at 5:00 p.m., the Albanian parliament began its proceedings with Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi. As we had announced, his presence in that chamber was secured by the persistent demand and legitimate insistence of the Socialist deputies. Mr. Arbenori first gave the floor to the chairman of the SP parliamentary group, Nazmik Dokle, who addressed Mr. Meksi, presenting the reasons for the Socialist group’s request that he appear before Parliament—a request based mainly on the terrorist acts committed on election day in the commune of Libofshë. Mr. Dokle addressed them one by one. After him, Prime Minister Meksi took the floor to answer and present the situation in Libofshë on May 29. He began his statement with general remarks, such as that organizing local-government elections places a number of responsibilities on the government, which, he said, the government had fulfilled very well. Confronted from the very beginning of the session with the fact of the violence and with everything that had happened on May 29 in Libofshë, Prime Minister Meksi said that, through the media on May 29, he had received a number of protests from the Socialist Party. President Frisha had received them as well. In response to his request, he said, a team from the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Directorate had been sent there, and according to their report the elections had been conducted in accordance with all the rules. This conclusion by the Prime Minister’s special envoys (Continued on page 2)

Mr. Prime Minister, our request that you appear before Parliament is based on your constitutional obligation, set out in point 5 of Article 36 of the Main Constitutional Provisions, which stipulates: «The Council of Ministers must take measures to ensure, preserve and strengthen the legal order and the rights of citizens.» This is a permanent obligation for the cabinet you head, but it is also a particularly important obligation when it comes to guaranteeing these rights during elections. But what happened, Mr. Prime Minister? May 29, when early local elections were held in five communes, turned from an ordinary day of democratic competition between political forces into a day of violence, a day of organized state crime. As we emphasized in the statement by the parliamentary group, the events of May 29 set a grave precedent. In Libofshë, observers and members of commissions, representatives of local government, the chairman of the election commission, Socialist Party leaders in the district, and deputies of the People’s Assembly were beaten, brutalized, injured and abducted. All these acts were carried out by organized gangs directed by people with state power and backed by every kind of state resource, from cars and radios to weapons. The events of May 29 in Libofshë are a mirror of this state. Elections held under threat and physical and psychological terror cannot be considered normal, democratic or lawful by anyone. They are not only legally invalid, but also constitute a direct indictment of the government you head. It is an accusation against you because everything that happened in Libofshë constitutes a state crime, organized by state officials using state resources. Behar Plaka, commune chairman, directed the attack and abduction of six deputies in order to prevent them from carrying out their normal work in Libofshë. The incident took place in the presence of a DP deputy, just 7–8 minutes after Ali Spahia, the DP deputy chairman and head of its parliamentary group, had left the scene. - After all this mass terror, very few people went to the polling stations. Members of the polling commissions wanted to leave the stations, but the police stopped them: «If you leave the polling station, we’ll put you in jail!» - After 12:30 p.m., no one went to the polling stations, yet TV announced that 70 percent of voters had voted in Libofshë, while the records show that 99.99 percent of voters had voted. Of the 5,638 registered voters, records drawn up under threat state that 5,630 voted. It appears that only eight people did not take part in the voting, although around 300 people from Libofshë are known to be working temporarily in Greece. - Of these, 2,540 voted for the DP, 1,054 for the SP, 131 for the PSD and 1,905 votes were invalid. All the invalid votes have one characteristic: the three names of the candidates sent by the «Margjalli gang» [text unclear]. In the village where the DP chairman, Andrea Toska, took a proper position and did not allow voters to be threatened, the result was as follows: votes for the SP: 99; total voters: 161; votes for the DP: 29; votes for the PSD: 3; invalid votes: 30. - The people saw a DP deputy and the mayor of Fier make changes to ballot papers in Todi Gremi’s shack, while the deputy mayor coordinated the terrorist actions. Who organized and protected all this? - The prefect of Durrës, Viktor Margjalli; - Fier police chief Agron Braçe, who brought seven officers personally connected to him into the police force (F. Sigeca, P. Petani, M. Kamberi, L. Likani, Y. Hasimeta); - The chairman of the Commune of Kuman, Behar Plaka, who has 12 cousins in Agron Braçe’s police force, specifically: Niazi Plaka, Njazi Plaka, Lavdosh Plaka, Kastriot Plaka, Enver Plaka, Gani Plaka. (Continued on page 2) [?] cannot be considered normal, democratic, or legal constitute a direct indictment of the government you lead. This state resources and paid for by the state. You have no chance of feigning ignorance about everything that happened in Libofshë, because the state knew about it: the Minister of Public Order knew, the Minister of Local Government knew, and the prosecution knew. So you know, Mr. Prime Minister, what happened. You know who organized it. You know who carried it out. You know who repeated it. We await your response before Parliament and the people.

Mr. Prime Minister, I do not believe that you are genuinely unaware of what happened in Libofshë. The Ministry of Public Order and Chairman Berisha were informed about everything three times. Yet you come here to Parliament with the testimony of one case. Therefore, I consider it my duty to recount it all to you. - Luan Rustemi, an SP observer in the village of Agim, was the first to be beaten, at 7:30 in the morning. His assailants beat and abducted him, then threw him into a ditch. He was brought back late and sheltered by a family. One of the attackers even stated his own name in front of the deputies. - Ibrahim Sula and Nikolla Hysu were beaten by Behar Plaka’s gang. Behar Plaka is the chairman of the Commune of Kuman and a representative of the DP. - Perikli Prifti, the brother of the Socialist candidate, was brutally beaten. - Faik Memushi, the SP representative at the polling station in Hashtukas, was attacked by a gang of 30 people, accompanied by the police and led by Petrit Çarcani, deputy chairman of the DP in Fier. - Rrapi Kuqo, the district council’s representative for the elections, was brutally beaten by a group ... led by the chairman of the Commune of Kuman. - Sokrat Ikonomi, chairman of the Central Election Commission in Libofshë, was beaten by bandits assisted by Captain Pandeli Petashi, commander of the police forces in Libofshë. - At around 10:00 in the village of Agim, the gang led by Viktor Margilaj, former chairman of the DP in Fier, newly appointed prefect of Durrës, and the brother of the Socialist candidate, [text unclear] ... 99.99 percent of the voters threat show - From all this, it follows that 2,540 people voted for the PPD, votes were invalid. All the invalid votes share one characteristic: they are all torn, but the name of the SP candidate has been erased in a different colour from the other candidates’ names. In the village of Daullas, with around 400 voters, where on July 26, 1993 the SP candidate received 256 votes and the DP candidate 78, on May 29 all the votes for the SP were declared invalid. - In the village of Havaleas, where 2–3 of the ...

- The DP descends on Zall-Herr with fanfare, chanting: «Our word is your heart; your word is our deed»: - Expected specialization courses for the soldiers in Turkey. - The gravel will rot if the DP does not win - - Shameful gifts for teachers suspected of voting for the SP - Immediately after Mr. Selami’s pledge at the press conference that they would also win the Commune of Zall-Herr, around 30 cars descended on the Commune of Zall-Herr on Tuesday, apparently visiting all its villages. Among the «attackers», we learned from the villagers, were Frrtan Shehu, Dylber Vrioni, Dashamir Shehi, a former longtime employee of the Ministry of Education and now chairman of the municipality, Sali Kelmendi. The villagers also told us that among the «attacking group» was the man introduced as a beer distributor for Kruna, Mr. Dragush Prespa. The DP representatives gave the villagers of this commune many precious gifts and surprises that day. Among them, we can mention «announcements that teachers suspected of having voted for the SP on May 29 would be dismissed—a suspicion based on the political convictions of their family circles». 2) «You see the gravel they brought to pave the road; since we didn’t win, it will rot»—only the DP knows how gravel is supposed to rot. «Give us your votes and we’ll pave your road.» «That is what the gentlemen said,» the villagers told us. This is strange, since the main road leading to the centre of Zall-Herr has been blocked by a foreign company building a gravel-processing plant, and the villagers are asking: where and how are we supposed to cross the river? 3) The DP’s two years leading the commune have passed without [text unclear] in the commune. The villagers told us that DP representatives had said: «Give us your votes and we’ll bring you a doctor of every specialty.» 4) This is the greatest wonder of all. As many people told us, DP and state representatives told the soldiers, these young men who voted honestly on Sunday in ... and the people of Zall-Herr: «Vote for the DP, and we will send you to Turkey for specialist training; we have already concluded an agreement with them.» And finally, there was no way to avoid slandering the SP and insulting the people of Zall-Herr. The villagers told us that DP representatives had said: «We would even help you with packages of sugar, rice and flour, but we won’t do that for the SP because it considers it a violation of the election-campaign law.» Can a people be insulted like this? Can an intelligent, hardworking people, who have behaved honestly, be dazzled by these shameful crumbs and handouts? We do not know the DP’s answer. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»

Statement delivered in Parliament by deputy Perikli Teta The DP’s policy aims to destroy pluralism and democracy in Albania Mr. Chairman, The group of Democratic Alliance deputies condemns and rejects every propaganda act displayed during the election campaign for the election of five local-government officials, a campaign conducted largely by violating the laws and abusing state power. It is to the honour of this Parliament, as the highest body of state power, to address this incident, and the government must account for everything that has happened in the five communes. The prefect, as this Parliament has established, is the government’s representative in local government. Therefore, it is incumbent on Mr. Meksi to convince us that in Durrës he arrested eight people, where there is no representative [text unclear] of a thug gang leader ... Parliament has legislated that the exercise of duty and the protection of parliamentarians are part of the constitutional order. Therefore, so that the way this duty was exercised remains beyond manipulation ... But secondly, Mr. Chairman, above all, we strongly condemn the act of violence perpetrated against members of the People’s Assembly. The grave incident of May 29 in Libofshë, in the district of Fier, and the violence perpetrated against Socialist deputies, is the most shameful act of ... open violence against deputies. We recall the ... Taqi Paloka in Lezhë and the assault on Mr. Keko. The incident is aggravated by the particular circumstance that it took place on election day and inside the polling station. This is a grave violation of the laws committed by these deputies, and, in particular, the command of this unit must be brought to trial. The parliamentary media committee must report clearly to us where and how RTVSH obtained the information on the provisional election results that it broadcast during voting day. It is the duty of the members of this committee to stand against the shameful Buçapist, hyper-Enverist propaganda that the parties in power broadcast through RTVSH. In this regard, we will not dwell on an analysis of the election results published by ATSH in the newspapers dated May 31, which show only the moral destitution of the managers and leaders of this institution. and leaders of this institution. (Continued on page 2) The day of municipalities, instead of being an ordinary day of democratic communication between political forces, turned crime. As we emphasized in the parliamentary group’s statement, the events of May 29 are a dangerous precedent that threatens free elections and elected representatives. After the enormous psychological and economic pressure exerted by government officials during the campaign, after the threats and arrests carried out by the police, the authorities and those in power—especially its usurping clans—managed to organize entire fascist phalanxes to suppress the vote, install the power of looters, and deny the anti-democratic practice of holding on to power at any cost.

1. For commune chairman No. Name, father’s name, surname — Number of votes in figures — Number of votes in words 1. Jonuz Rakip Meta — 327 — three hundred and twenty-seven 2. Kamber Hasan Canaj — 31 — thirty-one 3. Qamil Sefedin Hysena — 466 — four hundred and sixty-six 2. For councillors No. Electoral subjects — Abbreviation — Number of votes in figures — In words 1. Democratic Party — PD — 232 — two hundred and thirty-two 2. Republican Party — PR — 23 — twenty-three 3. Socialist Party — PS+PUK — 330 — three hundred and thirty 4. Social Democratic Party — PSD — 68 — sixty-eight The tables above show the contents of the official records kept by the election commission for the commune of Greshicë. Unfortunately for the DP and its chairman, Mr. Eduart Selami, they have been signed and stamped in accordance with all the rules of the election law. Apart from Berisha, who remained [text unclear] for the council, the DP representative, Mr. Murrizi, has also signed; all the parties except the DP have signed, which, according to its own intimate basis, except for a position near the end,