An attempt to remove the next “tumor” So far, only the fact has been made public that Tritan Shehu, President of the shareholders’ assembly and at the same time Secretary General of the Democratic Party, signed the request to shut down the PD company called “Shqiponja”, addressed to the court of first instance in Tirana. What does such a move mean? And why was it undertaken precisely now, when the smell of oil from “Shqiponja” has long been spreading everywhere?... Tritan Shehu and those hiding behind his name may have thought to remove the next “tumor” from the sick body of the PD, in the hope that it would be able to regenerate on the eve of the election campaign. But apparently they forgot that there is no electricity in the operating room, and in their failed and equally desperate efforts, instead of improving the patient’s condition, they have made it much worse. Otherwise it is impossible to explain the informational silence of “RD” and the other state bodies regarding the latest decision of the Assembly of Partners. The “closure” of the company “Shqiponja” is not unexpected. In fact, it has been talked about for a long time, precisely from the day when the order was issued to block its accounts, precisely when staff changes were made, when the “correction” of the documentation and its possible piecemeal destruction were prepared in advance. But the poor naïve people forget that one can indeed sign the closure of a corrupt company deeply implicated in wrongdoing, but that does not mean the big file of corruption and massive theft at the expense of national wealth has been closed; they forget that the file on fuel smuggling and arms trafficking cannot be closed. Bosnia is not far away, its victims accuse them, just as Kosovo accuses them: it is kept enslaved by the Serbian military machine, which is also fed by the oil coming from Albania. One can sign the closure of a corrupt company deeply implicated in wrongdoing, but that does not mean the big file of corruption and massive theft at the expense of national wealth has been closed; it does not mean the files on fuel smuggling and arms trafficking have been closed.

The Socialist Party prepares its electoral program -Facts that need no comment Of the 50 enterprises that are part of the Ministry of Industry system, only 12 have been privatized; of the 42 in the construction system, 9 have been privatized; of the 13 in agriculture and food, 4 have been privatized, etc. -Deliberate delays in the privatization process in Tirana -Of the 109 small and medium-sized enterprises under the municipality, only 27, or 25 percent, have been privatized. -At this “speed” the process will be completed around the year 2000! -Meksi’s government gives the “Drini” bar-restaurant to 3 military personnel from the police system and one of its own employees. -Foreign capital - excluded from the privatization process. Read on page 4

Photo: Reuters Former chairman of Germany’s SPD Rudolf Sharping (m) congratulates Oskar Lafonten, who was elected yesterday as the new chairman of the SPD Social democracy economically stronger As we have informed readers, a delegation of the Socialist Party of Albania led by its deputy secretary Dr. Servet Pëllumbi also took part in the Congress of the SPD of Germany. On the first day, the German SPD leader Rudolf Sharping also took the floor, and his main message was “We will win the future.” “We will work more for social democracy.” Today we social democrats appeal for the establishment and preservation of peace, he said, which is not exported, but established and must be preserved by the local people, alongside the Party’s strong base. Responding to voices about the decline of social democracy, he emphasized that “We now have our rebirth.” During its stay in Germany, the PSSH delegation held numerous meetings with leaders of the German SPD and of the Socialist Parties of Europe. Among other things, the PSSH delegation held separate meetings with the Secretary General of the German SPD, Mr. Günter Verloijken, and the Vice Chairwoman of the German SPD, Herta Gemelin. These meetings mainly discussed the difficult political situation in Albania and the further development of relations between the two parties. The PSSH delegation also held a special meeting with the Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Europe, Mr. Jean François Vallin, who expressed his solidarity with the PSSH and its chairman Fatos Nano, committing himself to more concrete support in the future. PSSH Press and Information Office

When a group of socialist deputies went to the Council of Ministers to learn about the discussion of law 7984, which served to keep Socialist leader Fatos Nano in prison longer, no note or document was found to prove who made the proposal and what the spirit of the debate had been. Read on page 3