Bashkim Kopliku sidelines Meksi, and his brother-in-law Ferdinand Xhaferi takes the reins of the DP

Page 3 Page 24: Summary in English of Voice of the People

Secretary-General of the PES, Jean-François Vallin: Page 6

The Deputy Chairman of the SP, Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, and the Head of the Political Information Department, Dr. Kastriot Islami, held a meeting with the Ambassador of the French Republic to Albania, Mr. Louis Dominici. Dr. Pëllumbi presented an overview of the Socialist Party’s consistent position on integration into Europe and all Euro-Atlantic structures. The Socialist Party is determined to accelerate the pace of this integration by prioritizing the ratification of European conventions. As part of this integration, the Socialist Party, through its platform, is determined to play an active and stabilizing role in the troubled Balkan region. Views were also exchanged on the political situation in the country on the eve of the election campaign, the “genocide” law, and the electoral law. Mr. Pëllumbi reaffirmed the SP’s position in favor of free and democratic elections and a tension-free alternation of power. The meeting emphasized that relations between France and Albania are relations between two friendly countries and peoples that are not marked by party-political affiliations. SP Press Spokesperson

Yesterday morning at the PSSH headquarters, its Deputy Chairman Ilir Meta and Presidium member Prof. Et’hem Ruka welcomed Marko Picone, a member of the Secretariat of the Democratic Party of the Left and a Member of Parliament; Dr. Marko Biankini, Deputy International Secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left of Italy; and Mario Solana, representative of the Spanish Socialist Party. The meeting discussed political developments in the country, concerns about the electoral law, and the ruling party’s efforts to manipulate the elections and eliminate the opposition. The SP leaders praised the support that the European left is giving to left-wing forces in Albania and the importance of international monitoring of the elections. The meeting also discussed strengthening relations between the PSSH and the Democratic Party of the Left of Italy and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. PSSH KPD members Monika Kryemadhi and Gjergji Koja also attended the meeting.

On the eve of the new election campaign, when the Democratic Party was expected to “unfurl the banners of the victories” it had achieved over the past four years, a phenomenon deserving attention is taking place: the pages of the RD newspaper and all of this party’s propaganda are tilting at windmills, as in the world-famous work. The so-called Serbian funding, which the DP press has been making much of for several weeks, sometimes trying to implicate the newspaper “KJ” and sometimes the Socialist Party, shows that this party’s arguments in the political struggle have dwindled to zero. The election campaign thus resembles a battle that has yet to begin, in which its protagonists in power, blue flag in hand, are already defeated, because their bullets are wet. Why is this happening? Because the Democratic Party’s alternative during its four years of rule has been an alternative of division, confusion, and political fog. As the popular saying goes (Continued on page 6)

Meeting of the FRESSH Steering Committee Members of the FRESSH General Steering Committee are hereby notified that the meeting of the FRESSH General Steering Committee will begin on Wednesday, February 28, at 11:00. The FRESSH Presidium

On Tuesday, 27.02.1996, at 12:00, a press conference will be held at the SP headquarters on the Socialist Party’s positions regarding foreign policy and integration into Euro-Atlantic structures.