Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino speaks about the bandit-like act of 6 April 1996 “I expressed my willingness, in my own name, to say that the Albanian prime minister will not be swayed in the slightest by any kind of pressure from any forces or particular factions. I am ready to go to Shkodër whenever and however the people of Shkodër wish, to talk with them. The local authorities have taken responsibility for this and will inform me very soon about the visit to Shkodër.” Read on page 2 Shkodër distances itself from the armed bandits

. The incident in Bushat was inspired by the statements that “Shkodër does not want the Socialists.” It aimed to cause bloodshed in Shkodër so that the government could then be blamed. The incident involving the prime minister and the government team in Bushat, Shkodër, is a grave attack against national reconciliation, a mission undertaken by the re- “Vlora is terrorist,” etc. The democratic and patriotic people of Shkodër condemned this serious incident with profound indignation. Representatives of Shkodër’s local authorities, political parties and religious communities once again expressed their full support for the government of national reconciliation and their readiness to welcome and cooperate with it. Through this action, they showed those hotheads, who refuse to abandon their criminal acts against our people and our country, where they stand. During the recent unrest, Shkodër has suffered no less than the country’s other districts. Dozens of people have died and hundreds more have been injured as a result of the situation that has arisen. State employees and pensioners have gone more than a month without receiving their salaries and pensions. Public order is struggling to… (Continued on page 3)

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF ALBANIA [They] still leave the burden of this disastrous and corrupt governance on the shoulders of exhausted and desperate people.

1. A bitter chronicle Bad news: the prime minister of the Government of National Reconciliation, Mr. Bashkim Fino, accompanied by several ministers, was to come to Shkodër on Saturday. The city learned of it at 10:00, while, as it later turned out, armed men had blocked the road in Bushat as early as 8:00 in the morning! On the sidewalk in front of the Shkodër city library, hundreds of citizens gathered within a short time to welcome the Government of National Reconciliation to Shkodër. Meanwhile, local government officials, council members, leaders of the three religious communities, and representatives of the political parties took their places in the library’s main hall, where the meeting with the government officials was to be held. The visible presence at the police station gave the impression that its facilities were fully occupied amid the particular circumstances of the chaos that Shkodër, too, has been experiencing since 12 March. As people waited for the arrival of Prime Minister Fino and the other government officials at any moment, at 11:15 rumours began to circulate that an armed group had ambushed them at the entrance to Bushat and prevented them from coming. This unexpected news caused indignation among people who do not know how to engage in dirty tricks. The police, accompanied by a diagaç, immediately set off towards Bushat, 18 km from the city. The citizens gathered in front of the library waited another half-hour and left, outraged by the treacherous act committed against the government officials. Those present in the library hall were informed that armed men had stopped the government officials at the entrance to Bushat by Pjerin Gjoka, chief of police in Shkodër. He said he had no detailed information about what had happened in Bushat, adding that the police chief himself had arrived there… [text continues beyond the cut] (Continued on page 3)

Article by academic Rexhep Qosja, sent especially to “Zëri i popullit” Albania today has a legitimate national institution—the Government of National Reconciliation—which the people have made legitimate at the national level... while internationally it has been made legitimate by the USA and the OSCE, which called for its formation.

The political situation in the country following the formation of the Government of National Reconciliation, the parliamentary elections to be held in June, the decision for the Socialists to participate in parliament, etc., call for the Socialist Party to become active again and fully operational at all levels and in all its structures, both centrally and locally. In this context, the party presidium has devoted considerable attention to revitalizing the standing committees operating under it. Last week, almost all these committees held meetings, including those for the economy and finance, agriculture, justice, social affairs, human rights, defense, party organization, etc. The main themes of these meetings and the committees’ work in the near future have focused on two areas: First, preparing recommendations for the party leadership to help develop the party line, and recommendations for Socialist representatives in the Government of National Reconciliation. Second, preparing the electoral platform for the parliamentary elections in June. To achieve these objectives, care has been taken to bring into the committees some of the country’s best specialists in their respective fields. B.S.