Berisha’s criminal plan fails. Magnificent Socialist rallies in Mirditë From 18 June 1993 in Shkodër to 18 June 1997 in Mamurras Berisha’s criminal plan fails. Magnificent Socialist rallies in Mirditë Four years of bandit ambushes From 18 June 1993 in Shkodër to 18 June 1997 in Mamurras Those in power and dictatorships have tried to divide Mirditë The Socialist leader at one of the rallies of recent days (REUTERS) The ambush organized yesterday in Mamurras for the chairman of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano, recalls an event that, by coincidence, took place exactly four years earlier in Shkodër, when Fatos Nano was prevented from meeting members and supporters of his party. Yesterday, as then, the date was 18 June. Albania, on the eve of the 29 June elections, is thus experiencing the “politics of ambushes,” one of the ugliest products of the rule of Sali Berisha’s party. This incident proves that this bandit-like policy, carried out by armed men ready to spill Albanian blood at the hands of Albanians—a policy that in fact began four years ago, when Berisha declared as loudly as he could that “Shkodër does not want the Socialists”—has made exclusion rather than cooperation, and confrontation rather than dialogue, the official policy of Berisha’s party. These primitive ideas have underpinned the Democratic Party’s rule. That is why inter-party hostility, and even national division, with tragic consequences for the country’s fate and Albania’s fragile democracy, have accompanied and continue to accompany the rule of this party and its leadership. Analyzing yesterday’s incident in Mamurras in the context of current developments, it is clear that the climate Sali Berisha introduced into Albanian politics four years ago with the Shkodër incident, when the place of honor was given to armed bandits, could not have been an isolated episode; rather, it expressed a concept of governance reminiscent of an ugly era. Yesterday’s incidents were parodies involving Socialist leaders Fatos Nano, Rexhep Mejdan and Pandeli Majko. Berisha’s armed gangs continue to sink ever deeper into crime. As the Socialist leaders were travelling toward Mirditë, where they were to hold two meetings, in Rrëshen and Rubik, an armed gang of around 20 men took up position in the town of Mamurras. It opened fire, shouting: “Turn back or we’ll kill you,” which shows that the gang had set an ambush for political purposes. (Continued on page 4) The Socialist leader at one of the rallies of recent days. (REUTERS)

Dear participants, People of Mirditë, It is a pleasure to meet you, and I thank you for the warm welcome that you have traditionally never failed to extend to a guest and an honest Albanian. I bow respectfully before you for your history, for your love and your unparalleled sacrifices in resisting rulers and regimes and surviving freely through the centuries. Those in power and dictatorships have tried to divide Mirditë; today Sali Berisha has left it represented by just one deputy. But no one has ever been able to violate your historic borders or diminish your great name, which brings honor to you and to all Albania. Sisters and brothers, Albania is holding an election campaign under extraordinary circumstances. A deep and all-encompassing crisis has gripped the country. The state and its institutions have been seriously damaged; the law, public order and justice are barely functioning. The economy has suffered a severe blow, and the machinery and equipment of the Rubik Factory have been taken to Montenegro to be sold as scrap metal. Revenge has been revived, and people feel unsafe in their lives, homes and property. National dignity in international relations has been compromised, and our refugees abroad feel abandoned by their own state. You, like all Albanians, know the causes and those responsible for this situation; you also know the only way out of this bleak situation: free and democratic development. The holding of the current elections was imposed on Sali Berisha by Albanian public opinion as a whole and by international opinion. He was forced to enter the campaign—in fact, he was the first to launch the election campaign—but throughout the whole... (Continued on page 4)

The PSSH Presidium responds to the recent criminal acts: Page 4

Today, at 18:00, in the main hall of the Palace of Congresses. The PSe of the city of Tirana is organizing an election meeting where candidates for parliament competing in the capital will make their election messages public. The chairman of the PSSH, Fatos Nano, will also attend the meeting and present the main points of the Socialists’ governing program. You are invited to attend.