Albanian Times, 96-05-24
Albanian Times
May 24, 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Police Arrests Suspected Rally Killers
[02] Albanian Socialists Eye Win
[03] Mudslinging marks Albanian election campaign
[04] INIMA Starts Computer Data Processing and Programming Courses
[05] USIA Representative Arrives in Prishtina
[01] Police Arrests Suspected Rally Killers
TIRANA, May 23 - Police in Durres has arrested 10 persons suspected of
instigating a protest that disrupted a planned campaign rally of the
opposition Socialist Party in the city. In a press briefing in Tirana on
Thursday, the Vice Minister of the Interior, General Agim Shehu said the
persons tried to disrupt the rally on Wednesday, which was finally cancelled
despite the police intervention. The official assured the political parties
that police is committed to guarantee the necessary calm for the holding of
free elections scheduled for May 26. He also denounced by name elements of
the former secret police, the Sigurimi, for engaging in what he called
"unlawful, anti-constitutional activities. On Wednesday, Socialist
supporters going to the Durres rally were attacked by hundreds of young men
chanting anti-communist slogans. After the arrival of the party leaders from
Tirana, the crowd tried to assault their vehicles but were repelled by the
police. The rally, in a covered sports palace at the city ce
nter was interrupted shortly after it began due to a power shortage believed
to have been caused by the protesting youths. (Albanian Times)
[02] Albanian Socialists Eye Win
TIRANA, May 23 - Socialist leaders told several thousand
supporters Thursday that popular discontent with corruption and
abuse of power among President Sali Berisha's Democrats will power
them to victory in parliamentary elections.
Elections Sunday will determine whether the Democrats, who took
power in 1992 as Albania ended decades of harsh Communist rule, can
hang on to it.
Results are difficult to predict. Polls in Albania are
infrequent and unreliable.
Albania still is among the poorest countries in Europe, but the
economy has grown steadily in recent years.
That will help the Democrats in elections for the 140-seat
parliament, but the Democrats are dogged by charges that they
inhibit media freedom and harass their opponents.
Up to 5,000 supporters of the Socialists, Albania's reformed
Communists, cheered Thursday at the party's wrapup rally in the
capital.
Some held posters of party leader Fatos Nano, who has been in
jail since 1993 on charges of misappropriating humanitarian aid and
falsifying documents.
``Most of the Albanian people are now convinced that the
Democratic Party has abused the chance that was given them in
1992,'' declared Servet Pellumbi, a deputy party leader.
Pellumbi himself cannot run in the elections because of a law
that bans former Communist officials from public office up to the
year 2002.
The rally was held in an empty soccer field surrounded by
battered apartment buildings because officials refused permission
for it to be held in central Skanderbeg Square, named after a 15th
century national hero.
The crowd waved red Albanian flags, and red Socialist banners.
``I am sure the Socialist Party will win, and with your loyalty
we will establish a real democracy,'' declared Gramoz Ruci, a top
party official.
The crowd chanted, ``Down with dictatorship!'' and ``Tirana is
with you!''
Democrats won 92 seats in the 1992 election. They have lost
seven to defections since then, but still command an absolute
majority.
They argue that Albania can only continue its rapid development
if they win again, and that Western European countries stand behind
them. They charge that electing the Socialists would cut this
country of 3.2 million people off from the rest of the world, as it
was for decades of Communist rule.
Democrats hold their final rally for Tirana on Friday. Berisha, who was
elected by parliament and has one more year to serve, has campaigned hard for
his party. But he must be mindful that despite a heavy media campaign
in the fall of 1994, he lost a referendum on a new constitution that
many regarded as a vote on his leadership. (Albanian Times/The Associated
Press)
[03] Mudslinging marks Albanian election campaign
TIRANA, May 22 - Mudslinging ahead of Albania's third free general elections
overshadowed political debate Wednesday as the main rivals accused each other
of inciting violence throughout the monthlong campaign.
The Socialist Party, Albania's strongest opposition group, said the ruling
Democratic Party was trying to manipulate the election outcome by allegedly
harrassing Socialist supporters and disrupting the party's campaign.
But President Sali Berisha's Democrats firmly denied any repression of the
opposition and blamed the reformed communists for the violence that has
characterized the run-up to the poll.
``The violence is proof of a plan to cling to power by all means, frightening
people and creating a situation suitable to manipulate the results of the
polls,'' senior Socialist Luan Hajdaraga told reporters.
Hajdaraga was referring to several reports of alleged police attacks on
Socialist supporters, including severe beatings and detention at police
stations.
Albert Brojka, a top Democratic Party official, accused the Socialists --
heirs of former dictator Enver Hoxha's communists -- of stirring up the
violence and blaming it on the government to justify what he predicted would
be an opposition defeat.
``Most of the incidents are provocations by Socialist elements, units of the
(former communist) secret police which are trying to create a tense
environment,'' Brojka said.
Although candidates from over 20 parties are standing for office, the
elections will be a showdown between the Democrats and Socialists.
Berisha's party, which has ruled since its landslide victory over the
Socialists in 1992, is leading in public opinion polls with about 38 percent
support against the Socialists' 20 percent. The Democrats are campaigning on a
fiercely anti-communist, pro-free market platform.
At a mass rally in the southern city of Berat Tuesday, Berisha urged voters to
back his party to ensure continued economic growth rather than risk financial
despair through what he called the ``state control'' of his Socialist
rivals.
``In the past four years we have built our freedom and marched toward Europe
with a pace unequaled in the past 400 years,'' Berisha told 10,000 cheering
supporters.
The president has held up to 12 rallies a day in his bid to secure a continued
majority in parliament. He has principally sought to woo voters with pledges
of improved infrastructure and greater prosperity to ensure Albania will no
longer be Europe's poorest country.
The Socialists, whose leader Fatos Nano is in jail on charges of embezzlement,
are struggling to shake off the communists' dark past and present themselves
as a viable alternative to the Democrats. (Courtesy of Reuters)
[04] INIMA Starts Computer Data Processing and Programming Courses
TIRANA, May 23 - The Institute of Information Science and Applied Mathematics
(INIMA) in Tirana has launched a complex project aimed at training data
processing specialists in a 2 year period. An initial program will employ
hundreds of Albanian young girls who will deal with storing of land registry
data in preprogrammed computers. A second phase will consist in creating a
new Albanian generation of computer programmers through courses that will be
attended by 60 computer specialists. The project is a joint effort between
INIMA and an Italian consorcium. (Albanian Times)
[05] USIA Representative Arrives in Prishtina
WASHINGTON, May 22 - A representative of the United States Information Agency
arrived Wednesday in Kosova's capital, Prishtina to make arrangements for the
opening of a U.S. office in early June. Mr. Michael McClellan was appointed
by the U.S. State Departament earlier this month and is the first ever U.S.
representative to permanenty reside in the troubled Kosova region. The move
is seen as a sign of U.S. support for Kosova Albanians who by far outnumber
the Serbs in the province. The United States has vowed to maintain the outer
wall sanctions against Belgrade until the human rights for the Albanian
population are fully respected. Mr. McClellan was accompanied by Dr.
Elizabeth Bonkowsky, Second Secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade. The
U.S. office in Prishtina is expected to open in early June. (Albanian
Times)
This material was reprinted with permission of AlbAmerica Trade & Consulting
International. For more information on ATCI and the Albanian Times, please
write to AlbaTimes@aol.com
Copyright © ATCI, 1996
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