BY NATASHA TERLEXIS
ATHENS, Greece - On May 13 Albania's opposition parties - with the Socialist Party leading the pack - announced they would boycott the planned June 29 elections and reconsider participation in the interim government in Tirana. The next day, a spokeswoman for President Sali Berisha announced that the elections wouldn't be called until "the conditions for parliament to be dissolved are right."

Meanwhile, Italian occupation forces in Vlore, the hotbed of the working-class revolt in Albania, fired shots for the second time since their arrival in April.

The boycott announcement by the eight parties came after parliament voted up an election law favorable to Berisha's Democratic party, which holds an absolute majority in that body following rigged elections in March 1996. Berisha wants a system that will reinforce the top vote getter, as his is the largest party machine. The Socialist party and others in the opposition favor a proportionate system.

The day before, Albanian prime minister Bashkim Fino met with U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright in Washington, D.C. According to State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns, Albright declared support for efforts "to restore civil order and lay the groundwork for free and fair parliamentary elections" in Albania and "stressed the importance of reaching a consensus on the election law immediately." She also announced the resumption of $12 million in aid to the Tirana government. This includes funds for "election support," "democracy assistance," and technical and agricultural aid provided by several U.S. companies.

The rift in the coalition government breaks apart an agreement reached the previous week between the Socialist and Democratic parties to hold elections on June 29 under the tutelage of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This agreement had been reached with heavy pressure from OSCE coordinator Franz Vranitsky, in hopes to put an end to a mass armed rebellion that began in early February against the pro-capitalist Berisha regime. Vranitsky is to sit on the Central Elections Commission and make the final report on the election process, which cannot be questioned by any party.

Under Vranitsky's pressure, Fino has backed off from giving a measure of support to the rebel committees that control many Albanian cities. For his part, Berisha agreed to set aside a law prohibiting leaders of the former Communist Party of Albania from participating in the elections. This law would have kept out several party leaders, including Socialist Party head Fatos Nano.

Rebel committees remain an obstacle
Despite the support of the 6,500-strong intervention force headed by Rome, the coalition Government of National Reconciliation faces serious stumbling blocks to consolidating governmental authority: the insurgent workers and farmers, especially in the southern part of the country, who have retained their arms.

During the rebellion - which was sparked by the collapse of investment schemes sponsored by the Berisha-led government, in which hundreds of thousands lost their life savings - citizens committees were formed in Vlore, Tepelene, Sarande, and other cities and villages. In some cases they took on the character of alternative local governments.

"The rebel committees," declared Berisha in a May 8 meeting with the Socialist Party and the OSCE representative Franz Vranitsky, "the armed wing of the opposition, are against holding elections. To be proud of the support from such committees, led by bandits, smugglers and mafia.. is an irresponsible attitude," he continued. Fino has denied the Socialist Party has anything to do with the committees and has now agreed they should disband. The Democratic and the Socialist parties had agreed, with wholehearted support from Vranitsky, that the committees must dissolve by May 14, some 40 days prior to the election date.

Showing no signs of dissolving, however, representatives of the committees met and responded that they had "invited the 10 parties and the OSCE representatives [to meet with us ] on May 16, and we want to ask them whether truly free and fair elections will take place." The president of the Sarande Committee, Tzevat Kucia, went on to state, "They will have to guarantee to us that this will be done. Whatever future government will have to guarantee the return of our money [from the pyramid schemes] and the removal of Berisha from power."

Although the committees are holding out and workers and farmers maintain their arms and voice their determination, the multinational imperialist intervention force weighs heavily on the side of Berisha, who is consolidating his power base and continuing a terror campaign. Over the weekend of May 10-11 Socialist Party leader Skender Ginousi was beaten in Tirana, according to the party. Albert Gaihtari, a member of the Committee for the Salvation of Vlore, was also beaten in front of the SP offices in Tirana. According to the May 14 Athens bourgeois daily Kathimerini, 14 people were killed in Vlore in a four-day period, and the local police chief there has resigned. On May 14, Italian troops reportedly broke up "an armed dispute" in Vlore by "firing into the air." This was the second such incident in that city.

A week earlier, on May 7 several bombs went off in Vlore's sewage system. When rumors spread that Berisha's people were responsible, working people took to the streets in the thousands. They gathered at the central square chanting "hang Berisha!" Kalashnikov rifles were clearly visible among the demonstrators, according to news reports.

Wider role for imperialist troops
Prime Minister Fino has requested a wider role for the imperialist military force, including guarding the country's customs installations at border posts. An unnamed source is quoted by Agence France Presse as saying the European Union had decided to prolong the mandate of the intervention force another three months.

Many working people tolerate or support the presence of the foreign troops in the belief that they will be impartial, can guarantee democratic elections and the installation of a government that will remove Berisha and his secret police, and reimburse the stolen money. The troops have installed themselves largely due to the cooperation of the local committees, but questions are mounting.

"We have promised to help them for one reason - in case they are hit by Berisha's secret police and we get the blame for it," said Gioleka Malai, head of the Tepeleni Committee, in an interview with the Athens daily Eleutherotypia. Malai is a 27-year-old who worked for two years in Greece. "They have come for something else and not to distribute aid. We haven't figured out yet if they are playing the game of Fino or Berisha."

Meanwhile, Macedonian troops fired on Albanians crossing into the Republic of Macedonia May 12. One Albanian was killed and two Macedonian soldiers wounded. The Macedonian troops arrested 80 Albanians who had crossed into the border. One thousand NATO troops from the United States, Greece, Italy, and Turkey along with soldiers from the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria are now carrying out joint maneuvers in Macedonia. The maneuvers, known as "Rescuer `97," are to last for five days.  
 
 
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