This Press Review includes news and reports from the following
newspapers: "Gazeta Shqiptare", "Shekulli", "Tema", "Korrieri", "Albania', "Koha Jone, "RD', "ZP", "Panorama", "Shqip", "Metropol", "Standard", "Tirana Observer", "Republika", "Telegraf", "Albania Daily News"


ELECTORAL ISSUES/ID CARDS

IDs, application deadline to be extended with three days (Sun/ Mon)

Today is the final deadline for Identity Cards application, but the Government is expected to extend the deadline for another three days.
Ministry of Interior sources said that the application pace had been low and that the deadline could be postponed. “On Sunday the application rate in two local government units in Tirana was 40 applications per day. This shows a low pace because of the fact that citizens without passports have applied and the other citizens are not very interested. However, in order to boost up the public interest in applying, the final deadline could be postponed for a further two or three days”, said the Ministry source. They said that 70% of the people without passport had already applied. On the other side, the Ministry of Interior spokesperson, Fatmir Konja, called on citizens to use the time remaining and apply for the ID card. The Ministry has announced that up to 12 June 2009 the number of people that had applied for the IDs was 1,354,000.

In related news, the Anti-Economic Crime team in the Tirana police arrested a woman for trying to apply twice for an ID card using different family names. The 23-year-old Denada Bekteshi (Hakani) had applied for the ID card in Durres under her maiden name Hakani and then tried to apply for another one in Tirana under her husband’s name Bekteshi. The case has been sent to the prosecution office.

Several newspapers carry the translation of an article called Deceased Albanians still eligible to vote published by Reuters and The Sun. “Many Albanians born in the 19th century are listed as voters for the June 28 parliamentary elections because they have not been declared dead, officials said on Thursday. Citing the case of a 159-year-old called to vote, the main opposition Socialist Party (SP) said thousands of similar cases had made Albanians lose trust in free and fair polls,” reads the article, which quotes SP Secretary for Elections, Kastriot Islami.

DP supporter killed over electoral poster dispute (Sat/ Sun/ Mon)

A 32-year-old man was killed in Qerret Village in Durres on Friday reportedly following an argument over a party campaign poster for the elections. Official police sources said that Artan Zeka, a supporter of the Democratic Party (DP) died in the hospital four hours after being shot with an assault riffle and that a 45-year-old man, a supporter of the SP was arrested. According to them, the argument began when the suspect objected to the victim putting up a large DP poster in Qerret and after a couple of physical blows, he went home to take the gun. In a reaction, Prime Minister Sali Berisha expressed his condolences to the victim’s family and urged all citizens to stay calm and asked that the rule of law be implemented against the suspect. The suspect was also condemned by the DP Spokesperson, Majlinda Bregu, and DP candidate in Durres, Ferdinand Xhaferri. The latter also attended Zeka’s funeral on Saturday with Assembly Speaker Jozefina Topalli, Ministers Sokol Olldashi and Gazmend Oketa and MPs Astrit Patozi and Flori Bajramaj. The SP Chair Edi Rama asked for the strongest punishment for the suspect and rejected declarations linking the suspect to the SP. He said that political confrontation had to take place in a civilized manner. The Chair of the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) Ilir Meta also condemned the incident and asked that no further violence take place in the election period.

In related news, the Tirana Municipality Police and the Construction Inspectorate have started the action of putting away the political campaign posters put in the public premises without a permit from the local authorities. The action began in Kombinat where they took away the SMI posters. The action is expected to continue with the other political parties posters. The SMI immediately reacted, with the Chair of the Borough Nr.6 in Kombinat, Luzhiana Abazi saying that the action was selective because SP posters had not been touched. She argued that the Boroughs were the ones that legally decided where posters could be put up while the Municipality authorities have not taken the trouble to co-ordinate police action with them.

CEC Chair urges parties to establish Voting Centre Commissions urgently
(Sat)

The Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Arben Ristani called upon political parties to be more responsible with issues relating to election administration, and demanded the creation of all Voting Centre Commissions
(VCCs) as soon as possible. He said that the law had been violated both by political parties and by local government units, which, in turn, overloads the work of the CEC.

Lohan: Show us you can organize elections in line with international standards (Sat)

The Head of European Commission Delegation to Albania, Ambassador Helmuth Lohan, said on Friday that with less than two weeks until Election Day, “Albania has the opportunity to demonstrate that it has reached an essential level of democratic maturity namely the capacity to organise and hold free and fair elections in line with international standards. The European Union and Albania's friends and partners elsewhere are observing this test with utmost attention and interest,” he said. He made this comments at the Towards Europe national conference, where the final results of the EU-funded project Strengthening the Ministry of European Integration were presented.
Project activities over the past thirty months included the organisation of trainings for around 1,000 civil servants, 104 events, 6 study visits as well as the drafting of guidelines on the approximation of Albanian legislation with EU standards, on inter institutional co-ordination. “The Stabilisation and Association Agreement sets a very concrete timetable of requirements that Albania will have to meet in adapting its legislation to EU standards, and the obligation to turn such legislation into reality by paying particular attention to implementation and enforcement. The EU will monitor very carefully Albania's performance in this respect. The Agreement itself and its various bodies and organs, SAA Council, SAA Committee, sub-committees, provide a tested and adequate framework for this process,”
he said. Over the next two years, the EU will continue to support the Ministry of European Integration through two further projects worth a total of € 3 million. Minister of Integration Majlinda Bregu said three years after the signing of the SAA, European integration remained a top priority for the Government.

Government spent 10 million euro on fuel for DP campaign (Mon)

Gazeta Shqiptare writes that the Government seems to be spending a lot of taxpayers’ money in abusive ways. On 6 June 2009, the Government signed a tender of 10 million Euros on fuel for public administration cars equal to the income payment for almost 70,000 civil servants. The newspaper said that according to a simple mathematical calculation it looks like the Government has bought one fifth of all the oil imported in 2008.

SP celebrates 18th anniversary (Sat)

The SP celebrated on Friday its 18th anniversary. According to the newspaper, founders of the party including Dritëro Agolli, Servet Pëllumbi and Fatos Nano were not present. The SP Chair, Edi Rama, thanked all the generations who had made history and continue to contribute to the modernization of the SP. He said that the most important thing was that SP has in its DNA the self-transformation skill that characterizes the parties who have the ability to modernize their country by modernizing themselves first. He said that the SP can offer Albanians change. He said that the SP teams represented fair militantism and civil commitment. He said that these groups of people are the future MPs that will govern for the next four years.


RULE OF LAW

Judges of Gërdec elected through electronic lots (Sat)

The three judges of the Tirana District Court who will examine the file with
28 accused persons for the Gërdec case were elected through lots on Friday.
Judge Kreshnik Omari will be the Chair, while Sokol Tona and Martin Deda will be members of the court. However, according to unofficial sources, Omari may have to resign given that a member of his family is the defence lawyer of one of the accused persons.

Chief Registrar of Tirana responsible for violations (Sat)

Immovable Property Registration Office (IPRO) sources confirmed that three successive inspections were made in this institution recently, following numerous public complaints. Problems were found on partial property double registration and the deletion of properties that had more than one owner.
The Chief Registrar of Tirana, Dorina Stringa is amongst those who had made these violations. The inspections reports were sent to the Chief Registrar a few days ago along with recommended measures against those responsible.
Other inspections were made in IPROs in other cities, the most problematic cities are thought to be Vlora, Durrës, Lezha and Lushnja.


HUMAN RIGHTS

Shehu claims delays in compensation process are caused by technical issues
(Sat)

According to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Sheferedin Shehu, some 300 former politically persecuted have already been compensated out of a total of 1440 people. He said that the process is being prolonged because of compensation claims coming from family members of now deceased persecuted.
He said that the best solution would be that each family agreed who should and should not put claims in order to speed up the process. He said that a further problem lay with the family members who do not have the necessary documentation. He confirmed that the process is going well, while delays are created only by technical issues in documentation.


PUBLIC WORKS

Turkish Prime Minister to participate in the Durrës-Kukës inauguration (Sun)

The Durrës-Kukës road will be finished in 25 June 2009. After the inauguration of Thirra Tunnel, made by Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, the Turkish Prime Minister Taip Recep Erdogan is expected to inaugurate the road on 25 June 2009 together with Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Government sources said that the arrival of Erdogan had been confirmed, while his agenda is being finalized in co-operation with Bechtel-Enka company. They said that senior Kosovo officials are also expected to participate, including possibly President Fatmir Sejdiu.


PROPERTY

Legalization permissions for 120,000 illegal constructions to be distributed
(Sun)

The Agency for the Legalization, Urbanization and Integration of Illegal Zones and Constructions (ALUIZNI) has approved the necessary documentation for the legalization of 120,000 illegal constructions. They have already distributed 60,000 permissions of legalizations since the beginning of the process, out of 180,000 illegal constructions verified in the field. The date of the legalization permissions distribution is not confirmed, but according to the agency, it will be realized based on a specific calendar.
The procedures for the identification of 1,670 owners have also been finalized and the compensation for them will start immediately, based on the property value map published by the Property Restitution and Compensation Agency.


HEALTH

Albania surrounded by A/H1N1 virus (Sat/ Sun)

The swine flu has been causing panic in the neighbouring country of Greece raising concern for the A/H1N1 virus penetrating in Albania. On Sunday, six more cases of swine flu were confirmed in Greece while the Greek Ministry of Health said that most of the infected had been successfully treated.
Although no cases have been noted in Albania, the WHO has warned the Albania authorities to raise the awareness because the risks are high. Since this is the period that most of the immigrants in Greece will be coming into Albania, the Albanian Institute for Public Health said that the controls on the border crossing points will be higher. Two days ago the Minister of Health Anila Godo said that the health authorities have assured major quantities of Tamiflu as a precaution.