Albania's communist Party of Labor had scant reason last week to celebrate its landslide victory in the country's historic free elections. Though the communists won a commanding 162 of the 250 People's Assembly seats -- against 65 for the opposition Democratic Party before runoffs in undecided contests -- their victory ignited some of the worst violence the country has seen in more than a year of escalating unrest.
In the northern city of Shkoder, a local D.P. leader was reportedly shot in the back by security forces as demonstrators surrounded the local communist headquarters to protest the victory. Two others were...