— Respect for our good peasant! — Only in one constituency did voting remain to be held on April 14. 249 deputies of 1 constituency their seats in the new Assembly. The elections have ended, but conversations and comments about them continue and will continue. We are accustomed to assessing achievements by comparing them with the past. So let us make such a comparison: the PPSH lost: it fell from 99.99 percent to 67 percent. The opposition won: it rose from 0.01 percent to 33 percent. But many people were not satisfied with this victory for democracy. The previous elections were not free. This year they were free. Therefore democracy should have won more, so that the PPSH would not decide everything in the new Assembly. These arguments are made by the uninformed, the politically immature, those who do their sums without taking the innkeeper into account. And it is known that the innkeeper has been the PPSH. Our own “innkeeper” has said that elections in Albania have always been free (indeed, the freest in the world). They were free this year too, he tells us. As always, he is lying to us once again. Who does not know that during this election campaign the PPSH and the opposition parties were not on equal footing (time, resources, etc.)? Who does not know that the PPSH drafted the election law according to its own aims? Who does not know that this was a political duel in which one had a pistol in hand and the other a small revolver? Where else, decides the fate of democracy. It makes up 65 percent of the population. And it really did decide. Of the 46-year monist system and the rule of the PPSH, the countryside has suffered more than the city. Then how can it be explained that a large number of peasants voted for the PPSH? This is where the unfounded “arguments pour out.” They say the peasant is ignorant. That is not true. The struggle to survive has made him more knowledgeable than the city dweller, if knowledge is not measured only by a certificate or diploma. He is a consummate economist when it comes to his small farm. Today in Albania, the peasant understands the market economy better than trained economists, because he has practiced it all his life. But his life is closely bound up with his own work, and more detached from collective work. This makes him view his own interests as more separate from the public interest than a city dweller does. That is why the worker is more active in social life, but by no means more knowledgeable about the many ways of making a living. They say the peasant is afraid. That is not true. Our peasant is brave, very brave. He has been the foundation of every liberation movement. The overwhelming majority of the army and the martyrs of the National Liberation War were peasants. And this is because he has been conscious and obedient, “ideologically correct” and loyal. But under a system ruled by one party, the peasant could do nothing but vote for the party that held his fate in its hands. I do not know in what times or places of the population. And it really did decide. The main character in this story is our peasant. Not only did he have nowhere else to go, he had nowhere else to seek work. Every door was closed to him. The democratic breeze could not reach the countryside as it did the city. In the countryside, monism is still in power: the party secretary and the cooperative chairman, with the latter as his obedient assistant, plus the various “levers”—that is who still rules the countryside. The peasant’s life depends on them. Forty-six years of psychological conditioning have done their work. If we speak of fear, the peasant fears only the unknown tomorrow and its rapid changes. He resists them because he has been “burned” more than once. He stubbornly resisted Stalinist collectivization because, with his wisdom, he smelled the catastrophe threatening him. And let us not forget how the “ignorant” peasant was forced and driven into that circle, that dead end, by Enver Hoxha’s teams of “knowledgeable ideologues” who came from the city. How much we owe our good peasant! Nevertheless, there is some “philosopher” who calls him backward, who thinks democracy won only in the most enlightened part of Albania, the part to which the future belongs. On the other hand, some sly person figures that a city or a less developed area must be left behind… and supposedly cares less for democracy(?)! Who has the right to divide Albania’s future into separate parts? This is an inhumane, anti-national and anti-democratic “geography.” Democracy won throughout Albania, because people in the countryside also voted for it. And it will win more in the future, because time has begun to work in its favor, in favor of progress and not “dogmatic Marxism-Leninism.” Time will convince even those who are disappointed. Our task is to help them when they need time to think. It is regrettable that some street urchins insult peasants and smash their eggs at the market. Oh, ignorant boy, do you understand what you are doing? You are harming democracy. Care and respect for our good, hardworking peasant! VANGJUSH GAMBETA …that in not on equal footing (c…, resources, etc.)? Who does not know that the election law was drafted by the PPSH pistol in hand while the other raised a hand with two fingers making a “V”? Under these conditions, how can it be said that the elections were free? Are we supposed to judge this only by the fact that calm prevailed at the polling stations? This calm speaks only to the culture of our people. The results had been predetermined: the PPSH needed 99.99 percent, the amount the PSB used to produce its self-proclaimed “steel unity of the people around the Party.” But now nobody will laugh at this comedy. The PPSH was forced to accept pluralism. Under the new conditions, to continue ruling, it needed two-thirds of the seats in the Assembly. And that is what it got: 67 percent. The game was over, according to the script. The means, “the stick and the carrot,” were used successfully. The PPSH’s experience in this field is extensive: the world can learn from it. But who gave the PPSH its victory? We have said that [the peasant…] They say that the peasant is afraid. That is the army and of this is because he was aware of and convinced of the necessity of fighting for the freedom of the Homeland. For this, he was ready to give his life. He is a fervent patriot. It is precisely the peasantry that has always been the strongest support for every democratic movement in Albania. In his heart, our peasant is a true democrat. But he must be convinced, and once he is, then you will see his strength and bravery! So the reasons must be sought elsewhere. Our peasant has suffered greatly all his life. He has always been promised a great deal, but given little or nothing. What is more, the fruits of his labor have been taken for the sake of “industrialization,” to build museums and grand institutions in the cities. This has made him reluctant to trust. He believes not words, but what he can see and touch. Poverty and disappointment have forced him to …

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PAST AND THE PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE It is now clear to everyone that our economy must change tracks and orient itself toward a market economy. Our economic situation and world experience are the most convincing arguments for dispelling any other illusion. At present, the deepening of macroeconomic imbalances is reflected first and foremost in shortages of goods and a low standard of living. In a market economy these imbalances appear in the areas of prices, interest rates on loans and deposits, the rate of inflation, the wage balance, etc.; they call for measures to restore balance between demand and supply. Meanwhile, this kind of mechanism does not exist in our centralized economic system, where imbalances are first and foremost evident in consumer goods markets, in social consumption, and in the volume of expenditure on investments controlled by the plan. This leads, on the one hand, to subsidies being granted to unprofitable enterprises and, on the other, to shortages of certain basic products, an increase in the volume of goods held in stock, the expansion of the black market and the formation of a “class”: demand that takes the form of forced deposits of savings. Thus, the centralized economy must be replaced, not improved and adjusted. Why? Are there no internal forces left? The experience of centralized planning was copied mechanically. The plan is, in every case, the document that sets out the objectives of economic policy and the instrument that makes it possible to achieve them. It never recognizes the need for a mechanism to balance the demand and supply of factors in the production process, nor for information to assess the opportunity costs of production. Prices, since their purpose is not to ensure market equilibrium, have been set administratively… By giving the single plan a dominant role, the centralized economy has never felt the need for the classical instruments of monetary and budgetary policy. Money and credit have played an almost passive role; therefore, despite the limits imposed on every kind of circulation, they have operated only according to the plan’s directives. The financial sector is rudimentary, and the banking system has practically not intervened, for example, as an intermediary between savings and investment; its role has been understood only in terms of financial verification of the material plan. ATTEMPTS AT REFORM AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE Efforts to reform the system of centralized planning in our country have begun. Initially, the aim was only to increase the accuracy and effectiveness of the planning process. How? By strengthening institutional structures, defining tasks more clearly, and expanding and refining the instruments of administrative control. But it was soon observed that this kind of reform could not eliminate economic tensions…

Let us begin with its essence, which is social ownership and … [continues on page 2] market and the formation of a sources of production are entirely centralized, and enterprises have in practice had no direct influence over the plan, despite theoretically being its authors. In an economy of this type, enterprises are isolated from the outside world, since trade and exchanges with it are centralized in the hands of a ministry specializing in this purpose, which is the sole body competent to determine the geographical distribution of exports and imports. The state’s monopolistic position is further strengthened by the nonconvertibility of the national currency and by the prohibition preventing enterprises from holding foreign currency and conducting various exchanges. The consequences: exports lacking the necessary efficiency, criticism of the sluggishness of foreign-trade bodies, delays in the arrival of raw materials and equipment for of raw materials and equipment … that this kind of reform could not eliminate the economic tensions that appeared mainly in the form of shortages of consumer goods, declining production quality, a lack of technological progress, waste of productive resources, etc. Finally, after many debates and the abandonment of fears about violating principles, the reforms were reconceived on a broader scale. Two important arguments were central to this vision. First, it was understood that the higher planning bodies could never possess enough information to make all the necessary effective decisions at the microeconomic level. Enterprises, therefore, had to be inv[?]olved. (continues on page 2)

• Tirana At its meeting of April 7, 1991, the PR initiating committee reviewed its work during the election campaign and set tasks for the future for each sector and each of its members. The committee elected Vangjush Gambeta as PR Secretary. • Durrës Last Friday, the PR branch for Durrës for the future. The chairmen of the PR branches in Shijakut, NBSukthit, Jub-Sukthit and Golemit also took part. • Tirana On Monday, April 8, 1991, a meeting of the PR branch for Tirana was held, where they discussed the wor… …for the campaign carried out during the elections and for the tasks ahead. The member of the Initiative Committee, Spiro Gjikondi, also took part. • Lushnjë On Monday as well, the PR branch for Lushnjë held a meeting to discuss the work carried out during the election campaign and the tasks ahead. The chairman of the Initiative Committee, Sabri Godo, also took part. Correspondent of “Republika”

The executive council of the independent trade union of RTSH, in its statement of April 9, 1991, writes, among other things: “Just as … …so far, our news broadcasts have served more to disinform the people, irritate them, and create national division. In our broadcasts, victims are portrayed as perpetrators, while the destructive forces—those who use unlawful and unjustified violence—are portrayed as angels of democracy. On this occasion, we consider it necessary to inform the broad masses of the people that our journalists and camera operators have carried out their duties with a high degree of professional integrity, but all their work is transformed in the offices of radio and television by the director-general, Fatmir Kumbora, and his close aides. They disregard the texts prepared by those who witness events on the ground, and instead forcibly manipulate the truth according to their party interests and those of the people giving them orders.

I have always thought about the ability and inability of the people I have worked with. We have experienced all the feelings that arise from these two words. Someone has been deeply wounded in their pride; someone has become indignant and, unable to restrain themselves, has said what they felt; someone has, as always, retreated into the little corner of their inability. Much has been written about the capable and the incapable in the pages of all the newspapers. If we were to compile the names of the incapable, taking them from the mouths of bosses and chairmen, the list would be endless. Incapable, incapable, incapable. The hardworking, honest, capable person (no one ever recognized their ability) has been weighed down and wounded in spirit when told, in the language of bureaucracy, that they are “incapable.” Which high-ranking party or state official sought out incompetence in the socialist system, which violated the nation’s most precious asset? Who is incapable, the person or the system? True value or dogma? I want to offer an answer through examples that everyone may have experienced. As is well known, for enterprises and agricultural cooperatives, the final months of every year, especially December, were designated as months of the final push, to close the plan or achieve the planned value for the workday. Thus, last December, while serving as head of the planning department of a cooperative in the Pukë district, I took part in many meetings organized by the executive committee to close out the year. They usually began at 17⁰⁰ and ended at 21⁰⁰ or 22⁰⁰. At these meetings, the cooperative chairmen and the heads of the planning and finance departments reported on the assigned targets. I was always characterized by an inner irritation; everyone tried to cope with the anxiety of being held comprehensively accountable. This happened because none of the cooperatives fulfilled the targets assigned to them by the economists of the executive committee. All the cooperative officials in the plan (continues on page 4)

In a statement made on German television station No. 1, ARD, Germany’s Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Hans Ditrih Gensher, responding to a question about Albania’s integration into the European process, stressed that further progress in the democratization process would facilitate Albania’s integration into the European process, with political and economic assistance from Europe. Albania also needs economic assistance, without a doubt. The condition for Europe’s assistance is the implementation in practice of fundamental human rights and parliamentary pluralism.

In a recent statement, American Senator Denis De Konsini states, among other things, that he assures the Albanian people that the Helsinki Commission will continue to follow developments in Albania closely and, as it has consistently done, will seek improvements and encourage further progress toward Albania’s transition to a free and democratic political system.

BALI … AFTER GIVING… KUN… THESE… STATEMENTS… AP… PO…