STATEMENT OF THE ALBANIAN REPUBLICAN PARTY On 28 November 1991, the Council of Ministers discussed the proposal submitted by the group of Republican ministers on 25 November 1991, giving them the choice of withdrawing their memorandum or having their continued presence in the government deemed undesirable. At the meeting called by the government on 29 November 1991, attended by representatives of the five parties and the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Sabri Godo, chairman of the PRSH, asked whether the government’s decision concerning the Republican ministers remained in force. He also stated that the main issue to be decided was setting the election deadline for the end of February 1992. Prime Minister Ylli Bufi replied on behalf of the government that the Republican ministers had to withdraw their memorandum or be considered expelled from the government. As for the elections, the prime minister repeated the familiar position that they could be held only in the spring. This position on the elections was supported by the chairman of the People’s Assembly, the Socialist Party and the Agrarian Party. Mr. Godo stated that no agreement on the elections could be reached and that, since the continued presence of our ministers in the government had been declared undesirable, there was no point in the Republican Party continuing to participate in the meeting of this government. Mr. Godo called the government’s decision incorrect and outside its competence, because ministers are not appointed by the government. For the normal functioning of the government, Godo asked the Republican ministers to remain in office until they were replaced, and then left the meeting. The PRSH Steering Committee fully endorsed the party chairman’s position. The government’s position on the elections is out of touch with reality. The Steering Committee supports the ministers’ reservations expressed in their memorandum, as also noted in the statement of 27 November 1991, and considers their actions consistent with their high sense of responsibility to the people as ministers. The memorandum was not prompted by malicious intentions, as it was described at the government meeting, but by a desire to put the government in the role demanded by the times. If this government does not undertake to hold early elections while the country moves day by day toward an inevitable catastrophe, the remaining alternatives are to reorganize it or replace it with a technical government that will lead the country to free and peaceful elections. Tirana, 29 November 1991

— THE INHERITANCE FROM PPSH(PS): AROUND 700 MILLION DOLLARS — It was 31 March of this year. At the polling station where the candidates for deputy Napoleon Roshi and Spiro Depe were the main rivals, a bureaucratic error (some unsealed ballot papers were found) caused a huge commotion, so much so that many foreign journalists gathered there, if not all of them. And while they were rejoicing that the Labour Party candidate Ramiz Alia, despite being a well-known politician and the leader of the communists, had lost to an almost unknown engineer, an Italian journalist told me: “I’m glad democracy is winning. Congratulations!” My measured reply was: “Let’s wait for the results from the villages, because I’m very afraid.” The dialogue continued: “But why should you be afraid? How could a villager vote for the communists, who left both the village and the country in such obvious misery?” I had to explain that our villager has seen neither Tirana, let alone neighboring countries or Europe, and so has not been able to become convinced that everything economic was brought upon him first, and then the whole country, by communism and the communists. And he agreed with me. I remembered this episode when the ghost, bled nearly to death everywhere in the developed world, began seeking rebirth in exhausted Albania. And yet the [text unclear] did not say how the Party managed to legalize the 300 signatures required for approval of the “Bratsvo” association, because there is the law, but there is also Maliq, who produces and applies laws as he pleases. I did not want to dwell too much on the suffering, killings and calamities that communism and socialism, as implemented, brought upon Albania. On this subject, we have reminded readers that, according to a foreign author, Albania’s financial debt at this moment of the ghost’s rebirth—an inheritance from the mother of this Party, the PPSH and the PS—has reached around 700 million dollars. I do not think any further explanation is needed for the misery that has taken hold of our family homes, when it is hanging over our heads. The question arises: who are these people reappearing in our lives as this ghost? In a television programme that ran until midnight, we heard that the chairman of this party’s initiative committee is Hysni Milloshi, the leader of the good-

The Albanian Republican Party has tried, even in the most difficult situations, to make its voice heard in a measured and mature way, putting forward a number of proposals that have been appreciated and are well known to the people, so there is no need to repeat them. In this context, we say that we supported with all our means the idea of creating a government of stability, even though the ministers’ actions have increasingly lacked transparency in the main areas of state activity. This is no small matter. There is also a lack of clarity in the distribution of humanitarian aid from Italy, a lack of cooperation and coordination among ministers on shared issues, and only brief, flash-type announcements even about visits such as the prime minister’s trip to the United States. The proposal to hold elections by the end of February was opposed both by the prime minister and by Mr. Kastriot Islami, chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. It was clear that they wanted to push them closer to the date sought by the Socialists. Mr. Ylli Bufi’s action brings to mind that of the former red communist prime minister, including Mehmet Shehu, who appointed and dismissed state officials. This is not pluralism but socialist-communist monism seeking to present itself as European. We call on all parties not to allow the People’s Assembly to remain— ...to be measured and mature, creating a government of stability, even though we understood the communists and had little hope that they would truly change course. But, faced with the danger of civil war and the great damage being caused by the general strike, we thought that participating in that government would be the best solution. And we have not regretted it. However, that government, for reasons that are well known, did not live up to our hopes or the people’s wishes. This has obliged us to issue several statements separately as a party and in cooperation with the Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, as genuine opposition parties with authority. But the country’s situation continued to worsen; therefore, for the reasons set out in our communiqués, we support holding early elections within February. This is for the good of Albania, not because our party has the resources and means to conduct an election campaign, even under minimal conditions. The situation was further compounded by the conduct of our ministers in the government. As they state in their memorandum, published in the issue of 28 November 1991, among other things, they say that at the Council ... ... state affairs. This is no small matter. There has also been confusion in the distribution of humanitarian aid from Italy; there is issues; there are only trip to the United States, not to mention the bureaucratic delays in implementing collective decisions, such as the reviews concerning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the exoduses, etc. It was precisely these wholly undemocratic practices of government that our ministers, who were not implicated in wheeling and dealing and who put the interests of the homeland before the positions of trust assigned to them, dared honestly to denounce. But what happened after this civic act, marked by great responsibility and absolute honesty? The prime minister, Mr. Ylli Bufi, demanded that they either withdraw their memorandum or be considered unwanted and dismissed from their posts. Continuing the monist tradition, this prime minister, instead of [unclear] his mother party’s own experience, even though dismissing ministers is not within his authority. Under these circumstances, at that meeting, to which Mr. Sabri Godo had been invited, like the chairmen of the other parties whose representatives serve in the government, there was no reason for him to stay once the ministers had been dismissed. First of all, we should add here that on the timing of the elections ... ... to mind that of the former red monist prime ministers, including Mehmet Shehu, who appointed and dismissed cadres according to their own interests. Instead of examining what was wrong in the memorandum, they (read: the Socialist ministers and certain other pseudo-democrats, by their actions) demanded that the ministers be removed from the government. Of course, they did not examine the memorandum, because the facts are convincing and the truth is stubborn. But we cannot, for the sake of false “harmony,” keep our ministers in the government when their voices are not heard; therefore, as a party, we have no reason to bear a heavy burden before the people and conceal the truth from them. We insist, for the reasons set out in our statements, whether joint or otherwise, that Albania needs elections as soon as possible. Free, peaceful and democratic elections should be organized, using a proportional or mixed system, so that all parties are represented in the People’s Assembly and this highest institution is no longer, as it has been until now, made up of two parties or just one—in other words, a monist parliament where only the Socialists pass laws. This is not democracy but pseudo-democracy, and ... ... we call on all parties not to let the People’s Assembly remain monist, because the world can and should very soon take a position on this deception by the red Socialists, thereby punishing the people in advance, since ultimately they would be the ones to suffer from any international sanctions imposed in response to the deceptions of the Albanian pseudo-socialists. For precisely these reasons, we do not want to provoke a government crisis in this grave situation; however, if it is imposed on us, as happened when our ministers were dismissed by ultimatum, then... Their tricks never end. The Directorate of Press and Information at the Council of Ministers did not explain why Mr. Godo left the meeting. To formulate a news item in this way is, first and foremost, to lack professional integrity. But how could they have such integrity when they came to that office from the infamous Central Committee of the PPSH? And secondly, before our party’s statement had even been made known to the people (and the political parties), the Agrarian Party immediately drafted a statement against us. We wonder why the PS so openly uses up its secret allies. Good thing they didn’t bring in the Ecological Party. Anyway, it turns out that the Agrarian Party is also just a relay station. We believe the people understand this. PETRO DHIMITRI

BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE Years ago, when Albania had no iron roads, a distinguished Renaissance figure coined the calque HEKURRUDHË (railway) among his neologisms. Today, as the country experiences its most difficult days, this calque seems out of date, because... Travelling by cart is faster, more comfortable and safer than travelling by train... Among the multitude of troubles and accumulated problems that are rotting while awaiting a solution is the problem of rail transport. Decades have passed, and the issue of the train has taken a ... YLLI RAKIPI LUTFI DERVISHI (To be continued on page 2)

DESCRIPTION As you pass through the Cangonj Gorge and enter Devoll, this region known for its industrious and tireless people, the cold wind reminds you that winter comes to these parts earlier than elsewhere. In the broad, expansive fields alongside the road, turned furrows are a rare sight. Far off on the horizon, at the edge of villages standing close together, are empty brown plots, enclosed by wire, sticks and woven fences. Here and there stand silent, deaf houses, with one life in each. You might say there are no people here, that there is only something...? Does anyone live here, or perhaps the inhabitants of these parts... Perhaps the first outlines of a cluster of villages that people call towns have begun to emerge. Ersekë, Bilisht, alongside ... of Devoll, with which the roads connecting them form arteries... Mr. Beni Lama is a familiar figure in the Devoll branch of the Republican Party. He is young, but also lively and ... sociable. He is young, but also lively and ... everything. The local branch of the Party was established late and ... at first, then faded away and ... in order to ... “Let’s start with a coffee,” he invites me. But the building they use as a café has no coffee. “The Korçë trade company hasn’t delivered any,” they say. But there aren’t any free seats either. People with worn faces, acquaintances who give you a melancholy smile, waiters and café attendants with their hands tied, bearded men in expensive jeans, casually casting a glance and then sizing you up from head to toe, carry on with their conversations in groups of four or more, complaining about who knows what[?]. Strangely, the “town” seems to have quite a number of people. And it is just an ordinary weekday. In the streets and at the market there are also people doing their shopping. Traders from the town and surrounding villages, shopkeepers and family members with bags in their hands, refugees loudly advertising goods brought from across the border, crowded, overflowing and packed together, revealing the truth about life among this mass of people. For a moment you feel as if you have wandered into one of those sets that Constantinople improvises when filming a period movie set in the 1930s or 1940s. But as you look around, you realize your mind has deceived you, and you too are drawn into that whirlpool of all kinds of curiosities. The market is not bad: there are onions, potatoes, meat, cabbage and leeks, locally made and foreign flour, and farther on you can find everything from trousers and blue jackets to tape recorders and household refrigerators. As for the prices... Meanwhile, the shelves in the state shops are empty; there are no shoes, no boots, no clothes. Jokes have even begun to circulate about the second half of that last word, as the people of Devoll are known for such jokes. Today Bilisht alone has 6,000 inhabitants, and the whole area numbers nearly 50,000 people, settled in 46 villages. That is indeed a lot; there has been a major internal migration from the depths of the countryside to the centre, just as there is a free movement of people burdened by hardship across the border. Perhaps some clever mind would have given the region and its people a different face, since the area is rich not only in fertile, productive land but also in minerals, as in Bitinckë and Tren. In the “town” there are several small workshops, such as those for repairing agricultural machinery, sewing, NPV; a canning plant and some others, all of them being—or having been—units of the “Miniera” enterprise in Korçë. How much activity there used to be all around, and especially in Bilisht, becomes clear when you learn that nearly 500 women and girls are employed and about 170 others are unemployed, and that a five-storey apartment building in the centre of the “town” is being watched by several generations who are being born and ... HARDIN SEDJARASI (To be continued on page 2)

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