— It is impossible to cooperate with the socialist-communists —

Yesterday, at around 1:30 p.m., the Democratic Party held a press conference at the Palace of Congresses. It was the first day after the deadline requested by the Democratic Party in its statement had expired. And, since its demands had not been met by either the Government or the President, Dr. Sali Berisha informed the country’s journalists, foreign journalists, and the diplomatic corps accredited in Tirana that the Democratic Party had decided to withdraw its ministers from the Government of Stability. In a long and in-depth analysis, Mr. Sali Berisha clearly de- ... fined the position of this party, as well as its persistent efforts to bring Albania out of isolation, to save it from misery through economic reform and the establishment of democracy. But, by not ... (Continued on page 3)

— BECAUSE I WAS INVITED DOES NOT MEAN I AGREE TO TAKE PART — — AN UNSCRUPULOUS LIE IS EXPOSED — The chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights of Kosovo, Mr. Adem Demaçi, said at the beginning of the press conference with Albanian journalists on December 2 in Tirana: — When I received some material, I don’t know where it came from, but it reached me through the Democratic League. I read it, and I thought you had first reached an understanding among yourselves before inviting us ... When asked about the so-called National Reconciliation Assembly, he said: an understanding among yourselves before inviting us ...” They asked me what ... Europe; then such an agreement would be normal. However, one must see who should reconcile with whom. It seems to me that first we should reconcile with everyone individually, and then all of us should go and reconcile together. There are many things that need to be reconciled within the Albanian people, so you in Albania should first reconcile among yourselves; then we in Kosovo should reconcile there; then the Albanians living outside Albania’s compact territories… When asked about the date set for the conference, he continued: “This is a very ambitious, very good project, but I do not believe this project can be achieved in haste, at speed, by setting dates. For example, I was appointed a member of that initiative council without my knowledge. I heard about it in Istanbul on Radio Zagreb. These things are not done this way; this is not how one acts. The fact that I saw some material does not mean ... (Continued on page 4) of the Party we represent, as the statement trying to instrumentalize the Government for the political purposes of other Parties. … this “I am very pleased to be able to meet with you directly. I want to tell you that I have not come here to support anyone. I belong to neither side; I belong only to the people. I am very glad that conditions have been created in Albania for many parties to operate in Tirana, because this is the only way to move forward!! I asked the television service for the opportunity to have a live conversation, because I do not want my conversations to be written up for me. I have had a bad experience with Radio Tirana: it has cut my conversations short several times, so I asked for the conversation to be broadcast live. Television did not agree; that is, it has continued along its own path of a kind of monopoly. I speak to everyone as a brother, and I speak as someone who is not indifferent to what will happen to our brothers in Albania.” …tion of the Human Rights of Kosovo, Mr. Adem Demaçi, on December 2 in Tirana: “When I received some kind of material—I do not know where it came from, but it came into my hands through the Democratic League—I read it and thought that you had first reached an agreement among yourselves before inviting us Kosovars. However, in some conversations I had with brother Kujtim Çashku, I found out that you had not all reached an agreement among yourselves, because the Prishtina council—we knew for certain that the Forum was not entirely clear on either who the organizers were, or what they wanted and how they wanted it. I was also informed that some parties here, too, although it was written in that material that the parties agreed, [wanted] it to be held this way, hurriedly and quickly. There is no normal Albanian who would oppose national reconciliation. But we must see what foundations that national reconciliation rests on… If reconciliation is achieved on sound foundations, so that we enter a path of equal development and full and genuine democracy, with development befitting us…”

In recent days, the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Sabri Godo, has held working meetings at the U.S. Embassy with Mr. Kristofor Hill, with the ambassador of the FRG, Mr. Klaus Volers, and with the Soviet ambassador, Mr. Viktor Nerubajllov. Mr. Godo made it clear to them that nothing is being done independently in our country, where the monist government and its chairman have no intention of fulfilling their limited obligations to the people. In this regard, the Republican Party can no longer remain in a government position where everything is done as in the classic neo-colonialism of dictator Hoxha. The Republican Party has called for leaving the Government, which apparently submits more to present and future electoral interests than to national interests. For their part, representatives of the USA, Germany and the USSR showed interest in Albanian issues and asked for such meetings to be held more frequently. The Republican Party was also represented at these meetings by a group from the Party’s foreign affairs section: Dr. Çerçiz Mingomataj.

It is well known that a country’s prime minister cannot set off on an official visit without an invitation from the state concerned. This is because, among other things, such visits require government talks and agreements to be signed. We learned this practice from television, which has shown aspects of visits by foreign ministers and other state delegations. But regarding Mr. Ylli Bufi’s visit, we did not learn that Begjkeri or other U.S. state officials were officially engaged in bilateral talks, nor that any document was signed under which the American side undertook obligations. Indeed, Mr. Begjkeri was not even in the USA that day. Was this perhaps a slight and an insult to this prime minister? Apparently not, because Mr. Bufi himself, at the press conference after his return, answered the relevant question by saying that this was a working visit, neither official nor private. Alas, look at the state Albania has come to, when the prime minister does not dare even to say what invitation it was that “flew” him to Oklahoma! Be that as it may, we would be more interested in the visit’s results. All the more so because before his departure he was received with pomp by our President, Mr. Ramiz Alia, and at the airport he was both seen off and welcomed by the Italian ambassador to Albania, Mr. Tortuato Kardilli. Yet the truth is the opposite, because at the press conference he organized, our prime minister did not mention any concrete contract. He mentioned only the oil companies, about which we had already published news and interviews and which had begun work before Mr. Bufi “discovered” them. Oh, forgive me—the only concrete thing he apparently secured in the USA was chemical fertilizers. For Albania, which is suffering, and for our economy in a state of shock, securing fertilizers, however valuable they may be, is like the beauty who combed her hair while Istanbul was burning. Thus, economically, it is not a prime-ministerial fiasco—which was accompanied by the signing of agreements that were not only unforgivable for our renewed socialists, but also reflected the USA’s insistence on not changing the strengthening of communism in Albania. Apparently, the failure of President Ramiz Alia’s visit when he went to the UN was not enough for them. The Americans not only did not receive him because he was a communist, but the Albanian lobby, since it has not rushed to return to the country and make investments, clearly has doubts and remains wary of the tactics of the Albanian communists (the so-called socialists), who change their minds as chameleons change color. The question arises: Why was this visit made, when the well-known American position is clear and protocol is observed everywhere in the world? “He who comes uninvited finds no table laid”?! First and foremost, it was for political credibility, to raise the prestige of the Socialist Party, because even before the election campaign was announced, they had begun it in a manner that was anything but serious. We are not the only ones who understand this; Albanian-Americans in the USA understood it too. It was precisely the fax sent to us by Mr. Kolë Juncaj from the USA that brought this topic for our article to our attention. Among other things, he writes that before the new elections Ylli Bufi is trying to gain as much support and as many votes as possible for his Socialist Party. Even though in New York he met with

We, the former ministers of the Government of Stability, Dr. Teodor Kareco, Fatos Bitincka and Alfred Kamamucó, feel it our civic duty to inform public opinion of the following: On November 27, 1991, we submitted a memorandum to the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, in which we expressed our concern about the lack of transparency and certain main directions of state activity. In raising these concerns, we in no way denied the Government’s collegial work, either in reviewing and issuing measures to support reform or in practical efforts to address the threatening state of the economy and public order. Other former colleagues in the Government have also expressed concern about the lack of transparency, but the Presidium has silently brushed these concerns aside. On November 28, at a Government meeting, Mr. Ylli Bufi read the memorandum, which was followed by questions and answers, as well as political statements by several members, without any analysis of the issues raised. More ... days earlier than the Prime Minister’s departure for the USA, and nothing else. The Secretary-General’s participation in all the Presidium’s activities is deliberately emphasized, while numerous facts concerning his being bypassed are knowingly ignored, including the adoption of decisions such as the one on dividing the property of the former PPSH—a decision that openly places one party in a privileged position. Our request that the memorandum be examined was presented in the declaration as an accusation, ignoring the fact that it was precisely our sense of responsibility toward the people that prompted us to appeal to the Government, and first and foremost to its Presidium, as the country’s political leadership, to correct its mistaken methods of governance. of the Party we represent, as the declaration claims. It is other political forces and individuals who are trying to instrumentalize the Government for the political aims of other parties. That is why we opposed the lack of transparency, which greatly diminishes the role and effectiveness of the Council of Ministers. If ... We have not been, nor are we, in favor of a governmental crisis. In all sincerity, on November 30 we therefore presented to the President of the Republic the need for a comprehensive analysis in the Government, which he too should attend. It seems that the President fell in line with the Government’s hasty action, and so on December 1 he decreed our dismissal, even though the People’s Assembly is in regular session. We hope the Assembly will ask the Government to examine objectively and comprehensively the reasons impeding its work, independently of our persons. Dr. TEODOR KARECO FATOS BITINCKA ALFRED KARAMUÇO Tirana, December 2, 1991 Note: This declaration was given to Radiotelevizioni and ATSH on December 2, but these “depoliticized” organizations did not deign to make it known to the people. economic researchers in the ranks. Other former colleagues have also expressed concern over the lack of transparency in the Government, but the leadership has quietly by questions and answers and by statements of a political nature from some members, without analyzing the problems that had been raised. Instead, the Republican Party, which published the memorandum in its newspaper, was put on trial. Our memorandum was neither partisan in nature nor a withdrawal from collective and individual responsibility, as they maliciously seek to portray it. It became necessary for us to demand clarity and a change in the Government’s working methods, at a time when commitments to the people are not being fulfilled and the country is on the brink of the abyss. Otherwise, we would not be acting honestly as ministers in a Government that holds the fate of the people in its hands. The hasty and irresponsible handling of the memorandum led the Government to issue an equally hasty statement, which once again confirmed the lack of transparency. The statement speaks of unanimity among the entire Council of Ministers, when in fact five members were absent and the three of us were opposed; the statement says that an analysis was conducted, when no analysis took place; it says that Mr. Bufi’s visit to the USA was approved by the Government, although the drafters of the statement themselves know very well that the Government was only informed of one

TO MR. SABRI GODO CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TIRANA Dear Mr. Chairman, We send you our heartfelt wishes on Flag Day—November 28, Albania’s Independence Day, and hope that you and your Party, within Albania’s pluralist society, will contribute to deepening the democratic processes and stability in Albania. Dr. IBRAHIM RUGOVA Chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo Prishtina, November 27, 1991.

— WHEN WE HAVE NO FOOD, WE SELL IT TO OTHERS — Quantity License No. 1. Canned fish 2 21.5 tons 2. « mussels 1 100 » 3. Lima beans 1 50 » 4. Processed peppers 2 80 » 5. Tomato sauce 1 150 » 6. Chestnuts 7 465 » 7. Dried figs 3 483 » 8. Fresh fish 29 1192 » Other items 1. Logs, planks, beech, walnut 3 688m³ 2. Aspirin 1 1 million tablets