Dr. HYSEN ÇOBANI, and you too are a communist — The national atmosphere is progressive-Western; while the latter is dominated by powerful political upheavals. The parties have lined up on the front line for the coming electoral battle. Meanwhile, the economy has entered a phase of mass destruction. In this situation, when the country belongs to no one, all social processes leading toward political stability must be accelerated, but peace by force must be rejected! Communist revenge in the economy has reached the proportions of a national catastrophe. The Opposition must be shaken by the fate of a tree, by the theft of a brick, by the loss of a screw, because the future belongs to it. Anyone, from any party, who lays a hand on state property must be declared an enemy of the nation. At the height of its pressure, when Democracy brought down the statue of Enver Hoxha in Skënderbeu Square, it did not break a pane of glass or trample a flower. But the communists, it seems, even in the few days they have left, have decided to demolish everything so that Democracy must start from zero. There is no fortress they will not seize. It was the communists who trampled on the sanctity of mosques and churches; it is they, or the dregs of society whom they incite in various ways, who are trampling on the sanctity of schools in the middle of Europe, at the end of the 20th century. Shame! Shame! It is a wound that saddens you and kills optimism. It is a wound that afflicts both cradles and graves. The opposition parties, supported by the broad mass of their sympathizers, must now stand at the head of this difficult and delicate front, before the elections. They have no use for the votes of profiteers and unscrupulous people who have seized warehouses, workers’ centers, premises and industrial barracks, nurseries, kindergartens, schools, etc., leaving hundreds and thousands of workers without jobs. Dozens of hectares of glass greenhouses, factory walls, stables, and thousands of other assets are being destroyed—assets inherited from the National Liberation War, which still matter to our country. We say that its veterans, who earned their reputation «with blood on their foreheads», belong first and foremost to the Opposition, because they were the first victims deceived by Enver Hoxha, who plunged them into a fratricidal civil war, trampling on their sacred ideal of fighting fascism, regardless of religion, region, or ideology. This is now as clear as daylight. A year has dismantled and discredited the legacy of the PPSH. More so in the cities, less so in the countryside. This advantage did not exist on 31 March. But the PPSH no longer «exists». It has difficulty navigating the socialist channel; it has adopted a program with very democratic colors and, «like an old tree», after being cut back from its trunk, several sister parties have emerged as transformations adapted to the new conditions, in order to survive (go on, figure it out), leaving the Communist Party as the technological residue of this transformation. But above all, it has worsened the country’s order and economic situation, bringing it to such a point that, in both town and countryside, some people who cannot see far and are quickly overcome by despair have begun to nurture nostalgia for monism or the Zogollian monarchy. The PS(PP), with its long experience, exploits these wavering sentiments or provokes them itself. It is the Opposition’s duty to bring the wavering along with it. Together, let us march toward the Bastille and demolish it completely and finally. The Albanian electorate and its characteristics: — Our electorate comes from a long monist period, in which voting was formal and solved no concrete problem in the life of the country. It was the PPSH that decided the people’s fate. It had placed itself above everything, above the people, above the vote, and even above God. Voting was a formal festive ceremony at a time when the communists were retracting their claws into their paws. They pretended to be called close to the people, while behind their backs and among themselves, like a pack of wolves, the PPSH’s snarling brutes growled and bared their teeth, with all sorts of dark schemes in their heads to torment this imprisoned people further and make their paradise flourish. Elections were a ritual to embellish the image of Socialist Albania abroad, presenting it as a country where true democracy prevailed, and a way of removing from the scene any opponent or squeezed lemon who might compromise the image of the PPSH and its all-powerful leader, Enver Hoxha. But under the new conditions, thanks to the Opposition’s persistent efforts, voting is returning to its proverbial force: the people’s word is God’s word, burying forever the cult of «The Party above all», before which the absurd had become reasonable and the reasonable absurd. Now at last we can say wholeheartedly that we have the right to choose our own leaders. It must be admitted that, until now, things have gone poorly for us. Our people have not been fortunate in choosing their leaders. The time has come for us to become aware and not allow ourselves to return to the eras when Ismail Qemali was pitted against Esat Pasha, Noli against Ahmet Zogu, and Sejfulla Malëshova and the whole Albanian intellectual world against an adventurer like Enver Hoxha, at the behest of the secret and ominous orders of internal and foreign forces, hostile and chauvinistic toward Albania. For a moment must we think that they have vanished, or that the waters have turned into lambs. The humanist nationalism of the Renaissance thinkers must rapidly replace the ideology and practice of the com- The «head» of their things and sympathizers should now, of profiteers and unscrupulous people who have occupied of hectares of glass greenhouses, factory walls, stables are being destroyed, and nobody is telling the looters to stop! In Albania today, thieves are making the law. Meanwhile, the forces of order look more for loopholes in the laws to evade responsibility than for ways to enforce them. The country is therefore in greater danger than ever. The people will not forgive Mr. Wilson Ahmeti’s government if it does not ensure that state property remains untouched and use every legal means to protect it. Otherwise, the people will say: you too are a communist, Mr. Prime Minister. Toward the Bastille. Every revolution has its Bastille. For us, the Bastille is the parliament dominated by the communists and the president who emerged from it. The Opposition and its parties, fully aware, are moving toward a social act of great responsibility and historical significance for the nation’s fate: new elections, which have the value and weight of a revolution. They represent the second stage of the battle that began on 31 March 1991, when the Opposition was supported by 40% of the electorate, despite time constraints, material shortages and inexperience, the fever of euphoria among some new leaders, insufficient work in the countryside and, above all, the use of various forms of violence and corruption by the PPSH, whose authority had not yet been shaken throughout the country. From this stage onward, the demand is for power to be taken away from the communists and placed entirely in the hands of Democracy. Two forces will clash in the electoral arena: the progressive democratic force and the conservative-monist-communist one. The first is fragile, inexperienced, but backed by the people. The second is a 50-year-old organization, burdened by political and economic crime, but subjected during the past 3–7 months to an earthquake and intense upheaval, in order to conceal every service and historical circumstance. The first fights enthusiastically because it believes in the new, in…

1991 - FEBRUARY - 1992 In times of great upheaval, transformation—or, more accurately, what we call renewal today—is difficult for some structures. This difficulty is connected to the very nature of these structures, above all to the isolation they experienced under the dictatorship. On this basis, we can say that democracy faces a task that is twice as difficult in these structures. Specifically, we are talking about the army: What has happened to it, and what changes has it undergone during the turbulent year that has just passed? Has it adapted, and what has it gained from the democratic currents of the times? These questions open the way to broad interpretations and discussions that cannot be contained within the limits of one article. Nevertheless, let us try to say something: The truth is that, during the half-century that has passed, the army felt the weight of dictatorship more than any other institution. If there was one structure in Albania that experienced total discrimination, it was the army. From every angle, one finds only wounds when looking at the Albanian army. The dictatorship stripped Albanian military personnel of their ability to think, froze all their dreams, and turned them into a mechanism. Officers of every age in the units were left unemployed, unemployed. No one experienced the so-called transfer (internment) to remote areas more than officers. What other structure felt the arrogance, malice and bullying of the ignorant bureaucracy more than the army? The Stalinist dictatorship did not allow Albanian military personnel to perfect their profession, but turned them into ideological, theatrical puppets. Let us mention that even when they defended academic degrees, Albanian military personnel were allowed to teach only Enver Hoxha’s lessons on popular military art. The party caste’s megalomania put Albanian military personnel in such ridiculous positions that regulations even specified how Albania, alone, could destroy one or several enemy coalitions (e.g. NATO + the Warsaw Pact). It should be emphasized that the army bore on its shoulders the great burden of the absurd, Don Quixotic fortifications. For all these reasons, we can say that the army is emerging from the clutches of the dictatorship more mutilated than any other structure. For this reason it is the most disillusioned and, consequently, has begun to outline a democratic profile, thanks to the country’s entry into the currents of this democracy and the chance for military life to become genuine. It would be an extremely exaggerated judgment to blame the army for the incident at the United School. It was an attempt by the senior military caste to preserve the power that was slipping away from it. Many officers who took part in those events blush with honesty and sincerity when you remind them of that day—two qualities that generally characterize our military personnel. Those who were there have now understood everything. Nevertheless, understanding is not everything. The army faces major and acute problems today. Reform of the Albanian army has only just begun. So much has been said and written about it that even hearing the term makes one weary. Yet one must return to work that has already been done. First of all, for «reform» to be credible, the question must be answered: What has been reformed in the army? Or, more accurately: Has army reform begun? In fact, some things have moved forward amid this upheaval, such as the return to the army of those sentenced for [unclear], the reinstatement of ranks, etc. But in reality, even in those matters that appear to have changed, things are not progressing all that well. Let us consider the reinstatement of ranks. … to have a scope that experienced total discrimination, this experienced a dictatorship. For all these reasons we have mentioned, clutches of dictatorship more crippled most disappointed democratic processes? Above all, the serviceman is regaining his lost honor. And, naturally, in the not-too-distant future he will gain everything enjoyed by his European counterpart. In other words, tomorrow the Albanian serviceman will belong to This, then, is the way forward. The serviceman has begun to “groan,” and now at last he will save himself from the sins of the past. But in truth, even with those ranks that seem to have changed, things are not going all that well. Let us consider the awarding of ranks. Servicemen received them on the basis of the duties they held, compromise the awarding of ranks, etc. YLLI RAKIPI LUTFI DERVISHI (Continued on page 2)

Romania’s opposition emerged from the local elections as a credible force capable of challenging the National Salvation Front for the first time since the overthrow of the Stalinist dictator Nikolae Çauşesku. According to an official poll conducted by the BBC in Bucharest, the Democratic Union of the 14 opposition-bloc parties is set to win 40 percent of the vote, the NSF 30 percent, and Romania’s far-right Nationalist Party 10 percent.

During a press conference held by Doctor Sali Berisha, a journalist asked the speaker: «It is said that if the Socialists win the elections, Europe and the developed world will not help Albania. What can you tell us about this?» The answer was clever and succinct: Europe and the developed world support democracy. In other words, of course, not a party that has changed only its jacket and its name, even if it comes out with a changed program. It is known that if the former communist party has changed its name, that does not make it, or the other party, Socialist. This was also confirmed by the rejection of their request to join the Socialist International, which accepted the PSD of Albania as an observer, not our PS. Nevertheless, these facts seem insufficient to those who are still under the influence of the Socialist Party. Let us try to remind you of former Prime Minister Nano’s failed visit to London. It was so fruitless that, although Parliament asked him to speak about the results he had achieved, he remained silent, sealing the failure of a mission that had not been planned without hope and fanfare. PETRO DHIMITRI (Continued on page 4)

— DESCRIPTION — «…A flock of pigeons that have “settled” in the square opposite the “Tomorri” Hotel gives you the first pleasure these days in Berat. The “2,400-year-old” people of Berat stand and watch with pleasure as the pigeons coo in the sunshine, and this seems to add something to the old city. Over the centuries and a half of the life of the city and its people, pigeons, a symbol of European civilization, may have alighted before on the sofas of Berat and on the roofs of the houses that cascade beautifully one below another from the Castle down to Mangalem and Gorica and as far as Murat Çelepias, but today their “company” with the people and the city gives you a beautiful thought of hope, long-awaited… A friend of mine tells me that in Berat and beyond, opposition parties are beginning to take root and grow stronger day by day, along with some four or five newspapers, placing it among the Republic’s foremost cities, and attitudes are changing. The Republican Party branch alone has spread to 90 percent of the villages and has 15 sections, with 3 sub-branches in the city, while 68 percent of its members have secondary or higher education. For instance, in Vokopola, 40 percent of PPSH members threw away their membership cards—this family relic of communism. This makes you believe that, day by day, people are weighing up the PS before going to the ballot box. What is troubling is that the old city has begun to “groan.” The Opposition’s groan will and Romania’s far-right Nationalist Party 10 percent. «Recalling these things, I entry into the currents of this democracy. But what has the army gained from the newly begun democratic processes? Above all, the army is regaining its lost honor. And, naturally, in the not-too-distant future it will gain everything its European counterpart enjoys. Thus, tomorrow the Albanian army will be a modernized, disciplined army equipped with the most modern weapons. This, then, is the path. The army has begun to “groan,” and at last it will save itself from the sins of the past. But in reality, even in those ranks that well. Let us consider the awarding of ranks. Military personnel received them on the basis of the positions they hold, their relevant education, and their age. The first two criteria compromise the awarding of ranks. [Middle column of the article, partly legible:] «…A flock of pigeons…» after its duty, helped beautify Berat’s wonder. The specialists of the Institute of Cultural Monuments were certainly concerned, but the rulers of the time were worried too—not so much about the city’s beauty and preservation as about the arrival of some council or a member of the PP Political Bureau and the dinner laid on in his honor. newspapers…» THE OLD CITY HAS BEGUN TO “GROAN” When preparations were being made to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Berat’s third jubilee of civilization, one of them would turn back at the head after the [unclear] of this fate and encounter it carefully… Side column: even in those ranks criteria compromise the awarding of ranks. BARDHI SHKUPI(?) (Continued on page 3)