These days, the revised version of the program of the Albanian Republican Party was printed and put into circulation. Together with the ARP’s statute, its new program constitutes an important document testifying to the development and consolidation of the Republican Party as a modern political party dedicated to serving the nation and democracy. On reading this program, anyone can see from the outset that its duties and objectives are profoundly democratic and permeated throughout by the ideas of republicanism, and that the RP is a modern-type party which strives to harmonize and integrate the interests of the individual, and the development of their inclinations and talents, with the overall development and progress of the Albanian nation. All eight chapters of the program are underpinned by the fundamental principle that only the union of free individuals can form a free people in a true democracy—a principle that is also taking shape in the practical actions of the Republican Party. Thus, in the chapter discussing the RP’s position on agriculture and village life, the program clearly emphasizes that, regarding one of today’s divisions of land, the law should be amended through the 12 points set out in the resolution on agriculture adopted by the RP’s national consultative meeting held in September. Among other things, it is clearly explained that Republicans support recognizing the ownership of the land that peasants held on the eve of collectivization, compensating them with assets of equivalent value. But in the Socialists’ press and oral propaganda, it is said that we support returning land to the so-called former landowners and great landlords. It is clear that this is a lie that does not stand up at all against what has been expressed and written in the Republican program. The other chapters of the program envisage a way out of the country’s severe crisis through the rapid privatization of land and of the service and light-industry sectors, assigning an owner to every asset of value, as well as cooperating with foreign capital on mutually beneficial terms. Thus, this program bases development on the free initiative of every individual and will unleash the energies of our entire nation. The RP is aware that the road to Europe is not easy, and that to achieve this we will have to rely primarily on our own work, under the new forms of remuneration that will be introduced. The program gives priority to social issues and the establishment of a genuinely democratic order, in which the law will prevail and justice will be administered equally for all.

It seems it was not meant to be that at least the explosion of «Kosovo» would reach the Adriatic… quickly, it seems not… And through its own fault! Demaçi spent three decades in prison for «Enver Hoxha’s Albania» and, from inside there, how could he have imagined that shortly after «liberation» he would be reproached for the sacrifice he had made. The Serb is a Serb, all the more so when he is also a Serbian nationalist! What if his dream were examined in the Palace of Dreams and it turned out that… he had been imprisoned for the prison revolt-Albe. But, well, uncle Adem arrived just as «stubborn», just as devoted to Ideal Albania, without asking who was at its head: Anyway, we are all Albanians! We all love Albania more than the Serb does, so let us tell one another everything. Others have divided our Homeland enough; why should we divide one another even further! Anyone who heard Adem Demaçi, newly arrived, left his first press conference with him somewhat saddened. So many years in prison, and he did not sense that his people, brutalized by their motherland, have too little… freedom?! He speaks of reconciliation as though he were reconciling two youngsters, and does not believe that they have chosen nothing but words against one another?! No, uncle Adem, no!... Have you no pity at least for your own good name?! No!... But why did they ask him for his first press conference as soon as he arrived in Albania?! Before seeing or speaking, before setting foot… A suspicion toward Albanians… A few days later, they did not give him the right to hold a press conference or have a live conversation on TV?! In Elbasan and there, in the northeast and Shkodër, in shackled Kosovo, he could no longer bear the delay of democracy in Albania! I would vote for the opposition!.. Rugova and Qosja and Bukoshi…! The same parallel «connections», traced with millimetric precision: silent comings and goings, getting to know the surface, only as much as was useful, then as much as could no longer be concealed; movement along Tirana’s boulevards, then through streets and lanes brought to life by Albanians. And Albanians themselves asking one another: It is understandable that foreigners cannot get to know Albania, but not the Albanians of the northeast too?! How is that possible—are they deceiving us, or what, or?!... Nothing could be worse than cultivating suspicions about someone who can only love, and whom you can only love! The eyes of Rugova, Demaçi, Qosja and Bukoshi, Kosovo’s first prime minister, could not be happy. The eye senses things; it is pointless to say that the eye sees, when it comes to these people! It is easier to say it than to close one’s eyes, even if you try… Then: Should one speak or not speak?!... What prevents things from being said in plain language is Albania. What compels everything to be said is Albania again! For her sake? For her sake we must not be divided, but by keeping silent we cannot unite! But how should one speak? When there was only one Party… speaking was pointless. The voice neither reached nor came from the people. A trait of the galleys and prisons! Now that there are many parties, division is much more of a risk: Albania was one, one and the truth, one DEMOCRACY, without which «Kosovo would never reach the Adriatic one day», as the poet V. Skënderi said. Easy, easy, my master, with some «hero», as long as we are all of one mind about the NATION. Statements and rallies for Kosovo; the Kosovars’ thoughtful voices are sought, they are invited to repeat the Age-old Reconciliation… but as soon as they begin to articulate something of what they think, something that does not please us, then we… «Zëri i popullit and the Socialist Party have been protesting against Kosovo’s public figures in almost every recent issue! Interference in Albania’s internal affairs? But whose Kosovo is it, you Socialists?! Are there two democracies for the two parts of Albania?! Have the warm and fraternal achievements of our compatriots over there already been forgotten? You cannot even answer a simple question: How did Adem Demaçi, for example, “change so quickly”?! Could Rugova and Bukoshi be corrupted, and Rexhep Qosja too, if you force him to be someone who can no longer remain silent, for lack of love for Albania»?! It is another matter if the Socialist Party does not accept democracy as the indispensable path that will lead us to National Reconciliation and Unity!.. Since even AHTA over there speak Albanian, perhaps it is not difficult for these things to become known! Let us just not quarrel, and let us not «reprimand» other foreigners with the vocabulary of «ZP», such as Grafinin and… perhaps they do not understand the Albanian jargon, whereas the Kosovars—we have all acknowledged it—are Albanians… Rugova, Qosja, Demaçi and Bukoshi will come to us again, very, very soon, and we will not know how to address them politely..!

For some time, but especially now, ZP has been trying to instill a climate of fear and psychological terror about what will happen after the elections if the opposition wins. It seeks to spread this fear among all sections of the population, using various versions and presenting itself as the true defender of the people’s interests. In this campaign, the pages of this newspaper have been used not only by journalists but also by SP leaders, who are trying to draw parallels with other countries of Eastern Europe. Bulgaria has been presented several times as a model in this regard. Here, on the front page of ZP, we are given a report saying that the Sofia branch of the international organization «Helsinki Uoc» has written to the Bulgarian president concerning the recent politically motivated dismissals from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried out by Minister Stojan Gangal. The message is clear: You dare vote for the opposition and you’ll see what awaits you—mass dismissals from work! The Communist-Socialists really stand by these words, which is why their feet are so firmly planted in their own ZP. But what will happen after the elections of March 22, when the opposition takes power? One thing is as clear as day: the opposition will put the entire bureaucratized and discredited state apparatus in order and make it serve the public. It will be enough to prove that any such person has been involved with foreign diplomats and politicians, and the press will expose them as puppets and magnify the issue. The whole hierarchy inherited from the past, with its corrupt divisions and ideology rooted in the totalitarian regime, nepotism and its continuation across all levels, will be dealt with. In these newspapers, propaganda cannot be spread without limit… May the various messages not…

On February 21, the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Sabi Demoll, held a meeting with members and supporters of the RP in the village of Mollas, in the Elbasan district. “I will speak briefly,” Mr. Godo told those present at the outset, “because I want to hear you more, learn about the difficulties and concerns you have, and discuss them together.” In the republic, he then said, we will seek the immediate replacement of the bad president Ali. There are two ways to govern a country: one is the way of the butcher, which we experienced for 50 years and whose wounds are still open, and the other is the democratic way, for which we are fighting together. The Socialists continue to spread lies that as soon as the opposition takes power, it will take land away from the peasants and give it to former estate owners and great landlords. In response to a farmer’s question about what would happen next, since they still had not been given their title deeds, Mr. Sabri Godo replied that the Republican Party has always maintained, and still maintains, that land should be distributed to farmers in all areas of the country and that they should immediately be provided with the documents and title deeds to which they are entitled. In our program, and in the other materials of the Republican Party, it is… (Continued on page 2, e-16)

Once, in the city of Elbasan, a party was founded with the unusual name «Neither the rich man nor the bey». Regardless of its name, it carried out an important mission, saving the people from the fierce political struggle then taking place between the rich man and the bey, and directing them toward a genuinely democratic path. On the eve of the year 2000, the very same fine Marxist-Leninist politician, Fatos Nano, made a very interesting attempt by creating the opposite of the aforementioned party, to which the name «Both a rich man and a bey» would suit perfectly. The intellectuals who founded the party «Neither the rich man nor the bey» had only the people’s interests as their objective. They devoted all their intellectual potential to this ideal, sacrificing everything. Such concerns were not Fatos Nano’s interests. He and his associates … founded the PPSH not in the people’s interests, but above all to exploit the dominance they hold over a country, covering themselves with wealth that belongs to the people. Why is that? In the end, all politicians … Fatos Nano, first of all, is a child of the dictatorship and, secondly, as he has always done, he eagerly pursues a dishonorable career. But what debt does Mr. Nano owe the dictatorship, and why does he still hesitate now that Enver Hoxha is dead? Many people might answer these questions in different ways, but there is one point on which concrete opinions converge: under so-called Albanian socialism, a tiny intellectual stratum flourished, whose members sacrificed everything in order to climb to where they wanted to be. (The truth is that the dictatorship knew how to exploit them skillfully for the benefit of others.) Every day, systematically, perhaps without even realizing it themselves, their convictions were diminished. And when one day they appeared, they were what they had truly been reduced to: intellectuals without substance. Fatos Nano is undoubtedly a prototype of this kind. From his very first independence, in his first direction, sparks have been multiplying; even if he wants to, despite having lost it, and although nobody is stopping him, he cannot break away from it. Thus he was, and will remain to the end, a man of wealth. And he is so absurd and ridiculous that he openly appears on the platform and calls a crime a mistake. At the first national conference of the PPSH, Mr. Nano stressed that the PPSH consists of intellectuals just as it should. It would be difficult to find a more accurate statement. Mr. Nano himself proves this better than anyone. Nevertheless, his discontent continues to this day with great intensity. It is said that Hoxha’s convictions also… appeared to impose an even greater duty on the military and the family of Ramiz Alia. In this respect, he becomes and will also be …

22 MARSI - E ARDHMJA E SHQIPËRISË