01/03/1992
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Republika

1 March 1992

ELECTORAL PROGRAM OF THE ALBANIAN REPUBLICAN PARTY

Albanians, With strenuous effort, our people have opened the way to democracy, won the right to organize in political parties and associations, won the right to freedom of speech and of the press, and succeeded in opening the prisons and internment camps, putting an end to the savage political persecution that the communist dictatorship inflicted on the people for 47 years. But democracy has not yet prevailed; the dangers threatening it are numerous. The state structures that should support democracy remain under the control or influence of the social-communists. Democracy also needs an advanced economic order, whereas our economy lies in complete ruin. Democracy will secure these two essential conditions—the support of state structures and the opening of paths toward an advanced economy—in the elections of 22 March. Then we will be able to say that the era of a new, humane and civilized life has also begun for our people. Then, lying on the ground, it will begin the progressive turnaround that will lead it in the coming years toward integration into Europe. — The complete impartiality of Radio and Television and the public’s right to be informed in detail, promptly and objectively about all fundamental issues of national and international life must be ensured. — Bureaucracy and centralized statist forms of administration must be opposed by granting local government broad areas of self-government. Corruption must be fought in every sphere of state and social life; no state official may place themselves above the law or enjoy any privilege; transparency and the maximum possible publicity in state activities must be ensured. — An unshakable conviction of the necessity of party and intellectual pluralism must take root in the social consciousness. No one holds a monopoly on true knowledge or the optimal solution. Free thought and serious debate must be vital elements of our reality. — ensured. — During this legislature, the state must invest to provide the peasantry, through loans and favorable prices, with selected seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, regular irrigation, etc. Assistance must be particularly attentive to the poor mountain areas left in deep backwardness by monism. A broad field of cooperation is opening up between the countryside and foreign investors, who are very interested in clean agricultural products that can be successfully and profitably grown in our soil and climate. Villages, groups of individuals and companies must be free to contract with foreign parties on the best available terms, under licenses from the local administration. This right must be legalized as soon as possible. At the same time, the state must study and implement the opening of the shortest routes connecting agricultural and livestock-raising areas with foreign markets, including the construction of small seaports and railway branch lines. — Within a year, the rules and limits for tourism development in each village must be defined, both in coastal areas and inland, while preserving natural beauty and a clean environment. — An advanced and fair tax system must be created, along with a modern banking network serving our market economy. — The development of tourism in all its forms must be encouraged (whether basic or luxurious, private, partnership-based, state-run or mixed, or in cooperation with foreign capital). — All forms of transport must be modernized, alongside the creation of necessary infrastructure, recognizing the individual dimension, freedom of thought, of the press, of conscience, of association, of religious practice, of choice of residence and profession, the inviolability of the home and the confidentiality of correspondence, freedom of movement within and outside the state, etc. — state activities must be ensured. — An unshakable conviction in vital elements of our reality. — ensured. — state activities must be ensured. — An unshakable conviction in vital elements of our reality. — ensured. — state activities must be ensured. — An unshakable conviction in vital elements of our reality. — ensured. — In light-industry enterprises, their employees must become shareholders. — Privatization in other sectors (heavy industry, railways and power plants, etc.) must take place later, with wages adjusted in relation to income and within the limits of the national economy. — The creation of joint ventures with foreign investors must be encouraged as an important factor in modernizing the economy. Enterprises requiring complete restructuring may be offered to foreign buyers on condition that the workforce is retained collectively. — with a modern banking network serving our market economy. — or in cooperation with foreign capital). — of necessary infrastructure, recognizing ... The ARP will fight for: — Former prisoners and political persecuted people, fighters for democracy, to return to civic life, receiving priority assistance with employment and housing, and material compensation for the entire period of the severe sentences they endured. To address this major state problem, a committee with special powers and a maximum two-year term must be established within the government to bring about a final resolution. — The ARP will resolutely support independent trade unions so that they can operate as democratic, militant organizations defending workers’ legitimate economic and social rights and as a force for democratization. The ARP will fight for advanced labor legislation, the right to strike, assistance for the unemployed and, alongside the country’s economic progress, a transition to a five-day working week. — The statute of the entire … [?] must be drafted, ensuring political freedoms in the workplace as well. — It will demand that the state provide appropriate legal protection ...