STATEMENT OF THE ALBANIAN REPUBLICAN PARTY The events of last week in Pogradec, Lushnjë, Peqin, Skrapar, Tropojë and everywhere else, as well as the attempted exodus in Durrës, are clear proof that anti-democratic forces, directed in secret and suddenly appearing in cities in unidentified groups, aim to plunge the country into general anarchy on the eve of the elections. Looting and fires are leading to the complete destruction of the economy, while the uncontrolled use of weapons, with mass casualties and injuries, is evidence of civil war. The forces of order, through their delayed interventions, passive and often suspicious conduct, are giving free rein to destabilization. Warnings are coming from several quarters that the use of violence and destruction may spread further to vital points in the life of the country. The Albanian Republican Party, none of whose members has been detained by the law-enforcement authorities for participating in the destruction, once again calls on all its members to fight forcefully against every violation of the law and every arbitrary action. The Republican Party calls on all Alba- nians to understand that the very fate and life of every family and every individual are at stake; the present and future of the country are at stake. We must go calmly to the elections and decide there, by free vote, in favor of democracy. If this does not happen, if blindness, the loss of reason and a lack of responsibility prevail, we will bring about an irreparable catastrophe with our own hands. That is what the enemies of democracy want: parasites, people accustomed to power without restraint. We must under no circumstances fall into their organized traps, which aim to declare a state of emergency and cancel the elections. The Republican Party once again calls on the President and the Government to uncover and prevent every destructive act and to make the necessary efforts to avert anarchy; otherwise, they will bear an extremely grave responsibility before the people and the Homeland. For the Steering Committee of the Republican Party CHAIRMAN SABRI GODO

Don Quixote of La Mancha entered history because he wanted to create an era that had historically outlived its time. That is why Cervantes so masterfully mocked his primitive and fantastical chivalry. And if that great writer were alive in our days, he would surely have created something about the Don Quixotic farce of the Socialist Party of Albania’s bid for victory. He would first ask: But didn’t they win the elections last year and fail to hold on to power?! It was Mr. Nano himself, with a face that had turned livid, who was forced to leave the post of prime minister, together with his cabinet. So why do they want to win again? Where did they find the strength? If the world did not help them last year, what agency have they signed up with this year? Or did they want the shield of the opposition only until their show was accepted by some international economic institutions? Of course, no Socialist could present any evidence, but Cervantes would investigate for himself and would undoubtedly create a satirical work for modern times. Yes, yes, he would place at its center some zealous character who, at a time when Communism in Europe had been proven a failure and had been swept from the scene everywhere, was trying at all costs to keep its followers and spiritual leaders in power—the only philosophers of Albania at that time, Enver. Nevertheless, Cervantes would accept the idea of renewal in principle, except that he could not forget the killings of 2 April in Shkodër, the negative stance of the PPSH and later the PS on land as private property, and above all the police’s withdrawal from action. All this so that terror could reign in Albania, the people would demand Enver’s head, and power usurped for 50 years could be handed to the partisans of democracy at ground zero. In other words, we must not let go of what we built. It is the scorched-earth theory, meant to add to the suffering of this people, who no longer want to live as serfs. Otherwise, it is impossible to understand why, in cities where the PPSH won and the pluralist elections are formal, shops are left empty while warehouses are kept full of all kinds of goods. According to the familiar, well-known script—we saw it in Fushë-Arrëz—the frontal “popular” assault began, to seize and destroy everything. Let us not forget the “experience” of Kavajë either; those images reappeared in Pogradec, Peqin, Lushnjë... Cervantes would ask: At a time when democracy is preparing to defeat them and leave us with nothing but mouths and a few sympathizers. It is enough for us to say that democracy is bringing all this about. You are mistaken, gentlemen, the ground is slipping from under your feet. The Democrats are standing firm. We have the luxury of America, Germany, Austria, Italy and many other countries, including the Nordic countries, where we have not heard of sympathizers and members, with or without party cards, attacking journalists for the sole reason that they asked their leader a pointed question. In those countries, cities are not plunged into darkness as in Albania, where we have built so many hydroelectric power stations. The rest of the world has long been making plans and investments to adapt its technical capacity to new developments. Tirana was left with the same electrical grid by the PPSH-PS. Worse still, it was left without gas and without firewood or coal. The grid was overloaded by furnaces and modern electrical appliances that the workshops could not have anticipated; therefore, the transformers could not withstand the overload, and Tirana is in darkness. Is democracy perhaps to blame for this? Is democracy responsible for the state of the grid, which has been completely destroyed through our communist-socialist fault? Why does the PPSH-PS not answer for the industry that for several years has been...

“Ownership of land should be recognized within the boundaries of the plots and up to an area of 5 hectares. Former owners should be given the land that is due to them today on the basis of the distribution for ‘The opposition wants to return the land to the former landlords and beys,’ ‘Don’t you see, dear farmer comrades, that they are not dividing the title deeds along with the lan-

“Ownership of land should be recognized within the pre-collectivization boundaries, up to an area of 5 hectares. Former owners should be given the land that is due to them today on the basis of per-capita distribution from their property, where it is available. For the remaining portion, they should be compensated by the state within 10 years.” “Ownership of land should be recognized within the pre-collectivization boundaries, on the basis of per-capita distribution from their property, where it is available. For the remaining portion, they should be compensated by the state within 10 years.” A vicious campaign of slander has been waged in this election campaign by the PS and ZP against the genuine opposition parties. They aim at all costs to confuse and win over the farmers, the largest part of the population, who will of course decide the outcome and whether genuine democracy will prevail. But this attack is becoming ridiculous and lacks even the slightest persuasive argument; they say:

“The opposition wants to return the land to the former landlords and beys,” “Don’t you see, dear farmer comrades, that we are not distributing the title deeds along with the land,” “You’ll see what happens if the PD, PR and PSD win, you’ll see…” we are not distributing the title deeds along with the land,” “You’ll see what happens if the PD, PR and PSD win, you’ll see…” A sly, snake-like tongue—the language of the communist-socialists, who absolutely refuse to give up their inherited privileges. With this poisonous language they knock on door after door, shamelessly. Some farmers believe them because they still have not learned about the programs of the genuine opposition parties, partly because those parties have not done enough. But others (and I think these are the majority) answer them as sharply as an axe blow: “Get out of here. You’ve lied to and robbed us all our lives. You destroyed the communist dictatorship, or so you say; that’s why we don’t trust it. The opposition, and specifically the Republican Party, does not seek to overthrow one dictatorship and establish another, nor to overthrow one group of beys and bring back those who were overthrown. It is not the opposition’s fault if the farmers did not receive the corresponding title deeds along with the land. Everyone knows that the Ministry of Agriculture was headed by the communist Nexhmedin Dumani and is now headed by Mr. Pepa. We have the right to ask: Was the distribution of title deeds perhaps delayed deliberately? They, together with a group of farmers who had been deceived all their lives, first attacked the NFPF warehouses. Breaking into the warehouses and taking the goods whetted the appetite of some townspeople too, so after that, in the face of the police’s feeble interventions, the destruction assumed terrifying proportions. That day, the next day. Then… The trade warehouses. The complex of food and beverage workshops. The furniture factory. The knitwear factory. A roar: Fire. Victims beneath the feet of the uncontrolled crowd. Witnesses describe unimaginable looting: refrigerators, televisions, sewing machines, sacks of food, entire crates of drinks, stoves, jewelry… and, ironically, even door and window frames or pieces of lumber, goodness knows what they were supposed to be used for. In this chaos…

…for a long time. Together with a group of villagers, deceived time and again, they seizing the goods whetted the appetite of some of the townspeople too, so that afterwards, in the face of the police’s ineffective interventions, the destruction took on terrifying proportions. That day, the next day. Then… In the trade warehouses. In the food and beverage workshops complex. At the furniture factory. At the knitwear factory. Screams: Fire. Victims beneath the feet of the crowd that had got out of control. food, entire crates of drinks, stoves, jewellery… timber—who knows what they would have been used for. In this tumult…

but he would frighten himself and, undoubtedly, create a satirical work of modern times. Yes, yes, he would put at its centre Europe had been proved a failure and had disappeared prolong its life in Albania. The methods are among the strangest for deceiving the naïve and honest people. They went from the frenzied slogans “Party, Enver, we are always ready,” “We are building socialism, relying only on our own forces,” to the slogan “We are a party of the ideals of the European socialist left.” Come on, dear reader, compare the European socialists—for example, Mr Mitterrand—with Mr Nano, who left nothing unsaid about the capitalist system, of which France is also a part. Of course, he had Mrs Nexhmije’s lessons…

…well-known, since we saw it in pitch darkness; could democracy perhaps be to blame for this? And is democracy responsible for the growing debt into which our communist-socialist state has plunged? for several years, was left to decline, its output falling until it melted away and breathed its last? One day, for electoral purposes, it is quite possible that the PS leaders will blame democracy even for the 80 percent. “How can it be,” Cervantes would have asked, “that a party which ruined Albania has the courage to call for victory in the elections, when it has only changed its name and put on a different suit?” All the more so since the elections are being held

amid destruction. They know full well that that regime had gold and treasures, property and villas, and enormous privileges. So why should we let it through free elections? Should we not also respond with a show of terror and everything possible to turn the people—or the leaders—against one another… so since the elections are being held… PETRO DHIMITRI (Continued on page 4)

— THE WAVE OF DESTRUCTION FRIGHTENS EVEN THE QUIET CITY OF POGRADEC — RED BUSINESSMEN ARE PLAYING WITH THE PEOPLE’S PATIENCE — THE LAW-AND-ORDER FORCES ARE OUT OF ACTION …This happened at the turn of winter. It was a miserable winter. Everywhere. It had begun some time ago in Kavajë and Rrogozhinë. Lushnjë. Peqin. Warehouses packed full, shops emptied out, and prices—[?]—wildly high. New businessmen, especially from among the red gentlemen, who until yesterday preached equality and cursed the hated capitalists. They have played, and continue to play, with the people’s patience. Just as in other decades, only now under the veneer of democratic change. Oh, these changes… how capable these communists have turned out to be! Wherever destruction and theft have taken place, people say that “someone is behind it.” After the ruins and the flames, there are interviews in a television report. Then silence. And many question marks. It is all but impossible to get even one of them resolved. This is how they keep alive, alongside the cadres and… nostalgia for times gone by, when people’s… was truly better… for that… The message is clear: “You wanted democracy; here you are, enjoy its fruits.” These things happen at the turn of winter. Not the season of that name, but a whole lifetime that is winter. Now, they say, the appetite of the destroyers has turned towards small, quiet towns. We are among the poorest in the world, and every act of ruin, however small, hurts us and harms us. But when you see up close a city like Pogradec, after nearly four or five days of destruction without a break, night and day, the pain cannot be put into words. This city, blessed by nature and God but left in misery by the dictatorship, was shaken during the last week of February in a way that even the dictatorship itself could not have managed. Why? Who began the destruction and looting? Will anyone answer for the millions upon millions of lek lost in this way? People say that for days armed groups, provocateurs and loudmouths had been roaming around the city. they of the crowd that had got out of control. food, entire crates of drinks, stoves, jewellery… this tumult…

The day before yesterday, on the 3rd, the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr Sabri Godo, received the delegation of the International Monetary Fund, which is visiting our country. “We would like to know,” said at the outset the World Bank’s executive director and head of its Albania section, Mr Anoop Singh, “your view of the economic problems your country is currently facing, as well as your thoughts and support regarding certain financial issues.” Taking the floor, Mr Godo said that the economy was currently in complete anarchy. An entire people are not working, yet at the same time they are paid for work they have not done, or are paid just enough to buy bread. Now we have only one hope, and we have all clung to it: the election of a new parliament and a new government, and the beginning of genuine economic reforms. In my opinion, the economic reforms undertaken so far have been hasty and dilettantish. The first thing we must do is establish the law and a legal order, and then begin privatization on a large scale. Our economy has only one path: it must be based entirely on private initiative and… (Continued on page 3)

On Saturday, February 29, at 12:00, the co-chairman of the Socialist Party, Comrade Tomorr Topore, held a press conference at the Palace of Congresses. Socialist militants, Eurofascists and Enver’s veterans were in attendance. Also present were the Television’s depoliticized journalists and Comrade Fatos Nano, who, with realism and transparency and without prejudging anyone, put together the report on this conference. In response to the many questions put by the journalists, Comrade Topore answered in a completely different way, confusing them so thoroughly that the journalists’ presence became unnecessary. It should be pointed out that the former chronicler of the autumn and spring survival crisis and chemical fertilizers, Comrade Tomorr Topore, neither noticed nor heard the shouts, insults and abuse from the social-communists. He also failed to see how some of the Eurofascists provoked the opposition journalists with a revolver and kicked them. Comrade Topore described all of this with the simple words “applause and enthusiasm.” According to Topore, this was the reason the journalists left. It should also be mentioned (since Tomorr forgot) that the rally was led by the overwhelming majority of the Socialist Party’s steering committee, headed—although they were at the back—by Mr Namik Dule and Fatmir Kumbara. In conclusion, the conference given by Socialist Party co-chairman Tomorr Topore did achieve its intended purpose. V. RAKIPI