After a long and bad dream, hopes of salvation are great. But the memories of the past, however much many of us try to forget them, cannot be erased from memory, just like nightmare dreams that jolt us awake. Some people, fervent defenders of spoken words, find inspiration in Christian morality, specifically in the answer Christ gave to Saint Peter: «Our enemies must be forgiven not 7 but 7,077 times.» But these gentle souls (most of them did not have bad dreams because they were under the wings of the Palace of Dreams) forget the fact that Christ, when he came out of the temple in anger and was driving out the sinners nearby, addressed them with these words: «Do you see?» (I am telling you that here not a stone will remain on another. The stones are calling out.) These words, quoted in the Gospel, form the essence of punishment for evil, and in a certain sense must be accepted as a message for justice. In conclusion: the two meanings of Christ show that the preaching of Christian mercy

It is vital, especially feminism, personal revenge, while there also exists the idea of punishment (the construction of hell) 2 April — an organized political crime against a city Retrospective on 2 April It is vital, especially feminism, personal revenge, while there also exists the idea of punishment (the construction of hell) Does this come back? God, which in earthly language means honor? We do not understand. And Albanian society must walk the path illuminated by God, the path of the thousand-year history of its own people. In other words: can the criminals of 5[q] be forgiven, can we exact vengeance on Nexhmije Hoxha, Sulo Gradeci, Aranit Çela «and company»? No. They will be thrown into fire upon fire. «Then what?» remains for us? Shall we choose the harmonious alternative ahead? As happened on 21 March in Shkodër, where a veteran of folkloric crimes was killed in an almost hallucinatory manner, or legal justice? There can be no middle way. To be as clear as possible, the dangerous second one generally ensures the shrinking of democracy. If we set aside for a moment all the monstrous crimes of 48-year communism and refer only to 2 April. Today a full year closes, despite the insistent demand of hundreds of opinions from opposition parties, the endless publications and the half-hearted trials have turned into soap bubbles. The incompetent denials (avoiding the qualified ones), the malicious ignoring of numerous factual truths, the non-arrest of the people directly responsible for the massacre, the deliberate discrediting in [q?]në as a conclusion is the power-holder? make it possible to hide the real culprits. The question now arises: now that democracy has won, will the democratic alternatives provide a solution? I believe yes. I say yes, because the victims of 2 April were not 4 but many more. On 2 April, those dozens of others who were wounded could also have died, when a black hand missed by a few centimeters, and hundreds more were grazed by bullets. The people remember, the witnesses speak, but do not come forward. The witnesses’ statement (D. 2 April cannot be crowned as the killing of 4 people, but as an organized crime against an entire city, against those who were among the first to shatter the myth of communism). Finally, I ask the gentlemen who will undertake the examination of this case not to forget: the Broçët, the Mëshanakët, the Cekët, the Kryezezët and all of Shkodër, where they will by no means accept suffering unconditionally, however much it is trumpeted. On the contrary, they will prove that everyone, and democracy as well, through their vote, if the real culprits are not brought before the people’s court. SPIRO LITO

If a person’s face changed every time his position changed, Ramiz Alia would need to renew his identity card every week. Main task of the new parliament: The PRESIDENT question Ramiz Alia wants to «bless» this government too?! If a person’s face changed every time his position changed, Ramiz Alia would need to renew his identity card every week. If we were to accept that there is still one stone left of the communist fortress in Albania, our minds and eyes would be drawn to Ramiz Alia, who is, point by point, the inhabitant of the fortress of the Palace of Brigades. Amid the silence and monarchical mystery that reigns even over the most ordinary furnishings of that palace, he is preparing to bless the fifth government in a period of less than two years. Should this be allowed? It is as if the eye of an angel, who has finally descended to this fertile earth, were to climb onto the door of a demon summoned by guilt known and unknown. On the new government of the democratic majority, not even the slightest shadow of doubt should fall, because that would have irreparable consequences for its credibility with the people. We are led to believe that it was precisely the fact that Ramiz Alia was president and the prime ministers of the governments that came and went, that marked from the very first day of governance their failure and on the last day a heavy political deadline. Let us recall the prolongation of the strike by Nalta and the flour factory from Berat (Ahmeti still has not finished speaking at the end...). A ceremonial farewell to the long-awaited government, after the elections. As always, even this time the president cannot detach himself from the lap of his predecessors. At the press conference he displayed exemplary self-confidence, arrogance and disregard, worthy of a president for whom even the stars have voted across the arch of time. Quite the opposite was his physiognomy in the statement on the end of the elections. Only ruins remained of the man of disregard. If a person’s face changed as often as his stance, Ramiz Alia would have to change his identity card every week. He had gone, yet not really gone. After the phrase that «the people finally gave their trust to the party [..], the one that built», one could quite rightly add: «if he had still been before the work, like the stars that I led, things would have turned out differently». Reading the statement, Alia invites us to a riddle when he says that the Democratic Party must present its government within the next week. Absolutely not! Ramiz Alia is asking for time to fix the matters he needs; this time must not be given to him. Oath of office ARBEN LILO (Continued on page 2-1)

We believe Albanian television viewers have grown nostalgic and are eagerly waiting to watch the programme «Today in the People’s Assembly». You remember, dear viewer, it is not that people today have any particular wish to follow parliamentary debates, but rather the situation we have been reduced to that draws us in front of the small screen. In 48 hours THE LONG-AWAITED PARLIAMENT WILL BEGIN ITS WORK... We believe Albanian TV viewers have been longing and are eagerly waiting to watch the programme «Today in the People’s Assembly». As you remember, dear viewer, it is not because people today have any special desire to follow parliamentary debates, but because of the state we have been reduced to that draws us to the small screen. It is enough for it to appear alone (a state without a state) to give the full picture of today’s Albania. The accumulated tasks before parliament are so many that the main question is where to begin. Then, at 10 o’clock, one hundred people’s deputies and 40 party deputies will sit down at the table of power, only to rise again after four years. 65.7 percent of the seats are represented by the PD and 27.1 percent by the PS. At first glance, a change of labels compared with last year, but in essence many things have changed. First of all, the majority no longer enjoys the support of the PPSH. (So we will not have parliamentary deadlock for weeks on end.) In this parliament there will no longer be the group of cooperative chairmen from the PS (for the simple reason that there are no more cooperatives). The political spectrum of parliament has expanded significantly. Five parties have their representatives, although not in the desired proportions. The Republican Party, as is known, comes to this parliament with only one deputy. Nevertheless, it will have its own wise word to say about the problems of this country, which at last awaits the chance to get onto the right path. From this parliament, people hope that the new deputies have learned to put into practice the proverb «time is gold», have learned that however good and intelligent a person may be, he cannot become a specialist in medicine, law, the military and economics all at once, and so on. They should have learned that none of the deputies should dare to use the phrase «The people who elected me». In any case, the work of this parliament is expected to be far more substantial than that of the previous one. As we stressed at the beginning, the tasks awaiting parliament are numerous. Starting with the government, the constitution... Reluctantly, we close these lines by quoting a foreign expert in political science (Hartington): «Looking back at the past, we can say that the two most decisive factors influencing the strengthening and future expansion of democracy will be economic development and political leadership. Economic development makes democracy possible; political leadership makes it real.»

TODAY - THE 100TH ISSUE OF «REPUBLIKA» The newspaper’s editorial staff greets its readers, supporters and contributors

Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Margareta U-Uglas, expressed her government’s concern over the tragic situation in Kosovo, over the terror, violence and repression that the Serbian government is exercising against Albanians. «...Albanians have not been forgotten by Europe... » Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Margareta U-Uglas, expressed her government’s concern over the tragic situation in Kosovo, over the terror, violence and repression that the Serbian government is exercising against Albanians. Speaking before students, she was right to denounce the repression being exercised against the Albanian majority in Kosovo, where the University, Radio Television and even the daily newspaper «Rilindja» have been closed. «This is contrary to the conventions and documents signed by the former Yugoslavia,» she said. As a European people (the Albanians in Kosovo), we must not allow them to suffer before our eyes from repression and discrimination, said the Swedish foreign minister. She emphasized that Albanians have not been forgotten by Europe. «Kosovo and its problem will be on the agenda,» she said. We will make every effort to raise this issue because «there will be no peace in the Balkans, nor in Europe, if the problem of Kosovo is not solved». «...Fully in Germany’s support.» At a meeting with Kosovo political activists, the chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, Hans Shtërken, stated that Germany is following the issue of the Kosovo Albanians closely. «I, said Shtërken, will not fail to engage in a democratic solution to the Kosovo problem. Bukoshi and Rugova, he underlined, will promptly attract the highest European institutions to address the issue of Kosovo and the Albanians. «Free elections in Kosovo are a good road toward a democratic solution. Kosovo and the Albanians can count fully on Germany’s support,» Hans Shtërken stressed. «...It was the wish to be recognized as an independent state...» According to a bulletin from the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Kosovo, during a symposium of Eastern European countries, the Austrian Foreign Minister, Alois Mok, declared that the aspirations of Croatia and Slovenia already have their corresponding ties, and that «Macedonia, if it wants to be recognized as an independent state, must treat Albanians in Macedonia as a fully equal nation». «A typical example of colonialism» PRISHTINA, the Kosovar newspaper «Bujku» published an interview with the ambassador of the United States of America in Belgrade, Warren Zimmerman, in which he, among other things, stresses that Kosovo is a typical example of colonialism. He the- (Continued on page 5-3)

As long as the press continues with the «week of echoes», Albanian political analysts have surely set to work seriously. A «sociological» look at the election results As long as the press continues with the «week of echoes», Albanian political analysts have surely set to work seriously (as if that were really the case) in order to understand the reality on which they will act. If they do not do this in full, others will certainly do it, first of all those who want to regain the position they lost. If the democratic forces do not offer the people scientific-professional truths, others will provide their own «realistic» analyses dressed in a «scientific-sociological» cloak. If some truths are kept only to oneself, merely because I too am measuring, even though not very responsibly, then Sami Frashëri’s injunction has not been followed: «The person who hates to eliminate even a thousandth of the evil vices of his nation has done a very great good in the world.» But one must also not forget the Latvian proverb that «the one who gives himself over must beware of a fast horse» (in order to flee). And yet this is no reason not to say it. The decision taken by the Albanian people (in Shg[?]ëri), on the basis of its own state of consciousness and psychology, on 22 March 1992, viewed as an act is historical; viewed as a process, it has several characteristics that for its further course require attention. 1. The great mobility of the population’s consciousness and psychology is a characteristic that is easily seen. In little more than 300 days there was a wave of popular consciousness in an identical reversal, almost in the same numbers but turned to the opposite side. Even if we remove the amount of falsified votes from last year, the situation does not change much. In this situation a series of important questions arise for the further course. Has it now settled into equilibrium, or does the rapid character of its mobility continue? In which direction will it move and go further? If the old orientation can no longer be sought, where will the new one come from? These questions and others require measured answers and sustained action. In such a mobile state, no serious political force feels at ease, because there are always forces that, instead of movement, seek only to give it a direction that will be useful to themselves. In any case, the degree of awareness of the population, and because history is a clash of wills and opposing interests, this historical project cannot be fully realized; it will play an important role in the character of future movement. 2. The high degree of responsibility within today’s social consciousness is also a characteristic that is easily noticed. What psychological mechanism pushed a people for whom the degree of social responsibility in the recent past was so high that it was almost taken for granted to become irresponsible? This is an important question raised by this phenomenon. In the new situation two clearly visible tendencies will clash: the spirit of the historical project’s unfulfilled aims, even when they are reasonable, on the one hand, and the presentation as reasonable of unfulfilled aims that are not so on the other. Likewise, the nonexistence of the institution of social responsibility and the resulting lack of experience in using it are factors that can cause unforeseen difficulties if they are not anticipated in time. What is the relationship of the one who has taken on this responsibility to the one who has given it, how much is one responsible to oneself and how much to others, and what is one who gives responsibility to someone else before anyone else—many other questions are important for a people that has scarcely known these aspects of democratic social life. 3. Collectivist social thought HYSAMEDIN FERAJ (Continued on page 2-3)