On 21 May 1992, the first conference of the Tepelenë branch of the Republican Party was held. From the PR branch conferences in the districts On 21 May 1992, the first conference of the Tepelenë branch of the Republican Party was held. Members of the branch steering committee, delegates from the sections, as well as invited cadres and PR sympathizers took part. In the report delivered by its chairman, Hïqmet Llapi, alongside the good work of the branch, the shortcomings that led to the unsatisfactory election result were also highlighted. They are linked to: The non-functioning of many branches, and of the steering committee, which failed to be operational and effective in promoting the PR’s main ideas throughout the district. There had been sluggishness and passivity mainly across all sections, and there had been no dynamism or initiative. As a result of the interruption of communication lines, telephone contact was not maintained continuously with the sections on the main issues, especially during the campaign. The creation of a coalition at any cost was deemed a mistake, because much time was wasted on it and the other allies did not show such warmth; this was also confirmed by the placement of PD candidates in the area where PR chairman Sabri Godo was based. As an external factor, the polarization of the electorate was emphasized, pushing them again to vote black and white, and the mistaken idea was created that one should vote for PD so that democracy would not be lost, despite the occasional competition they made on this issue. As for the PR leadership, it was said that it should function better in order to have more frequent contact with the branches, and to present the campaign with more lively propaganda and better support for the branches with visual materials and financial funds. Regarding the internal organization of the branch, it was stated that the spread of democratization is a good thing, but as a result of passivity it did not fully function in the elections. About 20 delegates spoke at the conference. They focused mainly on the need to renew the leadership bodies, with capable, well-regarded people who enjoy everyone’s respect and affection at the head of the branch committee and within the republican committee. It was also stated that every party can experience both gains and losses; therefore, one should not react with excessive shock, and, bearing in mind that local elections would soon be held, the necessary organizational measures should be taken so that these bodies would be capable of competing effectively and with results. The discussions also stated that in the future the party and our branch should work much more to better benefit itself and less on other issues such as the coalition, etc. The absence of a delegate from the conference from the party leadership was considered a serious lack of seriousness and an insufficient appreciation of the work required to strengthen the Party as a whole. In the second point of the Conference, elections were held for the Steering Council, the Steering Committee, the branch leadership, and the delegates to the Congress. The elections were democratic and secret. At the end of each vote, the election commission announced the ladies and gentlemen who won according to the respective bodies. The branch council was renewed by about 50 percent. Five new members were elected to the steering committee. The chairman of the Republican Party branch was elected Mr. Hiqmet Llapi and the secretary Mr. Eqerem Frashëri. (To be continued on page 4)

8 JUNE, THE 1st PR CONGRESS PR WILL FIGHT DETERMINEDLY TO ERADICATE CORRUPTION IN ALL SPHERES OF LIFE, ESPECIALLY IN STATE APPARATUSES.

Last year I had to debate in the press and on television with Musa Ulqini, Fatmir Zanan, and Ismet Boka, who denied that a coup d'état had been organized in Albania in February 1991. When you forget the past, you are destined to relive it The coup d'état must not be forgotten Last year I had to debate in the press and on television with Musa Ulqini, Fatmir Zanan, and Ismet Boka, who denied that a coup d'état had been organized in Albania in February 1991. Warnings about this coup and its denunciation were dismissed by the newspapers of the PPSH as fantasies, dreams, etc. And yet people have not forgotten, and cannot forget, this coup d'état. Nor can its organizers, or those implicated in it, surely erase it from their minds. The press too is periodically forced to refer in various ways to this notable event from the year of the struggle for democracy. In an article entitled "Toward zero level, as the politics wants", signed by Vjollca Selami and published in 24 orë, no. 25, February, the "zero-level strategy" became especially clear after last year’s elections. At first it was called a "strategy of tension," and for this reason an entire range of possibilities for a coup d'état was invented and fabricated," (my emphasis - AB). So the Tirana socialists continue to DENY the coup d'état. Yet in the same newspaper, they themselves reproduce the statement made by Limon Allmeta in "Dialogue with Ramiz Alia": "When in February 1991 the country’s status was threatened, Enver Hoxha’s country was on the brink of civil war, when Enver’s loyal communists were defending positions in order to march on Tirana, when most of the army was ready for a coup d'état, R. Alia’s intervention redirected the country onto the civilized path of political confrontation, saved the coronation and allowed the first free elections to be held on 31 March 1991..." (24 orë no. 17, April 1992). So the socialists and their newspaper in this case DO NOT DENY it. They are not denying the coup d'état, but they want to elevate the name of their former leader who “calmed” this coup. However, many people do not agree with them. Even the writer Ismail Kadare, who followed and analyzed the events in Albania during the coup d'état with a stone-cold mind from Paris, says something very interesting in RD of 16 May 1992 when he states: "From all the available information, it appears that some of the main events, some of the hesitations, the coincidences of events in Albania and Yugoslavia over the last two years, were jointly studied: the failed Soviet putsch. Since the summer of 1990, the Soviet putschists began to organize. Their plans included not only the support of the Soviet empire, but also its expansion. Yugoslavia and Albania were to be returned to the empire as well. Even before that, the putschists had come into contact with Milošević and with certain Albanian descendants from the time of Albania. This explains the adventurous courage of the former and the enthusiasm of the latter. An Albanian putsch in February 1991, I think." ABDIL BALLETA (To be continued on page 2)

If we were to put this question to a politician in the current government or to a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, they would certainly answer no. Does the peasant pay tax today? If we were to put this question to a politician in the current government or to a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, they would certainly answer no. They would even add that, as far as they are concerned, the peasant should not pay any kind of tax. The three main parties of yesterday’s former opposition—PD, PR, PSD—gave the peasant guarantees in their programs and later during the election campaign that for at least two years they would not only be exempt from all kinds of taxes, but would also be helped with low-interest loans, machinery, etc. The peasant, like a stone waiting for the government of democracy, waits because he has urgent needs. When he looked to the new government, it understood his plight, but he is now seeing that someone is still deepening this inherited poverty. Who are those who encourage this process that aims to bring dissatisfaction and disappointment? They are many speculators, socialist communists turned businessmen, pseudo-democrats and, why not, special castes that in one way or another enter for power or seek to take what they lose. With shameless disregard, they fleece the peasant, who perhaps would otherwise have gotten by, and what the government itself might actually be able to do if it were able to do such a thing. This is the smuggled tax system that is trapping the peasant today. Do not be surprised. I will give a few examples. A few days ago, our newspaper’s editorial office received a delegation of peasants from Jubu-Sukthi in Durrës. They were not able to cover production costs. Prices for all work processes and for other needs such as seed, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, etc., move without any logic—or, more precisely, with only the mad logic of profit by [illegible], which makes you curse even God himself. The peasant is buying fertilizer (those who can), at twice the auction price. The country today, and at no time, needs to encourage and support the black marketeers, that layer which seeks to make a profit not only at the expense of agriculture, but above all it needs to encourage production at all costs so that consumers and light industry do not keep their eyes on imports. Such a measure cannot possibly be considered when, to plow one dynym of land to a depth of fu-bla coming 21-26 m, the peasant pays 100 lekë, and for one irrigation over the same area just as much. QANI LEKA (To be continued on page 2)

Mr. President! To the President of the Republic Mr. Sali Berisha Mr. President! The association "Property with Justice" was founded on 7 March 1991, spread throughout all districts of Albania, and was officially proclaimed in Tirana on 19 January 1992, which the Albanian television news broadcast that evening, as well as on 21 January 1992 in the association’s annual program. After its proclamation, according to the instructions of the Albanian Democratic Party, and in the name of the democratic victory, the association remained silent in its activity until the election campaign of 22 March 1992 ended. We emphasize that the political prisoners and the members of this Association constitute the foundation of the Albanian Democratic Party; they were the ones who voted for PD on 31 March 1991 and again on 22 March 1992. If we take into account the natural growth of the population, those 19,355 families that were compensated in 1946 today amount to 60,000 families. As we have emphasized, this Association also includes the descendants and heirs of families whose lands, forests and other properties, as well as all their household property, were confiscated by the dictatorship after 1943; the houses were burned by the occupiers, as were their movable assets such as livestock, draft animals, tools, and the numerous goods of merchants that were nationalized in their shops by the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat, including the families of many Albanians whose property was seized by force by the organs of the communist dictatorship. (To be continued on page 8)

Dear Mr. President, the Albanian Republican Party sends you its most sincere congratulations and best wishes on your appointment to the highest and most noble office as the first President of democratic Kosovo. CONGRATULATORY TELEGRAM TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO MR. IBRAHIM RUGOVA Dear Mr. President, The Albanian Republican Party sends you its most sincere congratulations and wishes on your appointment to the highest and noblest office, that of the first President of democratic Kosovo. We, the Albanian Republicans, greet you fraternally and express our conviction that you fully deserve this honor. In the political circumstances created by the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Albanian Republican Party is and will continue to be engaged before the national and international public in support of the realization of the legitimate right of Albanians to self-determination, which we consider the fairest solution to the fundamental Albanian question, that of national unification. We Republicans have supported this great political struggle for the affirmation of the Republic of Kosovo, and we are happy that today, after many efforts, it has been brought to completion with the full victory of democratic Albanian Kosovo. The Republican Party is convinced that it would be anachronistic and inhumane, at this end of the century, when all European peoples enjoy freedom and democracy and are moving toward a united Europe, for 3 million Albanians living in their own lands in Yugoslavia, the third-largest nation, to be denied the sacred right of self-determination and democracy and to be regarded, illogically, as a minority. European democracy, by thus fully embracing an emancipated state democracy within its ranks, consolidates its position and secures its future. The Albanian Republicans wish you, Mr. President, every success in your work, so that you may contribute to defining a domestic and foreign policy line in the service of the heroic people of Kosovo. Albanian Republican Party Chairman SABRI GODO

The wave of violence by the Serbian authorities in Kosovo against the Albanian population at the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990 was perhaps the most dramatic, and even historic, moment that shaped an all-Albanian defensive plan, a new strategy for the self-organization of Albanians in Kosovo, and a response to the major changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. After the successful multiparty elections in Kosovo A VICTORY FOR THE PEACEFUL STRATEGY The wave of violence by the Serbian authorities in Kosovo against the Albanian population at the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990 was the most dramatic, perhaps even historic, moment that shaped an all-Albanian defensive plan, a new strategy for the self-organization of Albanians in Kosovo and for following the major developments in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Since then, after the downfall of Vojvodina’s autonomy and the spread of the so-called anti-bureaucratic revolution led by Milošević and his militants, who acted openly and violently to realize the Greater-Serbian dream of conquering new lands, not only in Kosovo but also in Bosnia, Croatia and beyond, the Albanians were faced with a Hamlet-like dilemma: how to act—through organized resistance with all forces up to open and direct conflict, or through complex political action, with all intellectual forces, by peaceful means, without inciting or provoking armed conflict with the occupying power, which was impossible. There are many reasons why Albanians in Kosovo and in other areas chose the peaceful path for organized and active resistance, in order to achieve their main goal—the independence of Kosovo and the overthrow of the discredited power of the last red dictatorship in Europe. Without going into a deeper analysis, it is reasonable to say that this path was determined by international factors and by the real situation in Europe amid the great upheavals in Eastern Europe and especially in Yugoslavia, as an essentially artificial crisis. It would be understood in this case that the chosen path of organized resistance through peaceful politics and means, with the internationalization of the Kosovo question and of the Albanian question in general, was inspired by the successful first free multiparty elections in Kosovo and by the main final and major result that emerged from the peaceful spirit of the Albanians in this movement. By following this political path, under conditions of occupation, during these last two years the Albanians in Kosovo, truly on their own, managed to accumulate a long advance in the all-national struggle for freedom, independence and the political and administrative sovereignty of Kosovo as a distinct geopolitical entity from Dardania onward. In the constitutional declaration on the independence of Kosovo, with the proclamation of the Constitution of its Republic, with the organization of the Referendum on an independent and sovereign Kosovo, and with the elections of 24 May for the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and for the President of Kosovo, for the first time in the long history of the struggle for freedom and independence, the power of the people was legalized. In this way, the Albanians, even in state exile, formed and advanced their own national state power and achieved the work they had to do now, in order to move to the next, decisive phase: the liberation of the country from Serbian rule. The legalization and institutional organization of this power, elected by the free vote of the electorate, now makes the Albanians’ liberation struggle even more multidimensional. The institutional destruction of Kosovo’s autonomy under the Yugoslav Constitution over the past two years brought the people into a situation where they had to bring forth their own representatives from within. Political parties emerged, and their leaders quickly became political subjects of internal self-organization as well. The tricks and divisions using the well-known Slavic methods that Serbian power could employ among Albanians, thus legalizing power and electing the undisputed chairman RUSTEM RUGOVA (To be continued on page 4)