Whoever becomes an owner today has won and become one once and for all; whoever remains a worker has lost and will remain one forever (?) This psychological and mental outlook is quite widespread and has played an important role in the course and, especially, the pace of reform and the departure from communism. This outlook is based on two fundamental philosophical tenets of Marxism, made extremely dogmatic by the PPS’s 50-year Stalinism. 1. Society is divided into classes; the classes are opposed and cannot be transformed into one another in the sense that one becomes the other and vice versa. 2. They are given once and for all, rigid and immobile (the proletarian always remains a proletarian, the bourgeois a bourgeois, and so on without end)—ideas described in Marxist philosophical vocabulary as metaphysical, and in European terms as antidialectical. Both these ideas are incorrect, whether judged by widespread theoretical scientific reasoning or empirically (by factual data about social reality). The philosophical sociological theory that takes as its starting point society’s division into classes in irreconcilable opposition proved ineffective and has never been used in Europe. Without reading much European literature, it is enough to recall studies of classes and class struggle to understand how obvious this fact was, a fact that fell “in contradiction with the theory.” Likewise, it is now theoretically undisputed that all elements of society, including strata, are in motion and pass into one another, and that no elements are fixed once and for all and undergo no further change. The transformation of one opposite into the other is theoretically accepted, even as a commonplace truth. (Moreover, Marx and Engels themselves accepted it as such, for example in a series of examples in “Dialectics of Nature.”) Empirically (with facts, as they say), social mobility has likewise been demonstrated: people’s movement from “their own class” to the “opposing class,” from one to the other. Western sociology has conducted numerous studies and offers important evidence of this phenomenon. Thus Catherine Bidon describes the “fate” of 5 million French people born between 1919 and 1935. Of these, out of every 1 million: of the 540,000 born workers, by 1970, 70,000 had become “bourgeois” (senior managerial staff, liberal professions, etc.), 184,000 senior technical staff (engineers, etc.), and 48,000 had entered the army and police. On the other hand, of the 220,000 born “bourgeois,” 21,000 became workers, 2,000 farmers, 3,000 service personnel, … only slightly more than half remained “bourgeois” (in the stratum into which they had been born). (For further details, see: Politiguajourd'hui No. 1, juillet-septembre 1983, Paris.) France was taken as an example, where social structures are much more crystallized, so to speak, more complete; nevertheless, social mobility has not become rigid but is quite extensive. In Albania, meanwhile, where class structures are not at all crystallized and mobility is at its peak, it is absurd to treat them as rigid, as a chance of “now or never.” It seems strange that absurd ideas are so widespread (whoever becomes an owner now remains one forever, etc.), based on Stalinist social philosophy, despite so much contrary evidence from European science, at a time when we “hate” Stalinism and “want” to go to Europe. There may be many causes, but two are obvious to everyone: The operation of the Eu- ropean fac… [text unclear] … at a time when they “hate” Stalin… and “want” to write in Europe. The causes… may be numerous, but two are… HYSAMEDIN FERAJ (Continued on page 2)

VOTER! July 26 is a decisive day for the fate of us all. With your free vote, you will help the country emerge from an unprecedented crisis. VOTER! The situation we are going through calls for honest and capable people at the helm. In asking for your vote, the Republican Party guarantees that it can provide a contingent of m… [?] made up of such people. VOTER! The Republican Party does not promise heaven. It guarantees a better life and a state that serves the individual. Recognizing and accepting the ex-

- The communist structure will be completely destroyed on July 26 - An English missionary who was in Albania during the war said, among other things, in an interview he gave to our television these past few days, that “communism in Albania has been profoundly shaken…” The Englishman’s statement clearly contradicts the claim that communism in Albania died on March 22. It is understandable that people and those above them consider this true, and their hatred of communism in some way justified it. Let us also note that this statement suits only the communists, who had signed communism’s “death certificate” before March 22. The truth is that, first of all, communism did not die on March 22 as a psychology. (How can an entire worldview die overnight, however false it may be?!!) Second, communism has not died in Albania as a structure either. July 26 will undoubtedly be the decisive test of its death as a structure. These days the social-communists have launched a propaganda campaign, using every kind of weapon to seize the July 26 elections. But why do the communists need local power? Can they bring any good to this people, whom they have suffocated for 50 years straight? The answers to these questions are very easy to find in any setting, where you will find communist propaganda emissaries in abundance. Now they have lost their self-control and can no longer keep their secret as they did when they ruled. Their words are commonly heard, blurted out loudly: “We need the small-scale power to overthrow the big power. If we win on July 26, they won’t last more than 3–4 months.” This, then, is the communists’ sole aim. A communist government at the grassroots would paralyze every action of the central government, however competent and democratic it might be. In short, July 26 will determine the end of communism in power. Nevertheless, their efforts to avoid coming to an end on July 26 have multiplied many times over. They are directing all their artillery at the government that emerged from the March 22 elections. The expression “Democracy has done nothing for us…” is heard everywhere. It is true that this people is tired and exhausted and that everything has gone as far as it can. But you, gentlemen communists, cannot solve anything. You destroyed everything, and the only thing being asked of you is to keep quiet. Your participation in power not only compromises democracy but destroys it. The relations being built with civilized Europe have no basis at all. It is true, for example, that in Germany the party that won the parliamentary elections generally does not win local power, but others do… The people’s intuition makes this choice, to create political balance. In Albania it must not and will not happen this way. The communists cannot create balance. You want power only to rule… On July 26 the communists will try by every means to seize local power. That would mean going backwards… Going backwards means death. This people, which has experienced every kind of hardship, knows this very well. Your appeal no longer works. On July 26, it will destroy the communist structure once and for all. YLLI RAKIPI

The Republican Party promises nothing. It guarantees a free individual and a state serving that individual. Recognizing and accepting the example of ownership, the Republican Party fights for every Albanian to be an owner.

Conversation with the Minister of Construction, Housing and Environmental Systems, Mr. Ilir Manushi Question: Minister, the draft law on privatizing state-owned housing has sparked considerable discussion and given rise to many interpretations; no doubt, is this also due to people’s unfamiliarity with it? Answer: I would say that the misinterpretations published in the press up to now by some members of the public have not resulted from unfamiliarity; some of them are the result of misunderstanding. Please allow me… Question: The draft law provides for [text unclear] to be included… as [text unclear]…? Answer: In the privatization … two months… Question: It seems this is a considerable amount of work that must be carried out in preparation for privatizing housing, work that will take time and require the involvement of several directorates. Could this also be a reason for not publishing this draft law now, during the campaign? Answer: The problem is that journalists, too, just as in other fields, inherit ignorance in dealing with issues and misunderstandings. Without understanding the subject and being incompetent in the matters they write about, some journalists write about this, and others comment on it. When we say that the housing privatization procedure will take several months, this has nothing to do with the procedure under the law, but with the time needed for all citizens to prepare the relevant documents. Privatization will not happen as soon as the law is passed, with every citizen instantly becoming a private owner: the procedure is like that for land and will take a long time. This is how privately owned homes that were nationalized will be treated; they will not be privatized, and we have not stated that they will be returned to their lawful owners. But the citizen living in such a home today will pay rent, which will be controlled by the state so that the former owner cannot demand whatever rent they wish and threaten the current residents of these homes. Besides this, housing will continue to be built and a fund created to solve the housing [text unclear] problem. Question: Mr. Ilir, you have stated that during the housing privatization process the state gains nothing and the entire national property is divided up. What provision does the draft law make for [text unclear], former prisoners, etc.? What will they receive? Answer: It is true that I said this, and apparently it was also the subject of discussion in some newspaper. I do not wish to insult any article writer, but I would ask for professional competence in addressing this issue. Nevertheless, after your question, I will clarify what interests you. I say that all this property is divided among the citizens. Those who have relatively newer homes that were nationalized are required to pay something, which goes to benefit those whose houses and homes are dilapidated. Specifically, the former pay and the latter receive (and there are many …) (Continued on page 2)

Article 6 The candidacies of members of local councils and of mayors of communes and municipalities are submitted by electoral entities, namely parties, groupings of parties, and independent candidates. A person may stand as a candidate for only one local government body. Article 51 The number of members of the councils of communes, municipalities, and districts is determined as follows: - For communes or municipalities with a population of up to 10,000 inhabitants, 11–13 councillors. - For communes or municipalities with a population of 10,000–20,000 inhabitants, 13–15 councillors. - For communes or municipalities with a population of 20,000–25,000 inhabitants, 15–17 councillors. - For communes or municipalities with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants, 17–20 councillors. - For districts with a population of up to 150,000 inhabitants, 23–27 councillors. - For the municipality of Tirana, 35 councillors. Article 75 Ballot papers are invalid when: a) it is not clear for which candidate or entity the vote was cast; b) they do not meet the requirements regarding form, size, colour, paper composition, content, and stamping; c) they are damaged so badly that what is marked on them cannot be understood at all; d) more than one candidate or entity has been left uncrossed, or all candidates or entities have been crossed out; e) other names or entities have been added. Votes are assessed by the polling station commission. Disputed votes are first reviewed and then assessed. Any objection by commission members is recorded in the minutes, and these ballot papers are kept …

On July 14, 1992, at the headquarters of the Albanian Republican Party in Tirana, at the initiative of the leaderships of the parties—the Albanian Democratic Union (Balli Kombëtar), the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Albanian Republican Party—a meeting was held to examine the grave situation our country is going through and to consider the possibilities for closer political cooperation among them, which would help develop political pluralism in Albania. The four parties agreed that they should work together to defend the democratic order in Albania. These parties consider it necessary and possible to seek ways to establish more lasting and effective cooperation in the near future.

In the next issue: “PEOPLE MUST LEARN THE TRUTH”: INTERVIEW WITH DEVIL DSMAILI, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE ENGLISH MISSION IN ALBANIA Read on page 3: Known and unknown facts from the world of beggars In the next issue: “PEOPLE MUST LEARN THE TRUTH”: INTERVIEW WITH DEVIL DSMAILI, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE ENGLISH MISSION IN ALBANIA