A man dies — a party member — the Party rushes to score political points A press conference was held about the killing of a person, a young man. At the beginning, contrary to what is customary on such occasions, no tribute was paid to the victim. The leaders hurried to say what they had actually come to say, glossing over the murder of Gjovalin Çekini, the very reason the conference had been called. It is hard to find a press conference anywhere in the world about the killing of a person where the victim is not honored with a minute of silence. Even people who died, say, five centuries ago are paid tribute if a conference is held about them. A man dies — a party member; the parties hurry to score political points, journalists try to make news to earn their bread and lose sight of the news. (I) little time for people? Who is capable of all this? No journalist remembered to offer condolences to the chairman on the death of a member of his party. Someone did remember, but had no opportunity to express them. As is customary at every press conference of PAD, this time too there were some 20–30 people, logazetarë, who from time to time laugh to teach journalists which of Neritan Këlles’s words are pearls. At previous conferences this vulgar stage-setting might have been bearable, but we were at a funeral... The laughter and applause seemed astonishing, following the words of a chairman overcome with grief? Nothing more was said about Gjovalin Çekini than in the first news reports. In truth, the conference was not being held about the case in question, but about the internal problems of the PD. The Democratic Alliance has other concerns. A. POPOCI

Try to succeed through the people, but not at their expense Faruk MYRTAJ Albanian political theatre is stirring again. Why does it matter why? The people are not an abstract concept, and they demand freedom. They need this freedom. Don’t we all see this? The question posed a few years ago, when it was unclear whether there was a people or not, is no longer being asked. Now, it seems, the question is: Are politicians the people? If politicians were the people after all that hesitation, they would no longer be burdening them. If politicians were truly the people, we would let them return to their normal lives, to their daily lives and concerns. But politicians, it seems, have no intention of doing such a thing. They have their reasons for quarrelling with one another, they have their reasons for fighting one another over seats, and let them carry on with this endless theatre. That is their business, but what do the people have to do with their problems? The people want to live their lives, the life of the people, and they have no reason to hinder them from fulfilling their aspirations, however “small,” “petty,” ideal-less and non-progressive those aspirations may seem to politicians! If politicians change power, if they cannot do without power, why should the people have to grapple day after day and month after month with their bombastic statements and press conferences? If politicians want to hold on to power at any cost, let them give the people the opportunity to live without any conditions. But politicians, it seems, are not yet the people... They know why! At least they are not yet the politicians of this people, who barely raised them, and of its return to normal life. The people too are unsettled. They are not afraid of unrest; they have experienced it. But that does not mean that, for the sake of politicians’ feverish ambitions, the people must suffer a rise in temperature. Pain — for the people. According to this logic, whenever politicians get worked up, must one of their people die? Must they truly die alongside him? (continued on page 4)

Two child abductions took place during the first two weeks of this year. The first in Tirana, the other in Pog rade c. Fortunately, in both cases the children were rescued by the police. Meanwhile, these abductions have indeed taken place, and this remains the case, at least in Albania? Children are abducted to be trafficked or transported outside Albania, but also to be used as leverage against their families. Fear and terror have seized those who have suffered this. And the others too. The children themselves as well. “Don’t go away.” “If someone you don’t know calls you, don’t go!” Parents constantly warn their children to be afraid of kidnappers. Children are growing up in a panic that one day they may no longer see their beloved parent’s face. There is no doubt that abducting children is a hideous, terrible crime. It is enough to imagine yourself in the place of a parent from whom their child has been violently torn away, to feel the horror such crimes bring. To take a child from a parent is to take their whole life, to take their life away. For the parent, this is the harshest and most painful punishment, one that neither the strictest laws nor nature could inflict. Death in an accident caused by nature is painful and grievous. But a child’s abduction is a death that repeats itself every day for the family, as anguish and pain. But what punishment do those who commit this crime receive? Are they given the same severe punishment that they inflict on families? Last year Parliament increased by several years the sentence for people who abduct children. As far as I know, this maximum sentence is up to 12 years’ imprisonment. But is this increase not having an effect in reducing abductions? We must admit that severe punishments alone are not a solution. Nevertheless, Parliament should review the article dealing with these kinds of crimes. The current maximum sentence for child abductions should not even be the minimum. Child abductors should face only capital punishment. They deserve the death penalty. There is no need for a minimum. For such crimes, public opinion demands harsh punishments: flay them, burn them, hang them... These are among the crimes whose momentum is also halted by the flames of abolishing the death penalty. Criminals like these poison society, poison people’s lives. Yes, they deserve death! Vladimir ZOTO

Playing cards in the illustration: CLINTON, MITTERAND, KOHL, ELTSIN, WALESA. The cards also display the title: “Peace among...”

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Press conference by representatives of the Party of the Democratic Union of Albanians in Montenegro — Albanians have only one flag and there is no one who can impose another national symbol, declared Dedë Zogjrama, a member of the Central Council of the Party of the Democratic Union of Albanians in Montenegro, during the first press conference of this newly established party. and there is no one who can impose another national symbol, declared Dedë Zogjrama, a member of the Central Council of the Party of the Democratic Union of Albanians in Montenegro, during the first press conference of this newly established party. Speaking about the Republican Parliament’s draft law on the symbols of national and ethnic groups, Zadrima stressed that Albanians have traditionally had one flag. At weddings too, he stressed, the head of the kru shove tribe led the way with one flag, not two. We must not break this tradition, but preserve it as we inherited it. We, Zadrima stressed, will not allow anyone to impose symbols on us by decree that we do not recognize. At the press conference, held at the premises of the Republican Secretariat of Information, the party’s programme and other documents were also presented. Speaking about the motives that led Albanians to establish this party, UDSH representative Ferhat Lulani stressed that, as former members of the Democratic League of Montenegro, they were dissatisfied with the passivity of the party’s leaders. Nothing was achieved in the fields of education, culture, information, etc., stressed the UDSH deputy chairman, adding that the leaders of the Democratic League of Montenegro had shown no willingness to address or discuss these issues. ATSH

At the gathering with Albanian artists, President Berisha delivered a fine speech. The finest point he made was that while writers in neighboring countries had drawn up plans for ethnic cleansing, Sami Frashëri had envisioned the Albanian state on the foundations of ethics, understanding and good-neighborly relations with the Balkan states. This is indeed a good and noble thing and, viewed from every angle, worthy of being mentioned by the Albanian president and diplomat whenever there is an opportunity. But whether this fact should dazzle us Albanians is another question, and the answer is no. No, because there is another fact as well: the ethnic-cleansing plans of writers in neighboring states were successfully carried out, whereas the Albania envisioned by Sami Frashëri has still not come into being. And it is known that a bad plan, if carried out, is valued more than a good plan that is never realized. This is precisely why Europe rewards Slavic and Greek barbarity more than Albanian nobility. To illustrate this more clearly, let me take as an example a half-hour television programme about Kosovo, broadcast by the BBC in a prime-time slot. The reporter mentioned that 90% of Kosovo’s population are Albanians, while less than 10% are Serbs. Looking at the map of the compact Albanian ethnic area, English students of political science and sociology awaited the reporter’s explanation of the reasons for such an anomaly. To them, the anomaly was that a region shown to have an overwhelmingly Albanian population continuously for 3,000 years had, during this century, been under Serbian rule at every time except the period of fascism, even though the number of Serbs in the Balkans is only slightly greater than that of Albanians. The English report did not explain the reasons for this anomaly theoretically, but practically. It simply presented a straightforward report on the life of one Serbian family and one Albanian family. This was enough for the English students to draw their conclusion. The reporter showed the Albanian family: an engineer employed at the Balkan Combine in Sukhar ekës, dismissed from his job and evicted from his home, had returned with his wife and children to his father’s house. The marks of the wounds he had suffered when beaten by Serbian police a few days earlier were still visible on his body. The family lived on the income from several antennas that worked by connecting to Europe. Those at home, apart from having no regular employment, mostly did temporary jobs that came up here and there, mainly just to pass the time. On the other hand, the Serbian family was a family that had come from Serbia, was employed and constantly busy with work, and was committed to bringing as many Serbs as possible to Kosovo. That was the introduction. Then the reporter showed how Serbian and Albanian children are brought up. The Serbian family trained the children by having them write texts and compositions about the Battle of Kosovo, as well as other exercises: “Bi te Mi: We are Serbs. This monument is a monument to Serbian bravery. Look, thousands and thousands of Serbs died here to defend our land from the enemy. They died rather than live in submission. You too must die before leaving this land to our enemies. Our enemies are the Albanians. They want to take this land from us. We must kill them and drive them back; we must not let them.” On the other hand, the Albanian picture was of a grandmother sitting and telling stories in the oda, teaching her grandchildren: “When you see the police, run away. Leave the fields, leave the livestock and run. When you were little too, as soon as we saw them coming, we left the fields and ran.” Thus, the picture of how Serbian and Albanian children were brought up was completely different. We can tell you more than eighteen [unclear] that it is one thing to be oppressed and another to be a great writer in the eyes of the world. He may be great to you Albanians, but to the world... insignificant. Well, the world... at least in the fields of education, culture, information, etc., stressed the UDSH deputy chairman, adding that the leaders of the Democratic League of Montenegro had shown no willingness to address or discuss these issues. Where wisdom is valued, there are elders (and it draws them). Where courage is valued, there are heroes. Where nothing is valued, there is nothing. ARISTOTELI

the conclusion. The reporter showed the Albanian family: an engineer employed at the Balkan Combine in Sukhareskës, dismissed from his job and evicted from his home, had returned with his wife and children to his father’s house. The marks of the wounds he had suffered when beaten by Serbian police a few days earlier were still visible on his body. The family lived on the income from several antennas that worked by connecting to Europe. Those at home, apart from having no regular employment, mostly did temporary jobs that came up here and there, mainly just to pass the time. On the other hand, the Serbian family was a family that had come from Serbia, was employed and constantly busy with work, and was committed to bringing as many Serbs as possible to Kosovo. That was the introduction. Then the reporter showed how Serbian and Albanian children are brought up. The Serbian family trained the children by having them write texts and compositions about the Battle of Kosovo, as well as other exercises: “Bi te Mi: We are Serbs. This monument is a monument to Serbian bravery. Look, thousands and thousands of Serbs died here to defend our land from the enemy. They died rather than live in submission. You too must die before leaving this land to our enemies. Our enemies are the Albanians. They want to take this land from us. We must kill them and drive them back; we must not let them.” On the other hand, the Albanian picture was of a grandmother sitting and telling stories in the oda, teaching her grandchildren: “When you see the police, run away. Leave the fields, leave the livestock and run. When you were little too, as soon as we saw them coming, we left the fields and ran.” Thus, the picture of how Serbian and Albanian children were brought up was completely different. We can tell you more than eighteen [unclear] that it is one thing to be oppressed and another to be a great writer in the eyes of the world. He may be great to you Albanians, but to the world... insignificant. Where wisdom is valued, there are elders (and it draws them). Where courage is valued, there are heroes. Where nothing is valued, there is nothing. ARISTOTELI

Our man, before engaging in politics, must become emancipated; and to engage in patriotism, he must know himself. FAIK KONICA

Humor: A canal in the middle of Tirana Lutfi DERVISHI p. 3 “I don’t like the word caricature” With caricaturist Medi BELORTAJA p. 3 Extremism is the denial of legitimate property Arben BRACE p. 2 The Albanians By Lumo SKENDO p. 2

On Monday and Tuesday, the madwoman N. of the capital, at the head of 5–6 unknown people, walked along the streets of Tirana, carrying materials on their shoulders for the construction of a kiosk. Tired from failing to find any vacant spot, after all that spostallie, she ordered the materials to be dumped by the steps of Tirana City Hall. On Wednesday morning, assisted by numerous kuestaret, she climbed onto the materials, thrown down without any order, and made her speech. “Marash Haxhiaj and I will set up a joint company to sell ready-made clothes and pasta. Enough of politics! Marash and I have spent our whole lives talking about and criticizing the communist leadership. Saliu Lazi and Mihal Bisha also cursed communism. If it weren’t for them, communism would still be here today. Fatos Nano will be released tomorrow, the madwoman continued, after a long pause. Namik Hoxha and Nertan Çela will attend the release ceremony. There are many other indications that Fatos Nano will not agree to leave this prison, because the world needs another white Mandela. After January 31, 1994, there will no longer be any communists in Albania or Russia. The space between Skanderbeg’s horse’s hind legs will be put up for auction. If the socialists don’t take it as a rally square, she will buy it herself and hang my kiosk there. A shterretërim for the city of Shkodër. Next week Aren Imani will also be saddened. This time a film without a hero will be shown. Tickets are sold from Vau i Dejës. Sotir Braho is appointed acting PS chairman for the month of February. Good night, Enver Hoxha has been seen moving like a shadow, a time of socialist labor. THE CHRONICLER