A look at the recent elections Dr. Cerciz Mingomataj After the elections in Luznie and Zerqan in Dibër, another 6,000 voters in five municipalities lined up at the ballot boxes. Apart from the municipality of Zall-Herr, where a PD-PS runoff will be held, the others were won by PD. Mass media and the specialized party press commented extensively on this tragicomic process. Our citizens feel bewildered by the highly polarized propaganda, confused and astonished by statements and counterstatements, party publications and news. The bitter conflict between PD and PS, and beyond, resulted in serious violations of the democratic electoral process. It left a bad mark on the people’s memory and an extremely unpleasant impression on public opinion. Nine parties took part in the elections. All committed themselves to the fullest extent of their capacity, aiming at least to retest themselves before public opinion. The PR, too, after broadly assessing the domestic and international situation, took part in the elections. As is known, 12.4% of the total number of voters voted for the PR. This result rises to 18% if the early voting in Luznie and Zerqan is also included, where the PR received 19% and 24% of the votes respectively. Such an assessment by the Albanian electorate makes us believe that the PR and its ideas have found On 2 June, the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Sabri Godo, held a press conference concerning the election results in the five municipalities, at one of the premises of the International Center of Culture in Tirana. This time the electorate gave the Republican Party 12% of the vote, which Mr. Godo described as a “natural movement.” Godo sees this “rapid growth of the Republican Party” as connected to the program the party outlined at its First Congress in June 1992. Property and the National Question were the issues on which the Republican Party worked during these two years. “We are now seeing the beginning of our efforts taking concrete form...” “Our program is becoming clearer and clearer to people,” Godo said in response to the tripling of the Republican electorate compared with the elections of 26 July. On the other hand, at the press conference Godo showed no concern about other political forces with programs similar to the PR appearing on the Albanian political scene, nor, in this context, about possible alliances with the Property with Justice Association. In response to questions from the journalists of “Rilindja” and the BBC, Godo said: “I see it as a positive sign that this association has come into the open and its members vote freely for different parties according to their convictions. If all the members of this association had voted for us, we would have had a result several times greater, a long time ago.” Among the difficulties the PR faced in these elections, alongside its inability to promise miracles and the threats against its candidates, Mr. Godo also listed the old socialist propaganda “about the return of the landlords and aghas.” In his response to the journalist from “Zëri i Popullit” on this issue, Godo first stressed that “those you call beys, aghas, landlords, we call owners. But it seems you have not read the Republican Party draft law ‘On the Restitution of Property in Agricultural Land’ either. All the procedures have been laid out in it. You will find the restrictions there as well. And your propaganda in this election that ‘they will tear down the peasants’ houses’ is stale. I don’t think there is any party foolish enough to imagine such a thing.” Referring to Mr. Godo’s earlier statement, the journalist from “Zëri i Popullit” asked: “...what danger of renewed communism are you talking about? Are Poland and Hungary, countries where the left won, perhaps threatened by renewed communism?” “Socialists are very different from the Poles and Hungarians. They began the struggle ...to give democracy a chance to prove itself. Our socialists have changed only in form. It takes years for such a thing to happen in substance,” Mr. Godo replied. Once again, in answering the journalists, Mr. Godo emphasized the Republican Party’s position on new elections and other current issues. In the context of the situation facing our country and region, Mr. Godo underscored that “we are for solutions, not new elections.” Before answering this question, Mr. Godo reiterated the opinion he had expressed on other occasions about the three-party coalition that emerged from the 22 March elections, saying briefly: “It does not work.” Regarding the events in Libofshë, in response to the journalist from “Aleanca” asking, “Is the state responsible for the incident?”, Mr. Godo replied: “The state is responsible for every incident that occurs in the country.” “What message would you give the 14% of Zall-Herr’s electorate who voted for the Republican Party candidate on Sunday, and who will be in the runoff?” asked the journalist from “Rilindja Demokratike.” Mr. Godo said that “with only two alternatives before them, none of these voters will vote for the PS. I believe that every Republican in Zall-Herr will understa- 12.4% of the total electorate. Luznie and Zerqan is also included, where an assessment by the Albanian electorate leads us to believe that PR and its ideas have found a stronger foothold among the people; it gives us the right to conclude that the political scene has been reshaped and that the political contribution will continue to take shape. These votes and results contain many factors. Let us try to analyze them. The electoral campaign unfolded months ago throughout the mass media, initially disguised and then openly, tearing apart democratic norms and heightening domestic tensions. The other parties could not respond to the frenetic increase in propaganda activity over several months, simply because of organizational, financial and propaganda constraints, and because they lacked government officials or members of parliament. These are well-known facts, but they were incomprehensible to the campaign itself. The presence of a communist mentality and, consequently, of corresponding actions pushed the political atmosphere to the extreme. Quite naturally, the major parties announced and adopted the Leninist slogan “Democratic Rebirth.” Albanian supporters of other political forces with programs similar to PR, and in this context also regarding possible alliances of the emergence of other right-wing forces on the scene as a positive sign,” while, regarding the possible support of the Property with Justice Association for other parties, Mr. Godo said: “This is an asso- [text cut off/unclear] ...” “Our socialists are very different from the Polish and Hungarian ones. They began their struggle against Stalinist socialism 30 years ago. I think that liberal socialists such as the Polish and Hungarian ones should also have stayed in opposition for some time longer in order to become more capable,” asked the journalist of “Rilindja Demokratike.” Mr. Godo said that “when faced with only two alternatives, none of these voters will vote for PS. I believe that every republican in Zall Herr will understand this, this message.” At the press conference, which lasted an hour, Mr. Godo also answered other questions. (continued on page 2)

The oath-taking of the “government” of the Greeks of the South From left to right: Vangjel Dule (interpreter and escort to Anastasios Janollatos), Thanas Malo, Panajot Barka, Hajdithi (prefect of Thessaloniki), Sebastianos, Theodhori Bezhani, Grigor Drigoja (chairman of SFEVA - S, the students’ association for the struggle for Vorio-Epirus), Dhimitër Caka (editor-in-chief of the OMONIA newspaper); seated, Vasil Banga (OMONIA journalist). The priest Sebastiano is sixth from the left. Between him and Panajot Barka, whom you know from the rostrum of the previous parliament in Tirana, is the former prefect of Thessaloniki, who hands out diplomas for Hellenization “OMONIA,” Dhimitër Caka. The one on the far left is the escort and interpreter of His Eminence Janullatos, who also has a headquarters in Tirana at the Albanian Autocephalous Church. Introduced so that none of the duties assigned to them by this government are exposed. Here are the money, the church, the state and the bandits. Apart from Bezhani, who has a chance of becoming defense minister—because of the hunting weapons with which he has trained—[unclear] the state borders, the representatives of Greek business [unclear] the same [unclear] the most desired operation of this end of the century for the Greeks, as well as the courier of credential letters between Janullati and Sebastianos- who hands out diplomas for the Hellenization of southern Albania. To Sebastiano’s left, on the side toward which his heart leans, is Theodhori Bezhani, who openly advocated autonomy for the Greeks in the South two years ago. Standing behind him, moustached, is the youth secretary of SFEVAS, an organization for the liberation of Vorio Epir, which organized a homosexual-style demonstration in front of our embassy in Athens the day before yesterday. Beside him sits the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Omonia,” Dhimitër Caka. The first person on the left is the companion seat in Tirana at the Albanian Autocephalous Church. Presented differently in this hall, where they have just laid out new plans for the Hellenization of southern Albania, are representatives of the Greek state; the most ultranationalist representatives of the Greek minority in the south of Epirus; the most sinister representatives of the Greek minority in Northern Epirus; representatives of the most anti-Albanian organization operating freely in the democratic Greek state; representatives of the most warmongering press between the two states; representatives of Greek business financing the Greeks’ most doomed operation of this century’s end; and the courier carrying credentials between Janullatus and Sebastianos. In a way, this is the government proposed by Mr. Qirjazati in his letter to Micotaqis. They all seem to have prepared themselves to punish the Albanians. Their slogans have circulated their pledges about the great undertaking they intend to begin. They have been circulating the government’s program for two years in the pages of the Greek press and in part of the Albanian press, which is now silent like a lackey, anxiously waiting lest some task assigned to them by this government be becoming defense minister—because of the hunter’s weapons he has prepared—the others generally have Albanians as their quarry. Sebastianos has now been crossed off the secret and spy lists in Kolëcë, Albania, in place of the books he has been sending for a quarter of a century upside down. And that is as it should be. The pit in which he and his anti-Albanianism, along with those around him, must be buried forever needs mud and stones.

Todi Lubonja refuses to testify. His protest, his face hidden behind his cap, the loud tone of his voice in the drowsy courtroom of the Bureau’s wounds, seemed to surprise even Ramiz Alia himself. Todi Lubonja, Ramiz Alia’s right-hand man, could have asked there, publicly, why his friend had accepted the imprisonment of the TV liberal, or could have asked him why he had not immediately released him from prison after the death of Enver Hoxha’s corpse. But “...said to eat the flesh, save the head”! It seems that old obligations are more powerful than the consequences of the War within the Loft. Todi Lubonja quickly eased his own exoneration from anxiety: he refused to testify! And how could the former editor-in-chief of “Zëri i Popullit” testify? Todi Lubonja? Could he forget the past mission of Thanas Nano’s alternative on TV, the (“liberal”) card, Todi Lubonja? He who sought to present communism and dictatorship as humane, solely by replacing the clarinet’s quality and sound with the zhabin, just as he presented the other paradoxical “leaders” differently, because he alone did not continue with the kupece, but ...! Judge for yourselves: in those years, the liberal ...; the man Todi Lubonja became a wise man in the face of ... politics and the Communist. Todi Lubonja left it to his own father, together with Ramiz Alia and Co. His own great personal character was to testify for himself and his counterparts. After all, why should Todi Lubonja’s testimony be needed? [unclear passage] ... Ramiz Alia during the testimony hearing...

Clinton’s second trip to Europe in less than six months. A visit to Italy, Britain and France. A compelling reason and occasion: the 50th anniversary of the liberation by Allied troops in Normandy, the landing that marked the end of the history of the twentieth century. If America in those years had lacked Roosevelt, who also remained the one who chose General Eisenhower, then Europe would have belonged mostly to Stalin and those he chose. If Europeans had not understood what would follow from this, what it means to be saved from one great extreme danger, as well as from a second danger, then perhaps they would not have commemorated D-Day. Europe must also remember that in those difficult days its savior remained across the Atlantic Ocean—and remains so now, 50 years later: America. Yet Europe, despite knowing this fact very well, has adopted an entirely passive position. It thinks that verbal diplomacy alone is enough to prevent another bombing of London, whatever the circumstances. It also forgets that Sarajevo and Gorazhda are parts of its own body, as though the beaches of Normandy were being occupied again. This means that European indifference and overconfidence have always been baptized in defeat, and that America’s intervention would be needed for most of Europe to emerge saved in the West. Clinton’s presence in Europe is a clear assurance that Europe has in fact forgotten nothing; indeed, it continues to place its hopes for every decisive decision in America, across the Atlantic Ocean. Clinton at Villa Borghese, when Rome is less than an hour from Belgrade, figuratively resembles a U.S. sprint. The U.S. President comes to Europe as a co-liberator and the instigator of D-Day on the Old Continent. America continues to speak through symbols and bullets, but in any case the 50-year span of time means the arrival and power on the scene of generations with favorable advantages and unfavorable disadvantages, while history remains an eternal and unchanging witness.

On Saturday, at ten, [unclear], the Chief Justice, with a bundle of newspapers in his hand, was running along the central promenade, with a big [unclear] on his face. After nearly an hour, he stopped in front of the former Enver Hoxha museum and, waving the “ZP” newspaper in the air, said: “The 35 million ECU in aid for Albania will not be discussed. I, ZP, and the Greek Minister for Europe, Teodoros Pangalos, have made this decision. This measure was taken after the oppression of the rights of the Vorio-Epirotes was verified. Of the Greek Vorio-Epirotes and the Albanian Epirote-Vorio people. At the proposal of Serovet Pellumbi, Ruci and Dokle, the European Community will transfer this aid to the next entry, the account of Fatos Thanas Nano. Long live Pangalos, Sebastianos and Papandreu! Long live the Socialist Party! Only Greece can save Albania.” Two hours later, [unclear], dressed in a cassock, appeared on Durrës Street, in front of the Greek Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and began shouting “Yamas!” The new government of stability for Vorio-Epirus had been appointed. Prime Minister Fatos Thanas Nano; Minister of [unclear] Theodhor Bezhani; Minister of the Interior Panajot Barka; Minister of the Treasury, Mr. Qirjazati; Minister of Culture Paskal Milo; Minister of Heavy Industry and Mineral Resources Anastas Angjeli. President of the Ministry of Ancient and Archaeological Presidencies Neritan Ceka. Foreign Minister Arben Imami. Minister without Portfolio Abdi Baleta. Minister of the Economy Anastas Angjeli; Minister of Religion Janullatos. Minister for Economic Relations with the European Community, Serovet Pangalos Pellumbi. Minister of Local Elections Namik Dokle; Minister of Transport Makridhahi; Minister of Construction Luan Hoxha Agj. Head of SHIK Ridvan Peshkopia; Minister of State Security Gramoz Ruçi. For two hours straight, the [unclear] were also thinking of appointing some of the strangest people. In the evening, in the company of Todi Lubonja, who seemed to be serving him on the former “Stalin” Boulevard, Hem—sometimes she kissed and embraced Todi Lubonja, while he hid and openly covered his face with a white Republican cap.

Between realism and desire p. 3 by Azem HAJDARI

p. 2