- The communist dictatorship called half the people “filth,” persecuting them in prisons and concentration camps, while teaching the other half to say, “We will defend the communist dictatorship even with our blood.” - Today Luan Hajdaraga calls Albanians “filth,” and Gramoz Ruçi and his associates urge them to stop the adoption of the constitution, even with their blood. - A group of people from the imaginary “Alliance” party offer dialogue to the government and Serbian parties, while offering Albanians’ reconciliation a political strike, division, and fratricide: Albanians against Albanians, minorities against minorities, Albanians of Albania against Albanians of Kosovo. Ordinary Albanians—citizens and villagers—are moving toward consensus on the Constitution, expressing, developing and directing different political views. People are moving toward reconciliation. Because they are tired of fratricide among themselves, the fratricide that the communist dictatorship imposed for almost half a century. The records of this fratricide have yet to be made public. But people know that a brother denounced and sent his brother to prison, and a son his father. This tragic truth is undoubtedly unavoidable in the history of all dictatorships. Albanians have been able to endure this tragedy for a long time. Albanians have been capable of creating this tragedy. Today Albanians must be capable of reconciling with one another calmly, respecting each other’s positions, regardless of party biases. The Constitution will precisely enshrine this reconciliation among Albanians, which is desirable and as essential as life. And ordinary people are doing this. The parties are not: a handful of people at the head of Albanian parties are not helping bring about the reconciliation Albanians need like bread. A handful of people who claim to be the leadership of the Alliance Party, a handful of people who have repaid help from the provinces with crimes against a person (continued on page 3) A view of the rally in Elbasan

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ALFRED KARAMUÇO, jurist: I sincerely welcome the first democratic constitution of my country, in which the people’s ideals and efforts for freedom, democracy and progress are embodied. As a jurist, I see the Draft Constitution as the foundation on which the rule-of-law state will rest—a fundamental condition for the development of democracy. VIKTOR KASIMATI engineer: I think that any delay in adopting the constitution represents a waste of time. After it is adopted and the legislative additions that will follow are made, we will have a rule-of-law state with a stable backbone and very great chances of fulfilling our longstanding aspiration: integration into Europe, whose origins go back to our Renaissance figures. HYSNI SATA, economist: If I were not afraid that, God forbid, a few years from now some Dokle might become president, I would say that, given our country’s circumstances at this stage of transition, the President’s powers should be increased beyond the limits set for the powers of a modern parliamentary republic. In practice, this allows a more active role in the country’s political and international life. ARBEN SHEHI, architect Our people are so wise and intelligent that they understand that every “yes” vote for the Draft Constitution represents a definitive break with the past, a dividing line between freedom and dictatorship; this means that “Yes” equals eternal freedom, “No” equals

eternal freedom, “No” equals definitive isolation, misery, the consecration of new neo-dictatorships.

Personally, I support greater powers for the institution of the presidency. To be clear, I mean not for the President, but for the institution of the presidency, whoever holds the office. We need an executive authority capable of reacting quickly. A dynamic executive that can cope with the complicated situation in the Balkans, which changes overnight. Page 3

A remembrance of DRITERO AGOLLI Your outburst against the constitution is much like a parent who leaves the family home and his only son... Sitting by the fireplace, tired and exhausted from rallies, as you read this betrayal, you might ask: “But who is this, where did he come from, and who is he to dare tell me what to do?” And perhaps, so tired, aged and despairing, you will set the millstones in motion to grind some last little bug or head that you have started but cannot manage to finish. Even so, I would accept anything you might say, just so you would hold a rally and read these lines. I am writing this rally to you... Because your place is not at a rally, my old, beloved one! Your role is not to be watched by those who have been “orgo” and “taking the law into their own hands,” cast aside by successive powers and themselves having quickly fallen into disgrace, from the great general fronts of a foremost throne... Why have you never considered that, before anything else, everyone else was the first to leave you, to strengthen you... an issue of “Zëri...” Meanwhile, your opposition to everything that has held together the fabric of these recent years goes far beyond the bounds of madness, given the age that has passed you by and all the good things and privileges that flew away with it. Your sorrow over what you lost would be understood and accepted by anyone, as their own. For it is truly sad to pass in the evenings by the building where for decades you ruled absolutely, sometimes with a sweet bun, sometimes with a whip. It is truly sad, even more so, to stand before that building and cry out for peace, only to receive no answer—not even a single voice. This means losing your voice, falling apart... It would be somewhat like a scene in which the crowd has knocked its own pedestal over. Faced with such a truth, how could one not feel pain and pity...

Scenes from the Elbasan rally

At the meeting of the National Council on October 27, elections were held for the Steering Committee, whose composition was as follows: 1. Sabri Godo — Chair 2. Fatmir Mediu — Deputy Chair 3. Çerçiz Mingomataj — Secretary 4. Gjok Beci — Steering Committee member 5. Neritan Alibali — journalist 6. Ismail Male — agronomist 7. Aleksandër Çina — engineer 8. Alfred Karamuça — jurist 9. Maksim Begeja — engineer 10. Dalip Greca — journalist 11. Aleksandër Garuli — teacher 12. Tamara Luarasi — lecturer 13. Arben Babameto — mathematician 14. Vladimir Agaraj — teacher 15. Arben Burburia — teacher 16. Arjan Madhi — jurist, economist 17. Arben Braçe — teacher Vladimir Agaraj was re-elected Chair of the National Council of the Republican Party

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