Press conference by Mr. GODO The rejection of the constitution by a free vote showed that the Albanian people retain their own judgment, despite party propaganda and the forces in power. Democracy is rooted in the people’s spirit and cannot be broken by pressure. For this, all Albanians should congratulate one another. The Republican Party voted to approve the constitution, despite the serious objections we had to the draft and the procedure. The reasons that led us to support it were stronger than its shortcomings. The rule of law must be established; otherwise, we cannot have the legal framework that would support democracy and economic development. It is also clear that the constitution serves as a passage into European structures, participation in which is a necessity. The people’s vote against it included not only the view that the draft constitution had shortcomings, but also deep dissatisfaction with bad governance, violations of democracy, the absence of public order, and growing corruption. What some foreign journalists write—that the Albanian people halted progress and kept Enver Hoxha’s constitution in force—is insulting and has nothing to do with the people’s genuine interests. The proposal to prepare a new draft and go to a referendum for a second time seems to me the right solution. This must be done quickly, but not in haste. Parliament should choose a high-quality commission, not one based on party representation. The political forces in Parliament should act with the awareness that together they are drafting the long-term constitution of all Albanians, and in this there can be neither winners nor losers. After discussion in Parliament and by decision of Parliament, the draft constitution should go to a referendum. The Republican Party reiterates its demand that the new draft should in particular reflect: - The aspiration of the Albanian people for the unification of the nation by peaceful means, and that our cultural and artistic heritage be protected. - A balancing of powers in accordance with the democratic standards of parliamentary republics around the world. - The nature of private property, recognized by every constitution, should be explicitly defined. For the Republican Party, only inherited property exists. All communist expropriations, and those that followed in part during the transition, are illegal. Other details can be discussed once the draft is presented. The Republican Party’s position on the draft constitution and its critical position toward the authorities are two different things. Before the referendum, at its Second Congress, the Republican Party judged it quite critically (continued on page 2)

Cast from the Albania–Germany match Photo: Armando Babani Cast from the Albania–Germany match. Photo: Armando Babani

Yesterday afternoon at the Qemal Stafa National Stadium The ball struck by Lotar Mateus, then pushed forward by the feet of four or five other Germans; it slipped through Strakosha’s hands, and the Germans took the lead... A goal nobody could believe. One of those familiar German goals that they seem always to have with them, scoring it before the game has even begun, or when it is already over. The sequence we described was repeated in the first 10 seconds of the second half. Within that time—that is, before the game had properly got underway—the German Kirsten sealed its fate once and for all. The enthusiasm and passion of the 11 Albanian boys ebbed away. The 30 thousand Albanian spectators fell silent. The Germans always have a goal in reserve, a spare goal that they score whenever they need it. Nevertheless, this match will remain in the memory of sports fans. The Albanian footballers, who had come from all four corners of Europe, gave the public a magnificent spectacle. A first half that completely brought the three-time world champions to their knees. Klinsman’s cold-blooded goal was erased from everyone’s memory after that struggle by Zmani, who managed to keep it out of the net only with difficulty. Albania lost to Germany. This is an ordinary event. Generally, everyone has lost to the Germans. We say this to avoid repeating the standard phrase, “once again we lost.” The Albanian boys, Zmijani, Vata, Bellaj, Kushta, Rakli, etc., gave the Albanians a magnificent spectacle. And most importantly, with their enthusiasm, but even more with their joy, people reminded themselves that besides everyday troubles, work, and politics, there are other things too. Correspondent of «Republika»

On the visit of George Bush ELIDA BUÇPAPAJ On the evening of a Wednesday when Berisha and Bush met, the 41st American President meets Mihail Gorbaciov in Rimini, Italy. Meanwhile, Bruno Vespa, one of the journalists, appears in adulthood, and this abundance of courage is also compensation for those times when 99.99% voted in the ballot boxes. It is very ugly, it is a lack of ethics, it is [Text appears incomplete in the source] the President’s or a Greek archbishop’s rights?! And in what democracy in the world do the president or prime minister not enjoy the powers necessary and essential to govern a state? And who would [Text appears incomplete in the source] that we have the same customs? Oh God, future generations will say, our ancestors knew only hatred, and with hatred only can things be destroyed; nothing can be built with hatred. I will return again to

[Text fragment] that will support a decision of Parliament, the draft— (continued on page 2) America votes for the Republicans, seeking political resolve American bipartisanship is one of the most distinctive values of the democracy of the United States. Republicans and Democrats have alternated in the legislative and executive branches throughout American history. In the latest legislative elections, the Republicans won a majority of seats in both houses of representatives after having been in the minority for more than two decades. Journalistic commentary on this Republican victory, beyond the fact of the victory itself and the issues debated by the competitors, draws attention to the particular state in which the American electorate finds itself at this moment... The loss of ideals, fear of the future, uncertainty in every field... these are the terms usually used to describe the American voter. The state of the ordinary American seems so alarming that it overshadows the candidates’ names, their programs, promises, and slogans. Now, when all ideals seem to have been exhausted and no new ones are emerging, when no clear prospect lies ahead, America is seeking one in its own tradition, which is the main pillar of the conservative Republicans. And since George Washington, whenever America

Sources familiar with the matter report that Kurt Kola, chairman of the Association of Former Political Prisoners, has been released from house arrest. Kurt Kola, who had been arrested after the hunger strike by former political prisoners was broken up, had been held after the Court declared the strike illegal.

ELIDA BUÇPAPAJ On the evening of Thursday, the day of the Berisha–Bush meeting, the 41st former American President meets Mihail Gorbacov at the Rinia of Italy. While Bruno Vespa, one of RAI’s greatest journalists, would announce his interview with Mihail Gorbacov as a major event, in parallel an Albanian journalist published in bold letters that George Bush is nobody in America today. Such scandals can happen only in Albania! What are we dealing with in this case: delirious megalomania, a forced obligation, or an elementary lack of patriotism, extending even to hatred and denial of the Nation?! Unfortunately, all three have come together. These gentlemen, who insult all the presidents one after another, have now become so brave. Their courage has begun to show itself in adulthood, and this abundant bravery is also compensation for those times when votes in the ballot boxes were cast by 99.9%. it is a lack of professionalism; it is blind politics that almost all the opposition newspapers did not speak about this visit. They do this only to their own detriment. Not because Berisha will punish them, since that is precisely why they have become brave, but because history will punish them. The results of the referendums are a fragment of that punishment. Even if Albania does not enter the European Community at the beginning of 1995, that too will be part of history’s punishment. Whom will they blame this time? The Constitution? Did the Constitution cause the trouble?! The President’s rights, or the rights of a Greek archbishop?! In which state? And who will govern Albania better, these gentlemen? Skënder Gjinushi, Gramoz Ruci or Moikon Zeqo? A constitution with perfect laws, just like perfect people, exists only in Paradise. And which of these gentlemen visited Paradise and returned as an immortal soul? None of them, gentlemen. History will judge us, and future generations will ask with great sorrow: O God, how did we fail to find common ground with the Albanians, our brothers of the same blood, living on the same land, speaking the same language, and sharing the same customs? O God, future generations will say, it seems our ancestors knew only hatred, and hatred can only destroy; nothing can be built with hatred. I will return to George Bush’s visit, which remains one of the brightest dates in Albania’s historical calendar. Few people know what was said at the Berisha–Bush meeting. George Bush accepted Berisha’s visit on a rainy day, and many would interpret this as his support and backing for Berisha’s policies. He underlined this in his press statements too, and it is no small thing to have the support of a hurricane and flood-bringer like George Bush.

What will become of the Republican land bill? Land “title deeds” belong neither to the government nor to Parliament One more reflection after the referendum Apparently, we still have not learned that communism can be definitively challenged only when it is defeated economically. Not just in politics, and certainly not only by exposing and condemning it and the dictatorship that installed it in Albania. The time for cursing and condemning it has passed; even that is an achievement, but still an insufficient one. The people want other alternatives to be put into practice. They will be accepted by their own people when they see that they will feel freer, only when they are convinced that they are living better, in prosperity, and only when they are convinced that work has begun. The time for words and promises is over. More or less, it is clear that work has not yet begun. These are the words of the PR. It has long expressed the view that Albania will truly be democratized when it embarks on democratization. The PR put all its focus on the governing coalition during March 22; it has been absent only after the first [unclear] appeared negative. These people, as things have turned out, have remained uninvolved. What are these people dealing with? The great problem of land. And this is a cardinal issue, on which a wholly right-wing party such as the PR has shown itself to be cannot compromise. The PR has compromised too much, remaining in one of the governments whose projects, connections, bylaws and orders clashed with one of the key points of the Republican program: the land question. This compromise cannot continue indefinitely, and this was also foreshadowed at the PR’s Second Congress, where the party alliance with the PD-PSD was declared to have been surpassed and nonexistent. The bells are ringing for those who have ears, and “the Government’s ear” is Parliament. The PR has tied its fate, its very existence, to the land problem (and the national question). No cycle can have only one connection at its center with these problems. This party has defined its course solely on these two pillars. At present, if things are happening differently in its absence, the PR cannot be in opposition simply by dominating, without laying the foundations of a free-market economy that will support Parliament’s decision, the bill—[text cut off] ... even the official position scarcely dares to call it by its full name: capitalism. But here we are: even Parliament and the Government themselves, which rightly wish to be called democratic parliament and government, hesitate when it comes to laying these foundations appropriately. Indeed, perhaps naively, they find that it would be unforgivable, and do the opposite. They delay those bills that would set the country’s economy on the path to capitalism. And Albania’s economy cannot be conceived otherwise than as dominated by agriculture. Everything begins and ends with LAND. The parliamentary majority, which ultimately determines the fate of every law, has now put its foot down; and since it also has the Speaker of Parliament, it has placed a “veto” on the most fundamental of the PR’s proposals. The Republican bill concerning agricultural land, despite their wishes, seems to have passed in practice. The democratic majority, which [unclear] from the very first day over the corrupt reaction and the agricultural cooperatives (?), is supposedly in agreement, yet makes repeated, at times even forceful, efforts to implement the infamous Communist land law. Figures of 90–95% are also cited for the alleged implementation of this law, which is neither lawful nor democratic, when in a large part of the country the land has gone to its rightful owner, within the old boundaries that the farmers know better and prefer more than the Government itself! But the Government once again turns a deaf ear. It knows why. The misfortune is thereby doubled. It seems that the Government, lacking the courage to acknowledge the failure of the Communist land law, sometimes turns a blind eye when farmers implement the Republican land bill. The people appear more realistic and democratic, and more eager for capitalism than the democratic Government! But naturally this cannot continue. No one gave the Government and its agencies the “title deeds” to the land and to Albania, giving it the right to promote [unclear] with the other owners. Its duty is to carry out the promises it made to the Albanian electorate, whose vote it received not simply against communism, but to govern the building of capitalism. And capitalism cannot be expected to be built with Communist laws, especially when it comes to land. The land must go to its rightful owner, and ordinary farmers know who that owner is. The overwhelming majority of them are its owners, and this is so clear that allusions or undignified calls about the “danger of the return of beys and landlords” sound ridiculous. Since we agreed to build capitalism, why should we be afraid of capitalists? Since we accept private ownership and making people property owners in the cities, what is it that makes you fear owners of agricultural land?! It seems we want people to become disillusioned with capitalism just as they were disillusioned with communism. A calm and dispassionate analysis of the referendum results cannot fail to “read” that a large part of the “NO” vote came from these rightful owners (overwhelmingly small and medium-sized), who found their truth and their rights in the proposed Draft Constitution. Which owner is being forgiven [unclear] in this Draft Constitution? Which owner had the legitimacy and protection of land ownership recognized—the old, genuine owner, or the “new owners, made owners by this Parliament’s Communist law”? The ambiguity in this Draft Constitution pushed voters toward “NO,” and this cannot be ignored. The PR feels it is its duty and obligation to raise its voice on behalf of these voters. The Government, in which the PR is still part of the coalition, must take a firm position. How long will this “ambiguity” over property and landowners continue? The Government’s silence and Parliament’s insulting negligence are making the governing coalition very difficult. The PR cannot act against itself—not merely for political gain, but because Albania’s affairs and its democratization cannot begin moving forward this way. FARUK MYRTAJ

The country is looking for new alternatives—this was seen in the madwoman of Tirana’s [unclear] in Skënderbej Square. Namik Hoti has victory in his hands and does not know what to do with it. Hysdajeti too has victory in his hands. How many victories have there been, asks the madwoman. Everything will happen in Albania. You don’t believe it? Ask Gromoz Rucin. Ruçi will be head of the courts, to punish irregularities. Many elected people have arrived from Switzerland. The socialist [unclear] is missing, the one who thinks of an Albanian [unclear]. A deputy is made; he wants it very often, a deputy wants it very often. For these things [unclear] where he has shown it, and seven times when the flowers will ... Let us drink to your health. Cheers! Tomorrow you could become the bishop of the whole world. Two more priests will also be ordained. Be careful, said the madwoman. Beware of the plate-lickers. They are dangerous. They have never felt ashamed of themselves. They know how to deceive, how to sell themselves as persecuted, how to pretend according to the occasion. The plate-lickers won’t let you see beyond them. Their candidates declare [unclear]. it, and seven times when the flowers will ... Taxes on merchants and businesswomen will be lowered by consensus. The programs will be changed. We are waiting for requests for changes again. Every Muslim should submit the documents. Amnesty for the land law. The lands will not be forgiven, said the madwoman. The new priests were appointed for [unclear] and the dollar. Let the owners of dollars and those in government go out and hold a business round. We in the PS did not raise the price, said the madwoman. Neither did I, said the Namik alliance. We want health. Nor did the leadership, we gave support, said the others. Come on, comrades, break it up, said another deputy. Tomorrow I will form a government. I am the government, the Students’ Government, said the madwoman. Cheers, Bishop. THE CHRONICLER