Speech by Mr. Sabri GODO, delivered at the Fier rally on May 28 The parties’ struggle for power is under way. The question of who will govern the country for the next four years is a topic of discussion every day. It seemed as though this question had been settled once and for all on March 22, 1992, when more than two-thirds of Albanians voted for democracy. But after three years of democratic government, the question is being asked again: next year, will we have democratic power, or will we return to a moderate socialist system? Many other Eastern countries have followed this path too. After the spectacular victory of the new democracies with the fall of the Wall, a social pact. In this way, they kill two birds with one stone: they lull the people to sleep, since they themselves consider victory assured, and at the same time Servet Pëllumbi and his comrades appear in the eyes of the people as doves of peace. Citizens of Fier, This is a time for many words. The return of the Socialist Party to power in Albania would be a genuine catastrophe, for the simple reason that our socialists are thirty years behind not only the Hungarians but even the Bulgarians. After Stalin’s death, the socialist countries of Eastern Europe underwent the Khrushchev and Gorb[a]chev processes; they began Perhaps it took the deployment of the Italian army on the coast of Apulia—or, more precisely, the intensification of the trafficking of clandestine migrants from Albania toward Italy—for high-level contacts between the two countries to take place. Three days ago our Foreign Minister, Serreqi, met his counterpart Anjeli in Rome. According to the statement from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the issue of emigration also took an important place in their talks. Mr. Serreqi pointed out the Albanian government’s full commitment to using every means to prevent the illegal trafficking of clandestine migrants from Albania toward the Italian coast, while asking the Italian side to provide seasonal employment for Albanians in Italy and to reach a bilateral agreement on this. Without denying the positive aspects of the Serreqi–Anjeli talks, it should be noted that the issues addressed there could have been discussed in good time, without waiting for the latest developments, which alarmed the current Italian government. Albanian foreign policy should be guided less by improvisation and spontaneity and more by clearly defined directions. P. 6 whether we will have democratic power or have followed this path too. After the spectacular victories of the new democracies with the fall of the Berlin Wall, former communist parties returned to power in a number of states. The most recent and most flagrant case is Bulgaria, where laws are being made to re-establish cooperatives as a means of abolishing private ownership of land. Someone might say: changes like these are happening in other Eastern countries too, so why not take things calmly and go to the elections without worrying so much? This is exactly what our socialists want, which is why they were the first to propose The simple reason is that our socialists are thirty years behind the Polish and Hungarian socialists, and even the Bulgarian ones. the Khrushchev and Gorb[a]chev processes, began learning something about democracy and moving little by little toward the free market. But here, Stalin remained alive until December 1990. The leaders of today’s Socialist Party came to democracy straight from Enver Hoxha’s most important cabinets. They went to bed as the most fanatical communists and woke up in the morning as pure democrats. This is one of the main reasons not to trust them. The other reason is that never Continued on p. 4

The approach of the parliamentary elections, which according to the law and what the head of state has stated will be held next spring, has led to an increase in political speculation as part of the propaganda campaign to attract voters, especially among those political forces located around the centre. It has by now become all too common for various parties, which donned the cloak of anti-communism in order to claim a share of what the political table would offer after the historic overthrow, to continue making noise against communism, even though in practice they support or vote for communist laws. At present, for objective reasons, but also as a result of errors in governance and the emergence of negative phenomena such as corruption, nepotism, a partisan spirit, etc.—phenomena that are unavoidable but can certainly be fought—the DP electorate has declined, a fall that became tangible in the result of last year’s November 6 referendum. The extreme poverty into which the country had been plunged by the communist dictatorship is the main factor currently working in favour of the left in Albania. With poverty at extreme levels, most Albanians cannot cope with the consequences of the economic reform undertaken over these past three years. As a result, they need social support, which the state does not provide; being obliged to empty its pockets, always within the framework of reform, it is unable to meet the population’s existing vital needs. The mindset of a welfare state, cultivated over 50 years of totalitarianism, should not be underestimated in this regard either. Consequently, an exodus of the electorate that brought the DP to power toward the left is inevitable. On the other hand, negative phenomena observed in the government’s activity, the failure to carry economic and institutional reform through to the end, and the neglect of the needs and interests of those groups that made an important contribution to the DP’s victory—such as former political prisoners and legitimate property owners—are leading to an outflow of the DP electorate toward the right. Add to this the legal distortions prompted by the various interests of state officials, which harm most of all those social groups that see the right as their natural protector. The distortions and violations of the law, which have become the subject not only of the opposition press but also of the international press, are closely and logically linked to corruption. The existence of corruption in every government is an undeniable fact. But in Albania, where, as mentioned above, most people are caught up in a battle of unceasing—

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In a few hours the new penal code will come into force. This code is one of the most democratic in Europe, the world and beyond. You must truly be a dumb criminal to end up in prison under this code. Without this code, we would have gone to Europe last century. What bad things have I done to deserve this good thing?! This is the question that the man with the accordion asks the one with the electric guitar and microphone. I read the news here while various governments [do so], while some of them play the çifteli. If the çifteli they play does not complain, why should you, who listen to it, complain? The mayor has ordered that newspapers not be sold in the streets. Anyone who makes this mistake will be punished under the oldest penal code we can find in the empire’s archives... Those who intend to campaign in the streets should know that gatherings are prohibited by law without permission from the authorities... The fines imposed by the government can be paid with privatization vouchers. Even Fatos Nano can pay compensation in vouchers—the sum of $7 million was paid with a packet of cigarettes. I forbid people involved in politics from talking about me. I am depoliticized. I am outside any party, unlike...