Statement by the Albanian Right-Wing League In its statement of July 22, the Albanian Right-Wing League strongly denounced the draft law on the buying and selling of land. Recent developments require us to take further action and to review the major land issue as a whole. Enver Hoxha’s regime took land away from its owners by combining it into cooperatives, one of the harshest and most devilish forms of exploitation. The owners, more than 87 percent of the rural population, who suffered under this regime for 45 years, rose up in December 1990 for the victory of democracy, becoming its shield. One of the main demands in the process of overthrowing communist rule was the return of property, which was equivalent to the return of freedom and human dignity. To the surprise of the owners and all those who supported democracy, which triumphed on March 22, 1992, the new government appropriated and kept in force Law No. 7501 of the former communist parliament, a law conceived by Enver Hoxha’s [؟] … direct damage to the interests of the nation, by giving the land of lawful Albanian owners free of charge to citizens of foreign nationality. Over these three years, the people have voiced their powerful protest against Law 7501, which sanctioned the seizure of property. The Property with Justice Association, on the basis of the package of constitutional laws, … in hand. The Albanian Right-Wing League is firmly convinced that unless land is restored to its rightful place, the democratic state cannot endure. This state must be built on the same legal foundations that govern the West, and the first step on this path is a just resolution of the land issue. Yesterday, at 11:00 a.m. at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the Albanian Right-Wing League held a press conference concerning the Government’s submission to Parliament of At the beginning, on behalf of the LDSH, PR chairman Mr. Godo read a statement, which we are publishing in full. Afterwards, for about 45 minutes, the leaders of the Right-Wing League answered questions from the journalists present about its serious democratic nature. The law on the buying and selling of land will not eliminate the farmer’s distrust, nor the insecurity of domestic and foreign investors; on the contrary, it will increase these uncertainties. Who will sell and who will buy in the Albanian land market? To the shame of our state, this will be like a market of stolen horses. The bill was presented to Parliament at a time when the Government cannot honestly say what percentage of the land-allocation law, based on allocation per person, has actually been implemented, or what percentage of title deeds have been distributed, although in most cases these have been handed out using improper methods. Introducing the bill is not only immoral, but also legally irresponsible. Can someone sell land if they do not even have the Government’s unlawful title deed? Yesterday, the Albanian Right-Wing League attempted to submit to the People’s Assembly the first part of the petition opposing the land-trading law, bearing the signatures of 174,000 … More on p. 2; 3,384 signatures have been deposited at the PR central headquarters in Tirana. From left to right, representatives of the LDSH: Hysen Selfo, deputy chairman of the PBK; Kurt Kola, Chairman of the Association of the Politically Persecuted; Sabri Godo, chairman of the PR, at yesterday’s press conference

From left to right, representatives of the LDSH: Hysen Selfo, deputy chairman of the PBK; Kurt Kola, Chairman of the Association of the Politically Persecuted; Sabri Godo, chairman of the PR, at yesterday’s press conference

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The Government has sent Parliament the draft law on the buying and selling of land. This communist law, which sanctions the seizure of property, must be rejected. Sign the petition as soon as possible at the offices of the Right-Wing League’s constituent organizations. In this way, you serve yourselves, the people and the nation. The Government has sent Parliament This communist law, which sanctions the seizure of property, must be rejected. Sign the petition as soon as possible at the offices of the Right-Wing League’s constituent organizations. In this way, you serve yourselves, the people and the nation. and signed by Ramiz Alia. The Enverist law expropriating the lawful owner remained in force in a disguised form. Over these three years of transition, it was clearly demonstrated that this unnatural, inhumane and uneconomic law was not accepted by the majority of Albanians. Agriculture remained paralyzed. Social conflicts intensified, with hundreds killed over the land issue and ever-increasing disorder. In fact, we have two laws on land: the one made and followed by most of the farmers, who have returned to their own land through taking the law into their own hands, and the law of allocation per person imposed by force by the government in the rest of the country. But a unitary and lawful state cannot be founded on two different laws while turning a blind eye to reality. One of the most painful aspects of this law is the danger… to the legitimate Albanian owners. Over these three years, the people have expressed their strong The Association Property with Justice, on the basis of the package of constitutional laws, submitted to Parliament a request to repeal Law 7501 and a bill to replace it, but this honest effort was rejected by Parliament. The Republican Party took the same initiative in December 1994; it had previously also launched a petition against the law distributing land on a per-capita basis, with 250,000 signatures. In both cases, Parliament turned a deaf ear, just as it did to the protests expressed at dozens of rallies and even during hunger strikes that were broken up by force. Faced with the anarchy it had itself created, today’s government, instead of correcting course, as any reasonable government would do, suddenly and deviously decided to take the final step: legalize the buying and selling of land, thinking that with this blow it would erase every claim by the owners and untangle the mess left on its hands on which the democratic state must stand. that govern in a just resolution of the land question. The law on buying and selling gives people who have unjustly benefited from someone else’s property the right to sell it at the first opportunity for a pittance. The lawful heir, who waited 45 years to return to his land, must witness this shameful market and accept the seizure. Such an injustice cannot be demanded of the owners; therefore, the Right-Wing League warned the government long ago that buying and selling would lead to an extremely high level of tension and social conflict, precisely at a time when the forces of the democratic camp should be using their energies to overcome the communist danger knocking at the door. The government proved insensitive to our warnings, once again showing that it does not care what the public says, calling into question