Delayed and half-done work produces half-baked results On Saturday, it became known that the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office had issued an order concerning the arrest of 14 former officials of various ranks, accused of genocide. From what was learned, certainly not in a fully detailed manner, some of the prominent figures on that list were not in Albania, and another had in fact been dead for several years. Three days after the “blitz” operation to arrest the genocide perpetrators, there is still no precise information as to how many of them have fallen into the net of the competent authorities to later answer before justice. The result of this operation worries us because so many things in this government are done half-baked or left unfinished. Thus, in this case too, had the above action been undertaken three years ago, Qemal Lamej would not have been in Germany, nor would Shkëlzen Barjaktari have been able to obtain New Zealand citizenship in order to evade each pursuit, and those who would have carried out his arrest would have returned empty-handed or would have been content with arresting a half-dead man like Haxhi Lleshi, even giving him the chance to escape again. How can one speak of justice when a large number of those who should long ago have answered for their crimes are now freely strolling through the cities of the world, wandering about, and mocking the government’s orders and decisions against them. If today there is talk of the danger of communists returning to power, then first and foremost the government and the Democratic Party should look at the delayed or half-measures taken during these years. But even more than the rescue from the hands of justice of some figure from the former regime, what should worry us is the failure to respect the rules for compensating those whom the communist regime robbed, by returning property without any restriction to its lawful owners and by integrating former political prisoners into the country as quickly as possible; most of them have no support in this regard. The state would do well not to remind us of Brazilian associations with heated football, whose name was born from this expression of F.1 lakon. D.D.

From the speech by Mr. Godo at the rally in the commune of Shënkoll, Lezhë In these elections, the two-party monopoly must also be broken These days Parliament confiscated 200,000 hectares of land again and put it up for sale. This power performs wonders. It declares itself the owner and sells and buys as if the land were an inherited asset of the Speaker of Parliament and the Government. Yet these are elected or appointed officials on fixed salaries, and in a lawful state they have no right whatsoever to lay a hand on a citizen’s property. At most, they can sell and buy only the land they inherit from their fathers, if they have inherited any. The problem lies at the root, in the law on land distribution per capita, which, no matter how much it is amended, will still remain a communist law and from which strife and obstacles will always arise. Time is proving beyond any doubt that the complicated land issues can be resolved fairly only with the Republican draft law, which has three essential points: everyone should return to his own land; anyone who built a house on another’s land should have the house recognized together with 300 m² of plot, while the owners should be compensated elsewhere; large owners should be limited to 60 hectares. Any Albanian would accept this draft law as fair and reasonable, but our Parliament did not even agree to consider it, thereby committing yet another violation of the Constitution. But we are firmly convinced that the day of this law will come, since the right to private property prevails as the supreme law in every democratic state. We are within six months of the elections, which are of special importance for the future of the country. If you listen to the party spokesmen, everyone will win and no one will lose. They have the right to say so, just as everyone starts out to win. But a serious politician must know his limits. These days one of the deputies of the Socialist Party declared that they would win more than half the votes. The other deputy said they would win two-thirds. This brings to mind those two hungry mountaineers left in the snow. One drew a circle in the snow with a stick and said: “If only we had a loaf like that.” The other said: “Couldn’t you make it a little bigger?” If I make it bigger again, the first replied, you’ll still have a dung patty to eat. The Socialists cannot win in Albania, because that would be a catastrophe for the nation. In the meantime, let them draw circles in the snow. The Right Wing League should become the guarantee of their defeat. But in these elections, the two-party monopoly must also be broken; it does not suit our democracy and constitution at all. Further on, Mr. Godo spoke about the distortions in the governance of the country that brought about this political situation, setting out the alternative • The Socialists cannot win in Albania, because that would be a catastrophe for the nation. • But we are firmly convinced that the day of this law will come, since the right to private property prevails as the supreme law in every democratic state. Further p.3

A communist wind is blowing across the steppes of Russia Page 6 Foreigners are learning the gate through which one enters Albania Page 3 Here is memur nefi-jakanun defi Page 2 The National Question of the Albanians in the historical process Page 4

The PRSH National Council meeting will be held On Friday, 22.12.1995, at 10:00 a.m., in the Press Conference Hall of the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the meeting of the National Council of PR will be held. The National Council will discuss: - Problems of the electorate and party organization - The revised PR program - Press and propaganda. Press and Information Office

The electoral draft law will be examined next year The electoral draft law will not be examined in the Albanian Parliament, not even in this last week of ’95. This is the reply that Arbnori’s majority gave to the opposition parties yesterday morning at the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. Although Ginushi, from PSD, and Abdiu, from PS, insisted that the draft law signed by all opposition deputies be discussed before January, Arbnori and Spahia left it for the beginning of next year. The chairman of the Social Democrats, saying that he had been the only one insisting in the presidium, indicates that he had said at the meeting that the draft law should be discussed within December, and in fact should already have been discussed: “According to the law, elections can be called as late as 22 March,” Ginushi said at the parliamentary presidium meeting, “therefore it is neces- (Continued on p.2)

The decision on the constitutionality of Brozi’s dismissal will be issued later The Constitutional Court is not issuing a decision. At an unspecified time it will notify the parties to the case when the ruling will be delivered. Thus both the PS, as the plaintiff, and the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Pjetër Arbnori, as the defendant, will have to wait a long time before it becomes clear whether the parliamentary session of 26 October 1995, when former Cassation Court chairman Zef Brozi was dismissed, involved forgery, negligence, corruption, or was conducted in accordance with the law. The parliamentary group of the plaintiff PS challenges the decision to dismiss Brozi as unconstitutional and says the plenary session was held unlawfully, because there were not enough members in the chamber to take decisions. In the sa- Continued on p.3