The first 200 prisoners surrender voluntarily Berisha sacrifices the party, denounces his opponents. Shehi: “We have nothing to do with Berisha; we will create a new party”

Parallels between the Labor Party conference on Tirana ’56 and the PD National Council of ’97 The latest meeting of the PD National Council ended as expected. The group of rebellious heretics was put on the pyre to be burned politically. It has now been confirmed, as has often been said, that the PD is persistently borrowing choice fragments from the history of the Labor Party, adapting them to the supposedly new scenarios of political pluralism. The latest meeting of the PD National Council was nothing other than the distant shadow of the 1956 Tirana Conference. Denouncing the pressure, threats or insults directed at opponents; describing the cordon of armed civilians and their menacing shouts, does not mean that you have said anything new. Such methods have been used before. The only new thing is the long list of new figures signing on behalf of the PD, and perhaps the final loss of faith in its renewal. This political party’s great misfortune lies in the fact that it lacks the moral strength to analyze all the turmoil that took place in Albania and acknowledge its considerable responsibilities. It increasingly resembles a clan that uses force rather than reason against the opponents and adversaries of its leadership. Using the methods of Chicago gangsters of the 1920s does not mean that you are upholding justice and have soothed people’s spirits. Quite the opposite! It shows that the PD leaders are unable to overcome their mistakes and look to the future with a new mindset. The PD’s intransigence was on full display at the National Council, with all its elements. The only positive response, perhaps, may be considered the resignation of the party’s secretary general, Besnik Gjongjeca. Although his panegyrical speech expresses fear and submission, his resignation is the only proper action by an intellectual who feels a sense of responsibility. The PD National Council elected Mr. Genc Pollo to the post of secretary general. Tritan Shehu can now be considered a familiar figure. He should remember clearly the period when he joined the PD as secretary general to displace Eduart Selami. Now it is his turn.... The new party leader, Genc Pollo, faces difficult tasks. He must make the party a modern force that responds to the demands of the times. Shehu will naturally be the sacrificial lamb for the June elections, but Pollo must look further ahead. His abilities are promising! But will he be able to transform his party? Because it is already well known that the PD’s compass for directing its activities is Mayakovsky’s famous verse: “We say Lenin and we mean the party We say the party and we mean Lenin” The latest meeting of the National Council was a step backward for the PD. This is truly a wrong step. But it proves nothing... Except one thing. About the Democratic Party itself, Albanian democracy, and the Albanian nation.

The marathon meeting of the PD National Council ended with a clear victory for Berisha and his supporters over a group of MPs and councillors who had recently forecast numerical superiority over the current trend within the PD. Among other things, the latter proposed separating the President from the PD, as well as dismissing the current leadership and replacing it, until a party congress, with a selected party group. At the beginning of the meeting, President Berisha set out in his speech the responsibilities of each person and each governing body and of the PD for the situation that had arisen in the country. The PD chairman, Shehu, also spoke in a stern tone, presenting to those present each person’s contribution to the party. Meksi, meanwhile, analyzed the PD’s governance during its previous term. P. 3

Editorial illustration: a man carrying a flag bearing the number 1, running; another figure runs behind him. Illustrator’s signature: “Ç/97”.

You will find the complete list on page 6

Leka Zogu explains the reasons for the King’s departure from Albania P. 5 Shkodër: Shots fired in hospital P. 2 Another public rescue committee dissolves P. 5 Culture loses 60 million; the ministry will pay the staff P. 7

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