ANALYSIS ALBANIANS RECEIVE THE LEGALIZATION OF THE OLD PARTY WITH INDIFFERENCE The Communists’ return: division or oblivion? Agim Isaku What is going on? Once again in Albania, the right to be openly communist has been legalized, to have your own communist party, and even to fight (no longer in the traditional Albanian communist way), so that through this party you have the right to take power. The comments made on this occasion were varied: some linked this to the Socialists’ rise to power, describing them as the direct successors of the former Albanian communists, who by this act had legalized their “name.” Others saw it as the implementation of a normal demand in a democratic society, where everyone has the right to their own beliefs and their own party. Here and there, people recalled that perhaps this had been a demand of international institutions. Still others, mainly the communists’ old opponents, the former Ballists, said that every democratic space in Albania had been definitively closed. But most people, as we can see, were indifferent. There have also been quite a few analysts who considered the communist party’s outlawing—which, almost always, was itself written into law—simply a ploy by the Democrats to conceal their former communist past. Others said this had happened as a result of the old Ballists’ ties to and hold over Berisha’s Democrats; he had brought large numbers of them into his party precisely to give himself an anti-communist color. At that time Communist militants yesterday near Hoxha’s grave

Orders for rockets and a mountain of Kalashnikovs TIRANA - The mystery surrounding the arming of SHIK and the Ministry of the Interior has been cleared up. A series of documents containing the alarming orders to arm the two institutions a year ago have emerged from the Prosecutor’s Office. They were put into the service of the state to suppress the revolts in the south. Marked “top secret,” the orders bear the signatures of Leonard Demi and former army chief of staff Adem Çopani. Thousands of machine guns, mortar shells and grenades were distributed to SHIK and Public Order personnel, with no one knowing where they ended up afterward. On page 12 The secret documents

“They can’t dismiss me easily. I have documents that refute the leadership’s accusations”

TIRANA - Kristaq Rama has died. Suddenly, yesterday at noon, amid the rain, the chisel and hammer of the 67-year-old people’s sculptor Kristaq Rama fell silent. He had set out, as he did every day, to add one more line to his sculpture, to make a change to the portrait of a work left unfinished. But everything remained as it was, in the springtime quiet, suspended, when suddenly his heart stopped after a severe attack. Considered the father of postwar Albanian sculpture, Rama is the author of all the most important monumental works in Albania. Born on 31 July 1932 in Durrës and having studied at the Leningrad Academy, Kristaq Rama produced remarkable works of Albanian monumental sculpture. Shote Galica in Kukës, Mujo Ulqinaku in Durrës, Avni Rustemi in Vlorë, the Monument of Independence in Vlorë, Kristoforidhi in Elbasan. These are some of the major works, which have been—and still are—shaped by the hands of the great master of chisel and hammer.

Telekom cuts off telephone service VLORA - Telekom is cutting off the phones of the people of Vlorë. The “campaign” has been under way for days against everyone who has not paid their bills. Since last year, many households and businesses have not paid, and today they are without telephone service. Meanwhile, the first telephone booths have been installed along the streets. On page 7

The border with Montenegro opens SHKODRA - At least 500 ambulant vendors are expected to cross the Hani i Hotit border crossing in the coming days. Some of them will take various goods, while others will bring back from the neighboring country the necessities needed by the Shkodra market. But they all belong to the Serbo-Montenegrin minorities living in the northern city, for whom life is still difficult. On page 6

Water in every Durrës home DURRËS - Durrës solves its water problem. The city will now be able to receive water from the network for four hours a day. The water-supply distribution network has been repaired by an Italian company, and this will solve the water supply problem on the upper floors of apartment buildings, even during the summer season. On page 8

The pesticide man: Here is the truth TIRANA — “The pesticide scandal was nothing but a story fuelled by political and personal motives... ” Neyton Kodra, the central figure in the story, which seven years ago was described in very “alarming” terms, speaks out. On page 4

Today the PS leadership meets; changes will be proposed, perhaps new names tomorrow Parliament against the Government No-confidence motions against Ceka, Malaj, Vukaj and Bufi Nano assesses his people: Here is who among you has not worked TIRANA - A storm is brewing over the government, driven by parliamentary committees. “Poor work and no programs from ministers who carry the main burden in the Nano cabinet.” The ministers most under attack are Ceka, Bufi, Malaj and Vukaj. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Order and SHIK is expected to decide on a no-confidence motion against Interior Minister Neritan Ceka, parliamentary sources report. Meanwhile, the Economy and Finance Committee has been convened—

Kristaq Rama dies suddenly TIRANA - Kristaq Rama has died. Suddenly, at midday yesterday, the sculptor’s chisel and hammer fell silent—

“I’m not easily worried. I have documents that refute the accusations made by the leadership” On page 2

. A hawk of— The only politician who properly grasped the positive effect of the Director’s article about Nano, through the head of the feast as well, was Sali Berisha. This explains why there was no supportive comment on this article in the press he controls, apart from publishing it without comment or using the word “spark” joyfully as a headline or in a prominent position. This is the only negative effect of Dritëroi’s article, characteristic of the life of the governing left. So long as languages do not create new words, Dritëroi needed one; generally, when he descends into such arenas, his words endure. In fact, Agolli’s article encourages groups within the PS, dissatisfied with Nano, to try to rise up in anticipation of “some little stumble of his.” It also emboldens other small coalition parties that were seeking to harmonize their weight in government. Naturally, it gave Nano an opportunity to gauge the views of those who undermine him, as well as their nerves and their ability to bear the strain. Until the article appeared, perhaps he had a mistaken vision of the balance of forces within the coalition, and of what might happen when cross-cutting alliances form against him, even if they are of a somewhat indistinct, personality-driven kind. On the other hand, everyone must acknowledge—including the chairman who ultimately appears in the text in this case—that Dritëro Agolli represents the conscience of the Socialist Party, and ultimately even that of Albanian society. In this sense, he is its best representative, notwithstanding the if they are of a somewhat indistinct, personality-driven kind.