PRICE LIBERALIZATION THE PEOPLE’S COMPLETE POVERTY PRIME MINISTER YLLI BUFI AND THE PLURALIST GOVERNMENT In fact, order and his comrades, old and new, democracy, democratization processes, the pluralist government have apparently started and are governing it now in a phase and at a scale that are being felt on people’s skin. Since 1 November, 2200 lek more and more, yet again, all goods are cheap, but not the prices. How are we supposed to cope with life? With the wages we Albanians have? With these pensions? With these rewards? With these incomes? With these low salaries? When we truly understand what price liberalization is, it feels as if the ground is being pulled from under our feet. Every day it feels heavier. Bread, oil, sugar, rice, soap, services, everything has become unaffordable. And this is happening precisely at the moment when the pluralist government promised it would govern with justice and social sensitivity. Many people ask: has this government thought about the life of the ordinary citizen? Has it thought about the worker, the pensioner, the mother with children, the unemployed? Or has price liberalization been calculated only as an economic measure, without looking at the human consequences? Many see this as a direct blow to the poorest strata. And it is no surprise that anger has grown. People feel unprotected, abandoned, and deceived in their expectations. This complete poverty of the people is no longer a fear: it is a reality.

THOSE WHO LAID THE MINES UNDER UNITY CANNOT BUILD IT — IDEAS AND IDEOLOGY ABOUT THE ALBANIAN-SERBIAN/YUGOSLAV RELATIONSHIP The Albanian people over at least the last 80 years have remained hostage to an attitude that was first incomprehensible, mysterious, indecipherable toward the Serb and Serbia, and later came to be understood and, in its entirety, still remained indecipherable. It must not be forgotten that in 1912, at the time when the new political order was being established, the Serbo-Yugoslav lure for Albanians was extremely strong. This was made possible by the fact that at that time we Albanians knew very little about the Serbs. The Ottoman Empire had kept the Albanian people away from the Serbs by not allowing them to take an interest in that people, indeed by telling them nothing about them. We learned the truths about the Serbs from Europe. And Europe, in accordance with its interests, presented the Serbs as a brave, generous, sincere, heroic, and martyred people. When we heard that the Serb had fought against the Turk for 500 years, we certainly admired him, because we had such a tradition ourselves. And it can be said that with the rise of Yugoslavism the Albanian people admired the Serb just as the Albanian Soviet citizen admired the Soviet Union, perhaps even more strongly. Albanians, knowing nothing about the Serb, needed to know good things about him. That is why they eagerly read everything written in their literature about the Serbian people, literature that was widely read in post-liberation Albania. Those literary works aroused sympathy and admiration for this people. Everywhere you heard admiration for them. Andrić’s works had long ago been translated into Albanian, and the verse "I HAVE A AHDHËT" [?], which had been set to music and turned into a song, became very widespread. Finally, it was enough to hear how furiously Ivo Andrić’s excellent novel "THE BRIDGE OVER THE DRINA" circulated. In both prose and poetry, the Serbian man was presented as a hero. Even when they were in dubious positions, the Serbs exalted their own image. Oskar Daviço’s novel "Song" portrayed the Serbian man in this way. He was depicted as a patient, wise, heroic, intelligent people, but by no means evil. One need only recall Vasko Popa’s poems as well. Yet, strangely enough, none of these works portrayed the Serbian man without dubious moral qualities. On the contrary, almost always the Serbian characters had shortcomings. Nevertheless, we admired them. This was understandable to us. Once we had fought against the Turk, now we too were apparently such a people, a cultured one. These literary creations were a kind of illusion for us, a kind of moral paradise that small peoples seek when they are oppressed. Others had told us that the Serbs were like that. And we believed it. However, historical events, their behavior toward Albanians, and finally the ideology that supported these behaviors, destroyed this illusion. Now we know that unity cannot be built by those who laid the mines under it.

THE PEOPLE ARE FREEZING TO THE BONE WHY IS THE SOCIALIST PARTY SILENT? Outraged before misery and prices — even the communists reached their party! — Hoxha sedri two days like this! — Are they something of the past? — Face to face with Albanians bewildered by this wasteland! — Is it possible to overthrow the socialism you called a triumph and are now walking through the path as it leads you? — To return to the throne, to our name, to the wasteland and now — This yesterday-day, comrades, a frozen terror. As much as a person blowing and sucking, as much as a light snatched through the hands, as much as a voice that has been lost in the streets. To say that we are 100 years from here and yet not. To speak of socialism and not have bread. To speak of the party and not have people. To speak of morality and not have shame. To speak of the people and let them freeze. This is what people feel today and what they ask about: why is the Socialist Party silent? First, popular logic has declared the votes of the five months invalid. If the Socialist Party does not want to do this second thing with its own hands, the minimum of a political force is to come out and say a word. Not to defend itself, but to calm the people. Silence today is not wisdom. Silence in this situation is guilt. They remain silent, and because they remain silent, people begin to think that their socialism was a great deception. That the people’s sacrifices were used for a caste. That today’s suffering has been placed on the backs of those who are not to blame. This silence gives strength to doubt, and doubt leads people to hatred. The Socialist Party may have a thousand reasons not to speak. But the people have only one reason to demand an answer: they are suffering. And when a people suffers, it cannot wait for office calculations. It wants a word, a sign, a stance. Even an apology. If this silence continues, it will be read as acceptance. As powerlessness. As a lack of responsibility. And then it will not only be too late for the Socialist Party, but for the entire political climate of the country.

THE BOOSTER FOR THE ITALIAN TELEVISION CHANNELS IS BEING PUT BACK INTO OPERATION AFTER YEARS Lezhë has a much closer place in life, beyond its geographical position, since by nature it lies between the river and the sea. Summer, it seems, has brought something too. At least before the appearance of the Albanian democratic government, for several months, in Lezhë there has been light. It was widely said that the government of the country would quickly make the network functional, but with the formation of the government and the arrival of the new leaders, this work remained unfinished. The whole problem lay with the booster. The booster is the device that makes it possible to receive Italian television waves. For the citizens of Lezhë, this was not simply a matter of entertainment. It was also a window on information. For this reason, its absence was strongly felt. In recent days, according to our editorial office, a new booster has been put into operation. This has allowed many families to watch the Italian programs again. However, it remains to be seen whether the operation will be stable and whether the coverage will be complete. We hope this will not be a temporary solution, but a first step toward further improving the service.

Interview with the well-known poet and publicist RUDOLF MARKU Interview with the well-known poet and publicist RUDOLF MARKU

4th year of publication, Weekly No. 44 (188) PUBLISHED IN LEZHË ALPS-STARF TIRANË

Editor-in-chief «Koha Jonë»