IN LIEU OF A STATEMENT ON THE PETITION AND THE LEZHË RALLY. Having learned of the events that have taken place in recent days in the district of Lezhë and that are connected with my elimination as a candidate for deputy there, I declare as follows: 1. — The PD branch in the district of Lezhë, with predetermined intentions, divided the electoral group into two parts, allowing members of the governing council to vote twice, which affected the voting results. This act, as was established at the meeting of the PD National Council, is in flagrant violation of the instructions of this Party’s Central Electoral Commission. This act and other similar violations have caused nervous reactions and tensions in the places where the meetings were held, and where two or three of my relatives also got involved. From early morning I distanced myself from such actions and asked my close friends and comrades to accept calmly what had happened. 2. — Meanwhile, the wave of disapproval over my elimination has spread to many PD sections in electoral zone No. 50, among intellectual circles and in associations of political prisoners. This gave rise to a petition-request with around ten thousand signatures, and a peaceful rally was organized at which the leadership of the Democratic Party was asked to nominate me as a candidate. The participants in this rally were citizens whom democracy does not discriminate against. The platform was honored by three political prisoners and independent intellectual members of the PD. 3. — The statement by the Lezhë PD branch on TV deliberately denies these facts, even going so far as to 5. — At the meeting of the Democratic Party’s National Council, gentlemen Azem Hajdari and Arben Imami openly pointed out the violations and machinations of the Lezhë branch. Mr. Gjergj Gjini, the chairman of the PD in Lezhë, instead of explaining the real reasons for the procedural violations, opened his notebook and began counting my trips to Lezhë, whom I had eaten lunch with, whom I had had coffee with, and so on and so forth. With the courage of a protected lackey, he declared: “I went with Mr. Zogaj to the meeting we had with the people of Ishull i Lezhës about the grass and what should be said about it. But he said nothing.” In this way, intentionally or not, he joined the staff of shadows and scribblers who spied even on the ordinary private lives of their colleagues. The press denounced people with notebooks ten years ago, even under the communist press. ... to fill this void in his ... . This was the finale of ... gatori Gjergj Gjini with Agron Belishova, and I have asked the PD leadership to examine responsibly why the central instructions were violated in Lezhë. Not being a fanatic about my own intensive political activities over the past year, I want to tell the people of Lezhë that I remain faithful to the principle “democracy in a society of human beings and not in a society of soldiers”; that, as I did last year, I would always choose Lezhë to seek a vote of confidence for my political commitments; and that, as the Nobel poet Brodcki says, “I am a free person and I ask no one’s forgiveness for my testimony.” Finally, I am convinced that the people of Lezhë will vote for the PD, for the opposition, for democracy, for the future. PREÇ ZOGAJ

Fatos Nano and Sali Berisha keep holding rallies! Every night TV broadcasts a harrowing report. Every night, at least one human life is lost. Meanwhile, burnings and destruction have become commonplace. They have begun to become part of life; indeed, if one night the news does not mention the words burning and killing, it seems like something extraordinary. On the other hand, there is a torrent of rallies and speeches, a torrent of election propaganda; endless promises. As soon as Sali Berisha organizes a rally, the next night the TV announcer talks about a large meeting or gathering of Eurosocialists, where the socialist leader Fatos Nano “explained socialist ideas for bringing Albania into Europe.” As soon as Fatos Nano arrives in Berat, Sali Berisha turns up. As soon as Berisha has his morning coffee in Gjirokastër, Fatos Nano arrives at lunchtime. A torrent of speeches. They are part of the comings and goings of an election campaign. So are the promises. But burnings are not part of election campaigns anywhere in the world, nor is hostility toward the Homeland. And what if, after 22 March, what remains is a charred body? Who needs people terrorized after 22 March by the psychosis of fear, killings and inexperience? Each of the main leaders speaks in the name of justice, each promises democracy, each gets on and off planes that take them to Europe, each looks only within the confines of their own party. But the greatest party is that which our prophet, the academician Rexhep Qosja, called THE PEOPLE. And the people have a Homeland, one that is theirs. And the Homeland needs its sincere sons; it wants its wounds healed. It does not want them hurt even more; it does not want the body paralyzed, left unable to heal. (Perhaps) both Fatos Nano and Sali Berisha will regret having acted improperly toward the national interest during the election campaign. But then it will be too late. A charred homeland is of no use to anyone, anywhere. It cannot be healed. It only produces ashes. And the ashes in the hands of the two leaders, who at least for now hold the nation’s fate in their hands, will create a few black lines across [the page]. And everyone knows what reward blackness receives! NIKOLLË LESI

To be a candidate for deputy, you must possess the finest virtues of all those whom you will represent in Parliament tomorrow. And Lezhë has never been short of such people. Under Enver, yes, back then Lezhë was never represented by its finest sons, but the Party knew best then, Enver and all. Last year, on 31 March, Lezhë was the only one among the smaller districts to send two of its own deputies to Parliament, leaving behind even large districts such as Fier and others. One of them was PREÇ ZOGAJ, who won decisively, with 81 percent (if not more). The citizens valued the candidacy—was it rejected? Why? In this zone, where Preç won last year and where his actions showed that he deserved the vote, the Lezhë PD chose Mr. Mëhill Marku, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, a man from Lezhë. Thus this candidacy was rejected by the PD. Why...?! And to represent Lezhë, another intellectual was brought in... For this, they borrowed from Shkodër Mr. Tonin Alim[...] It should be said, however, that Shkodër took one electoral zone from Lezhë, since Mr. Alimhilli had been left off his own district’s lists. Did Lezhë not deserve to be represented by its intellectual sons, already known throughout the country, such as Preç Zogaj, Ndoc Gjeta, Remzi Lani, Agim Isaku (who had worked in Lezhë for years), Mëhill Marku, Jul Nenshati, not to mention Mark Simoni and Artan Emiri (all of them PD members and sympathizers), or other intellectuals as well?! So these people were not lacking, but the mediocrity of the Lezhë PD branch made it possible to borrow from the Shkodër region, just as in the old days, when Lezhë had no fleet of cars and borrowed old cars and buses from that city, or reserve footballers from “Vllaznia.” In this case, I do not in any way wish to insult Mr. T. Alimhilli’s representatives, since I have no reason to, but I think that appointing this candidate from outside the list in Shkodër as a candidate in Lezhë can only be understood as an insult to Lezhë, its intellectuals and its voters. ... the intellectuals and voters who want to give their vote to the PD, just as it would be an insult to Shkodër if a candidate from Lezhë were assigned there without the voters’ request—I stress, without the voters’ request—in the zone where, for example, Ali Spahia won last year. But why are you discussing the PD’s candidates, someone might say. Because I want it to win. Because it would be an honor for Lezhë and the people of Lezhë if, in the next Parliament, Preç Zogaj or another intellectual from Lezhë were to sit alongside Rudolf Marku (today a PD candidate in one of the zones). Because I do not want those who have been winning for 50 years in a row to win again. Because I do not want to see poverty, misery, unemployment and exodus at the elections; because I do not want to see my fellow villagers on the roads of the world as beggars and burned with napalm; because I want no more of these things and this regime; because I want the good things we all want; because I do not want to be ashamed to say I am Albanian.

Recently, Bulgaria offered Albania 20,000 tons of white cheese. (We believe you remember what this remedy is), on very favorable terms for us. The Albanian side replied that it accepted the offer, but only on condition that the Bulgarian side take responsibility for distributing it throughout Albania. Apparently, it was not enough for our government officials that Bulgarian trucks should come as far as Tirana or Pogradec. So the offer was rejected. Our government officials want foreigners not only to offer us this aid, but also to bring it here themselves and distribute it themselves throughout Albania, to every village, town, neighborhood, home—and perhaps even feed it to us themselves. Well, well, government officials! At a time when people are forgetting even what cheese looks like, let alone what it tastes like, our government officials are refusing aid! Likewise, an important Bulgarian company offered some clothing aid for Albanian orphan children, along with a number of used televisions. And not just a few: eight trucks of clothing and one of televisions. According to reports, the aid was refused because, apparently, we do not have a law specifying who should receive it(?!) Someone says, “Here you are, I’m giving it to you.” We tell them, “We have no law.” Could it be that we are waiting for the foreigner to give us the law too, along with the aid?! How ridiculous, and at the same time how painful. The orphans are waiting for some clothes to wear, while our government officials have no law!(.)