THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT MUST NOT BELONG TO THE FORCES OF THE PAST

By Idriz Basha Several years ago, under this very title, a pamphlet was published denouncing various people as anti-democrats, anti-communists, etc., etc. Of course, 18 years ago this act by klish Buçkoku was ignorance, and it would have been madness to pay even a single penny for it. In any case, what mattered was that it was an attempt to deceive the masses with pathetic words. Is there any similarity with today? The people from the east are now exaggerated. Today most of them cannot even hold a pencil, because beneath their composure lies ignorance. At first glance, propaganda is their only tool. They have turned every day into a contest of words. Why? Because they have no program. That is the real situation. It is not hard to understand who is trying to deceive. It is the one who shouts the loudest, the one who speaks the longest, the one who makes limitless promises. When ideas are lacking, empty words come. When courage is lacking, cries come. When political culture is lacking, insults come. Albania has entered a new stage and the Albanian citizen is learning to choose. That is the greatest thing. To choose means to think, to compare, to judge. And not to submit blindly to whoever tells you that history is on their side. This is exactly where the great division lies. Democracy is not noise, but responsibility. It is not a flag to be waved in the wind, but a system of rules and respect for the vote. Whoever does not respect the vote does not respect the citizen either. Even today there are still people who dream of power as private property. They do not want opponents, they do not want a free press, they do not want a different opinion. They want to rule as they did yesterday, but with new words. It is precisely to these people that the future must not be left. Democracy is not perfect and does not promise miracles overnight. But it gives one fundamental thing: the right of the people to correct a mistake. Under dictatorship, the mistake remains law; in democracy, it can be brought down by vote. Therefore, the question “Where is Albania going?” has only one worthy answer: where the free vote of its people takes it. Not where the shadows of the past push it, not where old deceptions pull it, but where the judgment of the citizens decides. 6 March 1992 6 March 1992.

In a democracy, a beautiful word, it does not remain only for speeches. Stop and look: people are speaking loudly, arguing and reaching agreements. That is the sign of life. Those who live with the memory of the old order find it hard to accept this noise. It seems like chaos to them. But free chaos is more honest than the silence of fear. Democracy does not begin in parliament. It begins in the family, in school, in the neighborhood, in the newsroom, in the union, in the square. It begins when a person feels that their word has weight and that no one can take it away by force. Therefore, the work of democracy is everyday work. It does not end with voting. That is only when it begins. After that, institutions are needed, laws are needed, honest people are needed to enforce them. Without this, democracy remains a signboard without a house. We need patience and vigilance. Not patience toward injustice, but patience in building the new order. And not the vigilance of yesterday, which spied on people, but civic vigilance that protects rights. In short, freedom is not rest. It is work.

6 March 1992

THE WARNING OF DEMOCRACY. By RIDOLF MARKU AN INTERVIEW ON THE EVE OF A TRULY CLEAR PARLIAMENT By AHMET SHQARBI The All-Albanian Gathering was held in the shadow of darkness By NESHAT TOZAJ CYFREVOLSON FRIHA "KOCI"- By HAZI ISLAMI