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

By IDRIZ BASHA Several years ago, on 11 April 1976 to be precise, under this same title, I engaged in a polemic in the famous Paris newspaper «Le Monde», where Mr. A. Behar, former chairman of the Franco-Albanian Friendship Association, extolled the democratic merits of Albanian communism and the originality of the policy pursued by its communist leaders. In that article I wrote that I could not understand where socialism was to be found and where democracy was, in a country where torture existed; where citizens were arbitrarily imprisoned and sent to concentration camps; where private property and private initiative were prohibited by law; where the right to freedom of expression, conscience and religion was prohibited by the constitution—rights all set out in Articles 5, 9, 12 and 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The movement for freedom and democracy that broke out in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe brought an end to the existence of collectivist dictatorship in those countries, and the same thing happened here. World public opinion knew Havel of Czechoslovakia and Walesa of Poland as emblematic figures of this struggle, but it was the anonymous masses of the people who dealt the dictatorship its final blow. It must be acknowledged that these historic events went beyond the vision of even the most distinguished analysts of international politics, both in scale and in the speed with which that clay fortress, once called the socialist bloc, with the banner of Marxism-Leninism, was brought down. So today, with the exception of a few dinosaurs who still have not understood this (paleontologists say that even when dinosaurs had been mortally wounded, the nerve signal of this catastrophe took time to reach their brains), collectivist dictatorship has come to an end. The problem today is not how to emerge from communism, but how to emerge from its consequences. The one-party state has destroyed civil society, the economy, justice, culture and, above all, the citizen’s capacity for private initiative. Consequently, unfortunately, many reports by foreign correspondents emphasize our people’s anxieties about the future more than their hopes and faith in themselves, in our country, and in its creative and productive powers. Personally, I remain optimistic and convinced that a competent and active government team will be formed, but it must have the means to choose, decide and act without wasting time. The reorganization of civil society and the economy under the conditions in which our country finds itself, the affirmation of the authority of the state, the army, the police and the security services in the service of the homeland, the triumph and consolidation of the— …centration camps, in a country where private property and private initiative are conscience and religion is Rights. At the end of the article I told Mr. Behar, in response, that Albania was going nowhere—not to Helsinki (to the CSCE), not to Athens (to the Balkan Conference), and not to Moscow (to the Conference of Communist Parties from around the world). There you have it: an odd way of understanding international relations for a country you call democratic. We believe this is a refusal by Albania’s leaders to take responsibility for their duties, since nowhere better than in Helsinki and Athens could the problems of the Albanians of Kosovo (currently under Yugoslavia) and Çamëria (under Greece) have been raised. These are important issues of territorial integrity, whose resolution can be achieved around a table, but to accomplish that one must dare to leave Tirana, talk and inform international public opinion. Two years ago, the movement for freedom and democracy that erupted in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe became a place of representation, conscience and religion is international public opinion. catastrophe took time to reach their brains, so the animal kept shaking its head), no one advertises themselves as a communist anymore. The totalitarian danger can be fought with democratic methods, especially with free and honest conduct, but one must be aware that totalitarian temptation never dies; it is in the nature of certain individuals. The fact is that, in our country, an extreme demagoguery has given rise among us to a collective neurosis. It is enough to remember the rallies devoted to the cult of Enver and the Party of Labour. It was as though our people were seized by the fear that one day their line would die out, and to calm themselves they sang «Long live Enver Hoxha». Naturally, this was the façade one saw, but those who lost their lives or their youth in prisons and camps such as Spaç, Burrel and Bulqizë know the physical and spiritual trauma left by the inhuman policies of the past, which lasted for two generations. In any case, sooner or later history will determine each person’s responsibility for this tragic ca… tragic ca… …tent and active, but conditions in which our country finds itself, the strengthening and the nation, their depoliticization, as well as that of the trade unions, as in all democratic countries, the independence of the courts, etc., cannot be achieved without broad national consensus. This can be achieved only through a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect, and through the awareness that what is in the national interest is more important than individual career ambitions. If we add to domestic problems those of our Kosovar brothers and sisters, victims of Serbian great-power chauvinist policy—which is a sacred duty—then a government of national consensus is not only justified, but must absolutely win the support of the whole people and understanding on the international stage; otherwise, the chaotic situation will continue, with all its uncontrollable dangers. The political class must be held accountable for its historic responsibility. It has a duty to explain realistically, not with sterile demagoguery, how and where it intends to take Albania. Brussels, 6 March 1992

Sometimes people think otherwise: in terms of boundaries, lines, dates, names. No one can say what the hour is when people’s democracy begins; no one can say who the first democrat was. And even less can one think of these things in relation to Albania. Democracy has worked every day, even during the days of the dictatorship. Of course, one cannot imagine that, at the moment when thousands upon thousands of people marched past the May 1st reviewing stand, they would turn to Hoxha’s works and shout, «Freedom, democracy». Of course, one cannot imagine that, on leaving the leadership bloc, an employee would have been advised there by the cleaner, the doctor, the officer to form an opposition. But it was precisely in this way, slowly, slowly, that democracy worked. Sometimes it is thought of as a gift. But democracy works; it is the institutionalization of freedom. That is why we still have a great deal of work to do, and more beyond that, the more freedom we gain. Sometimes it is thought of as an endless garden where we select and are selected: these are democrats, these are antidemocrats; these are fortunate, these are confused, these are my enemies. As long as there are selectors and those who are selected, there is no full democracy. Nevertheless, democracy works. Sometimes temporary rule by a few is thought of as a right. Democracy works by recognizing everyone and recognizing no one. It neither keeps someone’s portrait in the kitchen, nor makes children argue with one another over someone else, nor blinds you with anyone’s portrait. Democracy works for majority rule while guaranteeing the rights of the minority. Democracy will work tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and always. Many people think and say that the day after tomorrow, on March 22, our fate or lack of it will be decided; that the day after tomorrow, on March 22, disaster will strike—or not. I would say to these people: this shows a lack of democracy, because by burdening oneself with the emotion of a beginning or an ending, one becomes unjustifiably stressed; because this way of judging resembles the Bolshevik way of judging, which divides human life and history into pieces and parcels, with cordons and hard boundaries. But democracy works today and tomorrow, too. Whatever happens, tomorrow we still have work, we still have life, energy, sun and night. Indeed, tomorrow we will have even more work. On March 23, the sun will not rise any differently than before, the wind will not blow differently, and we will not speak differently. Let us not think this way. Otherwise, we will grow tired of ourselves, and grow more and more tired until we think only of ourselves. Democracy works, one way or another: we are moving toward democracy. FROK CUPI But democracy works on its own; it has the whole marvelous mechanism of work. When you think you can bring democracy or receive it as a gift, at that very moment you have abandoned democracy yourself. People in a democratic society are people of a democratic society because democracy is not a gift to them; they live freely, without any «giver», and take responsibility for governing themselves. Sometimes democracy is thought of as freedom, and freedom as democracy. Sometimes they come together. But these two words are not synonyms. Sometimes there are people who abuse democracy, banging these two words against each other and harming both. To gain a little freedom—a little freedom to go to school, to have a right over one’s head, to have a nurse in the village, perhaps even a little freedom of speech and of the press—this still does not mean democracy. All the worse if you are an unfortunate case who has the right to play with the law, with the constitution—that certainly is not democracy. Democracy goes beyond the word freedom. Democracy…

Illustration: one person is lying on a bed while three other people push them.

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