1. WITHOUT COMFORT . WITHOUT COMFORT To the small group of publishers of «Rilindja Demokratike» and its many readers, eight says something worth remembering. These are the first eight issues of January, prepared for publication by two or three journalists in a small office at the PD headquarters, amid the endless comings and goings of dozens and dozens of citizens. I would not be exaggerating to say that not a single newspaper article has been read to the end without looking up at least five or six times to answer these citizens. Then there are eight long nights at the printing house with the heroic typesetters in the newspaper department; there are eight long queues from the early hours of the morning to buy a copy of «Rilindja». We publishers are saddened by one more queue in our mornings, but we are also glad that the newspaper found a mass readership by writing about truths and phenomena that had never before been spoken of publicly. The intellectuals are speaking, the newspaper’s strongest support. Those who until now had no voice are speaking too, because they were censored by the totalitarian state. Albanians in Kosovo and the diaspora are speaking. Under the extraordinary pressure of information, and in the uncomfortable conditions of making a newspaper without established centers, some inaccuracies, an edit-worthy phrase, and even a rushed article have slipped in. The newspaper has had and has the courage to criticize itself. The only capital in the world without accredited foreign journalists? But silence. Mr. A. A. belongs to the bunkerist breed. He wants no witnesses to his own work and the victory it serves. In his «democratic» soul the bunkerist gene awakens: Wait a minute, let’s see who this person is who has written? Mr. A. A. is no ordinary person! He apparently even has control over whether there will be accredited foreign journalists in Tirana or not. At least that is what one gathers if we refer to his reply, «When I have them, why should I take others?», words he addresses to the writer Lesnik Mu-stafaj, author of six books of poetry and prose, two books of translations, and countless articles in the literary and political press. Mr. A. A. apparently does not read; he mainly answers questions about who gets into «Dajti», who gives interviews to the foreign press, and so on and so forth. There you have it: at a time when Albania expects the depoliticization of the police, we are witnessing a phenomenon unforeseen by democracy: the politicization of civilians of the A. A. kind, specialized in trumpeting declarations and defending the «democratic secret» that only he knows. Lucky us! Lucky «Zëri» to have such a client! The Block’s ties are not made of concrete. Its bonds rest on kinship, marriage ties, and blood relations among those who live and rule in the Block and throughout the country. For four decades and more, Albania has been governed by the blood network, by the circle of relatives and in-laws. That is precisely why the Block cannot be broken. The Block is not only a neighborhood in a corner of Tirana e Re, but the Block that is in government. As for me, I do not blame anyone; I say the Block cannot be broken. Could the government possibly meet and decide to do this? No... of the diaspora. Under the extraordinary pressure of information, and in circumstances that make it difficult to produce a newspaper, it is inevitable that a paper as muddled as this will contain an occasional inaccuracy, an editable phrase, or even a rushed article. The newspaper has had, and still has, the courage to correct inaccuracies and publish articles responding to other articles, provided that the ethics of democratic dialogue are respected. That is what happened with the article «Valiasi like Stari Tërgu», and with the inaccuracy in the translation of the resolution of the Political Committee of the European Parliament, an inaccuracy that «Zëri i popullit» published under the title «Responsibility», [unclear text at top of column] «Rilindja» in order to seize on phrases and construct lamentable rejoinders through contributors and writers with whom it is hardly worth engaging. When the magnifying glass fails to find phrases suited to its appetite, then the servant or editor of «Zëri» calls upon its detested legacy of commonplace fabrication and dossier-building, as was seen in Mr. A. A.’s article on Sunday. We expect this gentleman—this tells us why Tirana is [unclear] [unclear text] it would be good if «Zëri i popullit» also helped more than ever today to combat bureaucracy at every level. But recently this newspaper has acquired a bad habit: day after day it scrutinizes «Rilindja»’s articles with a magnifying glass this gentleman—this tells us why Tirana is [unclear]

Request to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly The Initiative Commission submitted to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly its request for the immediate depoliticization of the Army, the Internal Affairs organs, and the judiciary, as a condition for proceeding to free and democratic elections. The Initiative Commission also reiterated its request for the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners. The Initiative Commission

The Initiative Commission protested of Justice, demanding the precise implementation of Decree No. 7742, dated 17.12.1990, on the creation of political organizations. The protest emphasizes that, as long as the judiciary is not being implemented, the Democratic Party sections should also be allowed to be established in the organs and institutions of the ministries. Recently, it has been learned that the leaders of the Ministry of Defense issued an order prohibiting the establishment of PD sections, an act that is unlawful. The Initiative Commission

On 28.1.1991 at 15:30, a rally organized by the PD Initiative Commission for Tirana’s higher education institutions took place in «DEMOCRACY» Square in the «Student City». The results of this commission’s meeting with the Minister of Education, Skënder Gjinushi, were presented at the rally. Several members of the commission spoke. They spoke about resolving students’ economic problems as quickly as possible, depoliticizing the school and the bodies responsible for maintaining public order, as well as the army. Members of the Initiative Commission also gave greetings at the rally. (Continued on page 3)

On the 55th anniversary of his birth (Read on page 5) On the 55th anniversary of his birth Was Ismail Kadare followed? (Read on page 5)

For so long, people have been talking only about the Block where the PPSH leadership lives. All the more so now, in this time of grave crisis and poverty: «They live there in luxury and villas, while we are in the state you see us in». This is a popular opinion, undoubtedly shared by others there too. Once it was said that it was only called the Block. Then the young people elected to the Political Bureau did not move into the Block, and this was considered a merit. (So the Block existed.) Then two or three left the Block and moved into the very villas of the Block. The Block is not being dismantled. It should be dismantled, at least now. Nevertheless, the main obstacle to this may be... First of all, the head of the Government himself, Adil Çarçani, is related by marriage to people in the Block, for example to Manush Myftiu, who until yesterday was deputy prime minister. Can you tell a son’s wife to leave the Block?! And Manush Myftiu is Piro Kondi’s co-brother-in-law. Piro Kondi is Vito Kapo’s brother. They are related by marriage to Sofokli Lazri. Besnik Bekteshi also married off his daughter in the Block. The Block is both real and figurative. Indeed, the Block of marriage ties among the country’s prominent figures is more real than reality itself. Two ministers, Enver Halili and Reiz Malile, are related by marriage; two foreign affairs officials, So-Çuko, head of the Statute, is Dhimitër Shandro’s in-law. Their children are in the embassies. All have higher education; all are prepared to wield and retain power. A new Block is being prepared. This is a very special case, one worth noting: all the children of state and party dignitaries have proved capable of studying and governing; all have received excellent grades (?) How is it that not one became a worker, or a mechanic, or an officer, or even an agronomist on an agricultural cooperative? How is it that none of them went to a remote region of the Homeland to lift it out of backwardness? I have the right to ask another question: Could none of these families have had a disabled person, or someone with an intellectual disability, or a fool, just as different families and clans among the people have had and still have? A miracle! Another blessing, too: not a single enemy of the people has come out of the kinship Block. The Block is not being dismantled. When the Block is dismantled, we will be entitled to say that one of the pillars of nepotism in the governance of Albania has been dismantled. What, did we have nepotism here, in government, along with all the other «isms» in the world? Nepotism is one of the most primitive remnants and «isms» in the world. You can find its definition only in foreign dictionaries! The granting of special favors by a person in a high position to his relatives. There you have it: it turns out that we have nepotism, and we also have a Block, and a great divide between the people and the leadership, and this state of affairs that we see with our own eyes and experience every moment, in the Albania of the people. FRROK CUPI It is only called a bloc. Once, move into the bloc, and that was called a merit. (So there is a bloc, then.) Later, two or three left the bloc and moved into the bloc’s villas all the same. The bloc is not being dismantled. It ought to be dismantled, at least now. Nevertheless, the main weight of this issue lies not only in the fact that some families live in villas clustered in a bloc and surrounded by soldiers, nor in the fact that dozens of other families outside the bloc benefit from them and, in that sense, are part of the bloc too. Let them stay. Albanians have endured poverty themselves, even when others caused it. But the main weight of this issue lies precisely in the question: Why is the bloc not being broken up? The bloc’s ties are not made of concrete. They lie in kinship, in marriage ties, in the blood relations of those who live and govern in the bloc and throughout the country. For more than four decades, Albania has been governed by a bloodline, by a circle of relatives and in-laws. It is precisely for this reason that the bloc cannot be broken up. The bloc is not only the fenced-off area in a corner of New Tirana, but the bloc that is in government. Personally, I don’t blame anyone; I say the bloc cannot be dismantled. Could the government perhaps meet and decide to do this? I don’t Will the bloc be dismantled? The bloc is not being dismantled; it is sprouting. Yes, yes, just look at how it is sprouting in a completely peculiar, almost invisible form. The leaders’ children are becoming—and have all become—managers. Director Sokol Hoxha, director Iliri too; the wife of one is a deputy director, the wife of the other is a deputy director; the first secretary is Rita Markos’s son-in-law, and another is at an embassy; the secretary of the statute was Lenka Stafaj, press. Mr. A. A. apparently does not read, but mainly spies on who goes so on. There you have it: at a time when Albania is expecting unforeseen in a democracy: the policing of civilians of the A. A. type, specialized in trumpeting statements us! Lucky «Zëri» to have such a client! marriage ties between the country’s leading figures. marriage; the two foreign ministers, Sokol Lazi and Kostandin Hoxha, are related by marriage; Enver Halili is Xhemal Dymyla’s brother-in-law, Reiz Malile is related by marriage to Xhafer Spahiu, who in turn is related by marriage to Adil Çarçani; Ksenofon Nushi is related by marriage to Anastas Kondo, who is related by marriage to Prokop Murra. Indeed, the two greatest leaders of the Party of Labour, Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia, also formed a marriage alliance years ago... The bloc cannot be dismantled. I do not believe that even Xhelil Gjoni, secretary of the Party’s Central Committee, who now lives outside the bloc, will say anything about the bloc, because through the friendly ties he has, he is himself inside it. Lenka

On January 20, the newspaper «Zëri i Popullit», organ of the Central Committee of the PPSH, published the leading article under the authorial title «Communists Have No Reason to Cower», addressed to members of the PPSH. In essence, the first paragraph said that a criminal newspaper crossfire had now been directed at Albanian communists, backed by forces numbering in the millions, if we are to take the statements in that paragraph at face value. «From abroad and from all directions...» as well as weapons in ... [unclear text]. After this moving introduction, the next paragraph began as follows: «Yes, we communists have also made mistakes». I would like to ask whether this is a more cautious sentence, or one intended to discredit the communists completely, as has been publicly expressed about Albanian communists. Allow me to reason briefly. What mistakes does the anonymous article writer mean? The Stalinist policy chosen for implementation in the life of the country by the PPSH leadership? The class struggle that gradually became a solution imposed on a good part of our people? Foreign policy, which only aborted and, when it managed to give birth, produced monsters? Or does he mean the failed (stifling) economic policy, which plunged the Albanian people into misery while the world was overflowing with prosperity? Or does he mean those dozens of orders, laws, decrees, etc., approved against the poor animals: cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits, and so on? Without going into other details that make up the Albanian [unclear]—perhaps it is possible to forget his poverty, forgiving his sins to the [unclear]—does the anonymous article writer (whose party class affiliation and the sins he carries on his shoulders are unknown) perhaps want to make nearly 1,200,000 communists responsible for these mistakes? For this devastation of Albania? Does the anonymous writer perhaps want to make working communists responsible for Stalinism? Does the hidden hand imagine that the views of the peasant communist and cooperative member were sought on collectivization? No one denies that PPSH members, together with the Albanian people, proved conformist. But this was dictatorial conformism. That is, if I, a simple communist, opposed it, the one giving the orders would consider me a [unclear] and wring my neck! There are tens of thousands of honest people in the ranks of the PPSH; there are many Albanian intellectuals, and thousands of communists who hate dictatorship and love democracy, who fight with their professional and moral contributions against ruin and inhumanity. So why does the leading article of the communists’ organ try to make these people guilty, or, as the popular expression goes, «put them all in the same pot»? Taking everything into account (although the anonymous writer of the leading article has made mistakes too—even [unclear]), this is not how things are done. When certain party leaders (some dozens of them) voluntarily took responsibility for this people and told them: «Now we will think for you; you only work with revolutionary mobilization!», they accepted that responsibility, according to the ancient rite, for good days and bad. Therefore they must bear the bad things now, just as they enjoyed the good things all these years! None of these beneficiaries of material comforts has the moral right to tell ordinary Albanian communists: «Yes, we communists have also made mistakes!» It is hardly fair that the good things were tendentiously gathered into the leaders’ villas (the leadership—pleasure; the communists and the people—suffering), while the bad things are now hastily being shared out fraternally. Therefore, let this invisible anonymous writer, whose patriotism has lost its reflexes, give up the habits of the ancient pharaohs, who were buried together with their servants. Or does this accountant of death still live in the time of the pharaohs? Whatever the anonymous loudspeaker of the PPSH has written, and whatever he continues to write, the Albanian people know very well that, amid the wave of strikes that swept the country, these communist strikers—and that many communists, children of communists and their relatives have joined the Democratic Party—are the reason for this haste to «strengthen the ranks» and for an alliance with the [unclear] elite; surely it is nothing but some [unclear] material, forced humor. TEODOR KAKO

Our natural and historical allies Now that the era of «unbreakable» or «eternal» alliances is over, it is natural for our country to seek not friends and friendships based on ideological foundations, but genuine economic, trade, political and cultural partners. The ground we have lost by isolating ourselves is vast and difficult to recover, so now that domestic conditions for democratic development have also been created, relations with countries whose interests coincide with ours must be expanded. We are beginning this column with a neighboring country, Italy, about which our press has said little in recent years, while Albanian diplomacy has been content with a few protocol visits that ended with the signing of general agreements, most of which have scarcely been implemented. Italy’s geographical position is well known. We are separated by less than 100 kilometers, and economic development has placed Italy in an important international position. According to data from the «De Agostini» Geographical Institute, Italy has an annual national output of 600 billion dollars and ranks fifth in the world in terms of industrial development, after the United States of America, Japan, Germany and France. It has developed entire branches of the economy, such as machinery manufacturing, chemicals, electronics, and so on, all at one of the most advanced technological levels in the world. Diplomatic relations between the two countries, Albania and Italy, were established as early as 1949. For entire decades they were extremely limited. The obstacles are well known: our autocratic system, self-isolation; the sense of security provided by our ties with great friends, who one day turned into enemies of Albania. After the 1980s, when Albania no longer received aid from China, Albanian diplomacy began cautiously moving toward the West in search of a worthwhile partner. In those years, relations with Italy also drew closer intensively, reaching their high point with the visit to (Continued on page 8)