Yesterday, the Presidium of the Journalists’ Union of Albania met, with guests—heads of various press organizations—also taking part. The organization’s chairman, Marash Hajati, delivered a report, «On the proceedings of the 11th Congress of the International Organization of Journalists.» At the meeting, the request of the Publishing Council of the newspaper «Rilindja Demokratike» to join the Journalists’ Union of Albania was also considered and approved, and the journalists of this newspaper were registered as members of the organization. (ATSH)

The PD Initiating Commission holds a regular press conference every week with local and foreign journalists. The latest conference, held on Saturday in the lecture hall of the Palace of Culture in Tirana, was opened by the chairman of the «RD» Publishing Council, Prec Zogaj. He gave the floor to Dr. Sali Berisha, who spoke about the current political situation from the PD’s point of view. Mr. Berisha said that in all its actions the PD adheres to the inter-party appeal to establish and preserve social peace during the pre-election campaign and beyond. But certain forces, he emphasized, acting directly or indirectly in the name of the PPSH, are violating that appeal. There is a connection between the infamous administrations organized by local officials of the party in power, the order of the Minister of Defence, Kiço Mustaqi, prohibiting the establishment of sections of other parties in the army, and articles coming out of PPSH offices that echo the slogan «We took it with blood; we will not give it up without blood». These facts serve the strategy of tension, whose purpose is to paralyze the democratic movement and undermine the free elections of 31 March. The PD, Dr. Berisha went on to say, … (Continued on page 2)

1—The news the birds brought The thunderous storm stopped in an instant, just as a fierce hailstorm lets up. Was this really Durrës’s square just a moment earlier, when stones, bricks, rubber truncheons, glass, helmets, shields and the occasional bullet were whistling in from every direction?!… It was. In an instant, as if by magic, the hailstorm cloud dispersed. And people—all those who had been in their homes, offices, neighbors’ houses and committees—came out into the streets. Across the whole square and the nearby streets rose the terrifying din of footsteps. Beneath people’s feet, thousands upon thousands of panes of glass shattered and crackled into countless pieces. Stones, stones. The square looks more like a quarry than a boulevard. Right in the center stands the blackened, frightening skeleton of some iron framework where the banner «Let us vote for the PPSH» had been displayed. It has just been burned. The grimy windows of the district Party Committee’s headquarters have only been pierced by stones, because they have not been smashed like the windows of some shops and bookshops and the communist education centers. The «Dyrrah» bookshop continues to burn for a long time. People are stunned. The wounded have by now been taken into homes. Mothers curse and pray. A few old men, rosaries in their hands, have come out onto their doorsteps and seem to whisper: «What is this, oh God?!…» A rumor spread and wrecked our song. The birds spread it, the birds… It was the anonymous, baseless rumor that on 9 February traders would come to Durrës for Albanians seeking work and send them wherever there was work, to South Africa. The rumor brought thousands of people from all over Albania: young people, men, women, children. The thousands who came and were deceived clashed with the police and the forces charged with maintaining order. They set brother against brother and sister against sister, children against fathers—everyone against one another. Who spread the rumor? The birds? The «birds» spread the news about the opening of the embassies on 2 July 1990, then 27 July, then about the 300 or so who crossed the border at Shkodër, then about nearly 12,000 who crossed the Greek border?!… The same birds. Either they fly in airplanes, drive around in fast cars, or have good communications and command devices in their ears. Otherwise, this effect could not have been achieved. But who are they? Surely the government knows. Because the government «knows everything, but catches the hare with a cart». But why wait for carts in these modern times? 2—These are human beings Surely tomorrow the government, and perhaps its propaganda too, will come out and call these people hooligans, vandals, beasts who destroyed socialist property. Look, as I stand here, I say that these people slept on staircases, at acquaintances’ homes, in gardens, but caused no damage and kept nobody awake all night. That is, until the only ferry that came to Durrës, a regular service ferry, set off empty for Italy. Then trouble broke out on both sides. They were driven by desperation, by the need for work and the means to live… Tomorrow, or on the evening news, they will say that these people destroyed everything. Not everything. For example, not a single window in a hospital or ambulance was broken; not a single window in residents’ homes or in a school. In block no. 2, in neighborhood 11, the pharmacy and the communist education center stand next to each other. The pharmacy has suffered no damage. There you are—human beings… Around 11 o’clock a man was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground, covered in blood, right in front of the Party Committee. (They say he did not die.) But in all that storm of people, not one person stepped in that pool of blood. I saw people forget their own heads and go and place some stones around it. Human beings, then… Right at the height of the clash, a funeral procession began to make its way across the square. At once the cyclone calmed; everyone stood still as a mark of respect. Human beings, then. Several policemen are quite badly injured. One drags his leg; another cannot use his arm properly. But no hatred for the person who injured them can be read in any of their eyes. In silence, they continue to replay in their minds the grim, tragic scene that was caused… But the bookshops are filled with works by Enver Hoxha. Book after book, thick volumes. Photographic records. The speech at the plenum and… The meeting with… The conversation with… The magnificent prospects of… The working class must enter the battlefield and… The bookshops that were wrecked were attacked precisely so that Enver Hoxha’s works could be taken and thrown into the square, torn up. In the bookshop behind the Executive Committee, literary works were hardly touched, while everything that was a work by Enver Hoxha… Only an occasional book with a thick cover, such as a book by Shefqet Musaraj, was thrown into the street torn apart. The road leading to the port bears the name of Enver Hoxha. The plaque bearing his name has been smashed to pieces. Not five meters from this plaque is the memorial plaque for Sotor Noka, the martyr of the antifascist demonstrations, but it has not been touched at all. No archaeological object in Durrës has been damaged. Nor has the monument to Mujo Ulqinaku, which occupies an entire square near the port. In the education centers and other corners of the city, Enver Hoxha’s portrait has been burned. His books, plaques, name and other symbols have roused people’s nerves and blood so much that, overcome by shame, they did all this destruction, smashing windows and counters. So Enver Hoxha is present. His name, teachings and image, even today—or today more than ever—are stirring and disrupting people’s lives, turning people against people and entire social groups against one another. FRROK ÇUPI (Continued on page 6) … dazed. The wounded, who have been… many have rushed into their homes. Mothers curse and pray. Some old men with prayer beads seem to whisper: “Why didn’t you take us, O God!...” Two women suddenly start screaming and wailing, heading toward the center of the bookshop: “They’re taking the boys, all the young boys; they’re taking everyone they find. Oh, no!...” But this lasts only a short while… That was the city of Durrës at midday on Saturday, February 9, 1991. In front of the people, amid completely wrecked bookshops, a man approaches us and says: “Well, then,

Dear Mr. Minister? After reading your interview published in the newspaper «ZP» on 10 2 1991, I thought I would express a few thoughts about it. First, I want to stress that I did not accuse you of attempting a coup, and I do not understand your haste to deny in the interview something I never said. Of course, that is your right and you may do so. But where you are seriously mistaken is in identifying yourself with the people’s army and in prohibiting the creation of structures and the carrying out of activities by other political parties in units, military formations, schools, enterprises and institutions. Mr. Minister, I denounced this order in my interview, and I will denounce it again. According to this order, the Democratic Party and the other parties in Albania, except the PP, are illegal—indeed, illegal. Politically, you are using the army to outlaw them. Your order shows that this state has a super-minister (the Minister of Defence), who disregards the decree signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; who also disregards the government, which has declared its support for pluralism and legalized the parties that you do not allow in the army. This order expresses your position in favor of a monist army, in which you, as a member of the Political Bureau and minister, may well be the only person in Europe who can issue unlawful orders that suit you. In denouncing your illegal action, nobody means the people’s army. On the contrary: every attempt to keep the army of a pluralist people monist is anti-popular and anti-national and may serve certain interests, but never the interests of the nation as a whole. In your interview, Mr. Minister, you also used personal insults against me. I consider it appropriate not to answer them. I believe that personal insults have no place in a political debate and do not help calm anyone. I wish to make clear that the lessons of history have not come from white coats, but from other uniforms. Regards, Dr. SALI BERISHA First, I want to emphasize that I did not accuse you of planning generalize in the interview about something I did not say. Nevertheless, where you are gravely mistaken is in identifying yourself with the people’s army. You must understand, Mr. Minister, that those times are over once and for all. Second, I want to emphasize that in my interview I did not speak of army plans for a coup. To clarify public opinion, and first and foremost that of the military, I quote what I said: “We also take this opportunity to call on our Albanian brothers in the army not to submit to the ambitions of the orders of a small number who wish our country ill and want to bring dark days upon it, but to remain firmly committed to the interests of the nation and Albania, and to pledge allegiance to the national flag and Skanderbeg’s eagle. Rumors are circulating as if the Democrats are disarmed with them. This is absolutely untrue. The D.P. has complete confidence that they will never, under any circumstances, take up arms against their own families or rise up against the vital interests of their country.” With these words, then, I am not insinuating (as you say) anything about army plans for a coup; rather, I am expressing my unwavering confidence in its patriotism, its democratic spirit, and its ideals for a democratic Albania. Your presentation, on the other hand, is intended to distance the army from the Democratic Party and turn it against the party. This tendency—or, more accurately, your position—is clearly expressed in your Order No. 12, dated 22.1.1991, entitled “On Certain Current Issues of Internal Life in the Army,” in which it is ordered that…

come out and say of these people: Hooligans, vandals, beasts—they destroyed socialist property. The point is that these people are human beings, just as it turned out that those who turned their backs on their homeland by going through the embassies, and so on, were human beings. Do you want facts for this government, which is still sitting in Tirana today? Here they are: There are thousands of people who arrived in Durrës last night and slept under the shelter of homes, beneath … leg; another cannot use his arm properly. But hatred for the person who injured them cannot be read in anyone’s eyes. In silence, they continue to recall the terrible scene caused among innocent people, with innocent people on both sides. Human beings, then! The whole square of Durrës and the road leading from the square to…

On 9 February 1991, at the initiative of the Democratic Party, representatives of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party held talks, with the following agenda: 1. Exchange of views on the Electoral Law. 2. Exchange of views on depoliticizing the state apparatus. The PD delegation included Eduard Selami, Pre Zogaj and Genc Ruli. The PR delegation included Vangjush Gambeta, Hysen Cobani and Agim Zeka. The talks were held in a spirit of dialogue and understanding. (Continued on page 2)

On February 7, at 19:40, 2,500 workers and citizens of Bulqiza came out to the city center, shouting: “We want water, we want electricity, we want heating!” “Down with bureaucracy!” “We want Albania to be like all of Europe.” The protesters expressed solidarity with the students’ demands; the students have been on strike in recent days. The protest demonstration lasted 5 hours. At its conclusion, the workers and citizens of Bulqiza, who had also chanted the slogans “We are workers who have a cough,” “We are not hooligans,” and “We produce, but we do not destroy,” dispersed peacefully. EDMOND LALA

In order for the March 31 elections to be genuinely free and democratic, employees of dozens of enterprises in Tirana have sent the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly a petition calling for all the conditions demanded by the Democratic Party to be met, so as to create a democratic atmosphere for free elections. To date, 50 enterprises, with 4,500 signatures, have submitted such a petition. B. SALA

In recent days, employees of the Delegations Park in Tirana held a meeting to establish a section of the Democratic Party there. Representatives of the Tirana district branch of the Democratic Party also took part. Those present expressed solidarity with the Democratic Party and accepted its program. The D.P. section in this park was formed with around 50 members.

Photo: D. BAKO

PETITION to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly We, the workers of the Auto-Tractor Combine, observing the developments in the democratization of the country’s life and wishing to advance these developments further for the good of our people and our homeland, submit the following request: As everyone knows, the Combine was given Enver Hoxha’s name without asking or consulting its workforce, and it still bears that name today. However, Enver Hoxha established by Constitution: a. The dictatorship of the proletariat. b. The class struggle. c. The leading role of the Party in all the social activity of our country. d. He cultivated his personality cult. e. He outlawed religion, persecuting and even sentencing its preachers to death. Many of the teachings advocated by Enver Hoxha have either been swept away by the wind of democracy now blowing throughout our country, or are tending to become obsolete. (Continued on page 2)