INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA, RAMIZ ALIA, GIVEN TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE NEWSPAPER «RILINDJA DEMOKRATIKE», FRANK CUPI, AND THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE NEWSPAPER «ZËRI I POPULLIT», NAMIK DOKIE — Dear President. You have just been elected to this important post by the People’s Assembly, the first pluralist Albanian parliament. This has been reported as an important event throughout Albanian public opinion, at home and abroad. As an independent press organ, we felt it our duty to convey a message to the public through your first interview. — What is your opinion of the current political, economic and social situation facing the country? — Before speaking about the political, social and political situation: I also said in my speech to the People’s Assembly that it is difficult, in the sense that there are many economic, political and social hardships. And today, before all our people, but also before all political forces, the question of close cooperation is being raised, so that we can get down to work. The people want calm; the country needs economic development, because it is truly a bad thing that things are not moving forward. The spring planting and in the government formation. No doubt, it is for them to judge and decide on this. — How can these situations be overcome as quickly as possible and in the immediate interests of the people? — I think we have the means to emerge from these difficulties. I would mention two reasons: First, I think our people are hardworking; our people love work, and they lack neither the desire nor the will to overcome these situations. Yet, on the other hand, it is not ... I would like to single out two things: First, I would like to thank all our people, the working masses of the country, and the political forces, who entrusted me with this duty bearing great responsibility for the nation. Second, I would like to underscore the fact that two newspapers belonging to two parties that are in opposition to one another have come together to conduct an interview. This was a very beautiful moment. While a representative of one newspaper was waiting for me in my office, and we were there the whole time, in another moment a representative of the other newspaper called me on the phone to interview me as well. I am glad that you agreed to this joint interview. As for the economic situation, it is not encouraging; on the contrary, things are very bad compared with previous years. It is regrettable that plans are not being fulfilled in other sectors either, for many reasons. Such an economic situation cannot fail to create social problems, and cannot fail to leave its mark on political life. Therefore, given the overall situation we are going through, we absolutely need the comprehensive mobilization of forces, especially close cooperation among all political forces, for the good of the people and the country’s progress. Today, too, in the meetings I held with representatives of parliamentary groups and political parties, I stressed the need for cooperation among political forces, if possible, even to the point of compromise. Certainly, every person in the Assembly, even if tired, is very conscious of Albania’s past. Nevertheless, I have been struck by the sense of responsibility to deal with the future, without being able to turn back, and by the need to act and fight. Question: Do you think we should not talk about the past? Answer: On the contrary. No country can deny its history. I also have Germany in mind. After the war, Germans did not talk about the past. Then they saw that it was necessary to confront it and learn from it. Nevertheless, I would emphasize that it is for Albanians to decide when and how they will deal with the recent past of their history. Question: And what is your opinion of the election results? Answer: I think you have heard the government’s official commentary—

PARLIAMENTARY OBSERVER Yesterday, during the morning session of the People’s Assembly, until 12 o’clock, deputies discussed the parliamentary commissions for drafting the constitution and the draft rules of procedure... Later, throughout the day, the discussion continued with the events in Shkodër. But neither the report presented by the parliamentary commission nor the subsequent course of the discussions cleared the fog that has descended over the crimes in Shkodër. Indeed, shifting the main issue from finding the perpetrators of the crime to a tangle of speculation about who organized the gathering of people in front of the PP committee in Shkodër not only fails to lift the fog, but makes it even denser. Unlike the first report, the parliamentary commission’s second report shed not a glimmer of light on the truth. The general observations and the moral responsibilities left to be understood as applying to all the political party leaderships in Shkodër—for poor work—neither warmed nor cooled anyone. The special commission had even envisaged some measures. It seemed that the proposal to dismiss Interior Minister Gramoz Ruçi, Prosecutor General Rrapi Mino, and the Chairman of the General Investigative Directorate, Qemal Lame, had been included in the report in order to create the impression that effective measures were being taken to calm tempers. But this achieves nothing. The people of Shkodër and Albanian public opinion as a whole want the truth to be uncovered on the basis of serious investigations, not to have wool pulled over their eyes with sweeping conclusions and measures. The suspicious dragging out of the investigation in Shkodër and the discouraging result stemming from this procedure added to the confusion in the subsequent debate. Thus, after Mr Alushani, as chairman of this commission, had said nothing new worth mentioning, he began answering questions the deputies had submitted to the secretariat. The partial answers he gave on several occasions only added to the confusion. Asked where Azem Hajdari was at that hour, or about his connection with the events in Shkodër, he replied that it was an open question. Although Azem Hajdari was not in the Assembly chamber, Mr Alil, had he wanted to or properly fulfilled the duty entrusted to him, could have answered: it is impossible that the investigators should know nothing of Azem Hajdari’s movements and whereabouts during those days. This has been said and repeated several times, and if the investigators, the members of the special parliamentary commission, or even its chairman do not know it, this shows that they have undertaken the investigation and follow-up of this tragic event irresponsibly. In any case, the DP deputies who spoke afterwards once again explained in detail that Azem Hajdari, as a DP deputy elected in Shkodër, went to that city to calm the irritated people and left after the crimes had been committed. But the reopening of a subject that appears to be closed is evidently not without purpose. It is a well-known practice that, in cases of this kind, some people are interested in diverting the path away from the real culprit. If the deputy heads of the investigative service have come forward with a proposal to dismiss the three senior state officials responsible for the crimes, then the deputies from the Shkodër district, Petër Arbnori, Blerim Cela and Ali Spahia, who were also eyewitnesses to the event, state that it was the gunshots heard the previous night that “greeted” the PP’s victories in the elections, before the demonstrations. Nevertheless, for now, that is of little importance. The crime was committed in broad daylight, at a specific place and time, in the presence of thousands of people, and the perpetrators must be found. It is therefore necessary to uncover the criminals in order to prevent the crimes from going unpunished. For sometimes crimes of this kind are organized for the first time. July 2 in Tirana, the people killed at the border, all belong to the same tragic national pattern. The detailed account given by Omonia deputy Thoma Miço of the crimes on the southern border, including the killings of the Praso brothers, etc., was also a call for others to honestly seek to lift the fog surrounding the tragic events and name the perpetrators. GENC TIRANA

(Photo: G. Xhengo - ATSH)

Today, 4 May, under the auspices of the Democratic League of Kosovo and its branches in Western Europe, America and Australia, mass protests by Albanians are being organized wherever they are, against the Serbo-Slavic plans that envisage Albanians taking part in discussions about the future of Yugoslavia, alongside all the other nations and nationalities in Yugoslavia. , under the auspices of the Democratic League of Kosovo and its branches in Western Europe, America and Australia, mass protests by Albanians are being organized wherever they are, against the Serbo-Slavic plans that envisage Albanians taking part in discussions about the future of Yugoslavia, alongside all the other nations and nationalities in Yugoslavia. The protest is also directed against the Serbo-Slavic plans aimed at partitioning and laying claim to the Albanian lands of Kosovo. The proclamation issued by the branch of the Democratic League of Kosovo in Western Europe, America and Australia states: «We call on members of the Democratic League, all Albanians living and residing in these countries, all friends and well-wishers of the Albanian people, and all supporters of democracy and freedom to take part in the rallies en masse». The rallies will be held in Bonn, Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Oslo, London, Washington, Melbourne. «RD» correspondent

We will never forget the martyrs of freedom Tomorrow is 5 May, the day of our martyrs. You give us reason to be proud that, in proportion to our small population and limited area, we are among the countries that have sacrificed the most for freedom. When we read about or remember the martyrs and the day you fell, when you were charging into the battlefields, we instinctively feel a deep pain in our hearts. When you took up arms and plunged into the flames of war, you understood well that the war would be very difficult, that the suffering would be great, and that death would constantly hang over your heads; but you did not count any of this, you did not weigh it at all, because your hearts were called by the Albanian people themselves—to fight for freedom and the independence of the homeland, for justice, equality and happiness for all. Tomorrow we will come to your graves and memorials with the greatest reverence and respect, with fresh bouquets of flowers, with the natural grief of a parent, brother, sister or child, but also with a strong feeling of ... from the bondage of foreigners, but troubled by the state dictatorship of the proletariat, with Enver Hoxha’s illegal and unchecked power, and the infamous, monstrous class struggle, while one Albanian was kept under another’s oppression. And harsher, bloodier. And for the best sons and daughters of the people, including members of your own families, were crushed, defeated or died in our medieval prisons for a mere word expressing dissatisfaction with the communist regime as a whole, or with a particular party member. When you were killed, you hoped and believed that our small Albania would become a country of great prosperity and struggle, prosperous and powerful. But we have done very little to fulfil this pledge of yours. To tell the truth, we can say that we remained the last country in Europe, with far more of our own faults and shortcomings to blame than the rest of the world. The PP tied our fate to that of the socialist bloc, led by Stalin’s Soviet Union, and made fatal mistakes and conducted experiments over many years, which compel us to say that over these 47 years we moved in a circle without prospects. Tomorrow, some of those comrades or former senior state leaders who became leaders of socialism in Albania will also come to your graves and memorials. Some of you may truly have faced bullets in order to save their lives. But they soon forgot the great sacrifices you made. They cannot make amends with a bouquet of flowers, a few empty words repeated for 47 years, or a toast to “many years in your state”. (Continued on page 2)

Interview with Mr William Raierson, head of the American delegation for the US Embassy in Tirana Question: What is your opinion of the proceedings of the first pluralist Assembly in post-war Albania? Answer: Listening to the debate in your Assembly, I think one can learn from you. Question: Isn’t that a great compliment you are paying us? Answer: You have earned it. There was a very honest discussion of the main constitutional issues in the Assembly, and it was conducted in a tolerant tone. Certainly, every person in the Assembly, even if tired, is very conscious of Albania’s past. Nevertheless, I have been struck by the sense of responsibility to deal with the future, without being able to turn back, and by the need to act and fight. Question: Do you think we should not talk about the past? Answer: On the contrary. No country can deny its history. I also have Germany in mind. After the war, Germans did not talk about the past. Then they saw that it was necessary to confront it and learn from it. Nevertheless, I would emphasize that it is for Albanians to decide when and how they will deal with the recent past of their history. Question: And what is your opinion of the election results? Answer: I think you have heard the government’s official commentary— (Continued on page 6)

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