- Excerpts from the report on abuses in the field of health care by senior party and state leaders during the period 1980–1990 - The Aliaj family, treated just like the Hoxha family, spent 145 thousand dollars in the years 1986–1990, including the expenses for the sons-in-law’s medical treatment in Paris several times and sending the in-law to Paris for treatment three times. The Çarçani family spent 93,600 dollars on 10 trips abroad during the years 1985–1990. A. Çarçani himself went abroad three times for treatment that was more than necessary, spending around 71 thousand dollars and accompanied by 9, 10 and 12 people—doctors, officers, drivers, cooks, the Director of the Reception Directorate, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and each time his wife, who incurred additional medical expenses. On these occasions, A. Çarçani and his companions were given lunches using Ministry of Health funds, which constituted a waste of the economy. Teuta Çarçani accompanied her son in 1987 and spent 7,565 dollars on medical treatment for herself. For the family circle of M. Myfiti, 50,160 dollars and 33,683 lek were spent in the years 1986–1990 on 7 trips abroad for treatment (2 by his granddaughter). During the ten years in which M. Myfiti travelled, he was accompanied by 3 or 4 people—doctors, officers and others—spending 14,428 dollars, together with his wife, who, as an accompanying person, underwent medical examinations costing 428 dollars. The family of R. Marko spent 21,148 dollars in 1986–1988 on two trips abroad, accompanied by doctors, officers and nurses; on one occasion his wife also accompanied him and incurred medical expenses. (Continued on page 5) At the people’s expense [?]

Interview with the Minister of Defence, Mr Perikli Teta, by our journalist Mehilli Tanushi - DEMOCRATIZING THE ARMY REQUIRES NEW THINKING - IN LEADERSHIP—THE MOST CAPABLE CADRES - RELATIONS WITH THE WORLD, INCLUDING IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE Question: Mr Minister! First of all, I thank you for giving this interview to our newspaper. It would be of interest to begin our conversation with the depoliticization of the army, as a very important step in the democratic changes in our country. Answer: I thank you. Addressing the public through the newspaper “Rilindja Demokratike” is a pleasure and a special privilege for me. Its role in preparing public opinion for radical change—that is, immediate depoliticization, something that several Eastern countries were unable to achieve—speaks to the democratic aspirations of the army’s cadres, soldiers and employees. Question: Nevertheless, slogans, busts, symbols and instruments of political agitation can still be seen in military settings. What can you tell us about this? Answer: The ministry and the commands have undertaken a genuine campaign in this regard. Perhaps also because this was the easiest thing to do. In a very short time, everything connected with party propaganda was removed from military premises. Anything that remains is the result of last year’s finds, which even gentle winds cannot spare. The important thing is that we will see things through to the end. Question: Until now, the leading cadres in the army have been Communists. What is being done with them as part of depoliticization? Answer: That is so. The commissars were equal members of the battalion command, alongside the commander and the political representative. They were all professionally trained, but the most radical alternative—that soldiers and employees. Answer: In my view, that is an accurate observation. This is also one of the reasons the ministry has lost standing in the eyes of the rank and file. Many people’s trust in it has been shaken. And I think they are quite right about many things. From what I have seen during the short time I have held the post of minister, the management and command mechanism is limping, if not rusted in some areas and no longer functioning. In other words, it has atrophied. I do not mean only the ministry’s apparatus, but especially the divisions, brigades, factories and army institutions. Some leaders in these units have almost exhausted the strength and authority of their positions. We have acted, and will continue to act, against them without sentimentality or nostalgia. We will do so immediately by increasing direct contact with the rank and file and explaining the difficulties to them, making them aware of them; we will appoint to positions of responsibility those who can deal with these difficulties; we will place new cadres from the rank and file in responsible posts in the ministry, commands and staffs at every level—cadres who also have military, organizational and professional abilities, Answer: In the past, the justice staff? think they are quite right about many things. Question: The political and economic situation in the region and beyond has been, is and continues to be in flux—as the people say, the stone has not yet found its place—and risks cannot be ruled out. There is no reason for us to fall into limitless pacifism. When dealing with such major interests as the defence of the country, it has been our people’s tradition to maintain the highest possible margin of safety. Question: As is known, our country is covered with bunkers, which have cost our economy a great deal. They have taken up arable land, roads in towns and villages, and forests. What will be done with them? Answer: I think the bunkers are the most undeniable Albanian evidence not only of the Cold War between the blocs (many other European countries have similar evidence), but also of bureaucratic megalomania. The bunkers had taken up not only our arable land, the roads in our towns and the entrances to our homes, but also our minds. Just as we are gradually freeing ourselves from the mindsets of the past, we will reclaim our fields and land from the bunkers. Question: What do you think of the idea of arming the entire population as soldiers? Answer: What you ask me about must be viewed in a broader context. The ministry, the General Staff and the army’s specialized institutions are working to carry out a profound military reform. This is also set out in the Stability Government’s programme. The main thing achieved so far is preparing public opinion at every level to overturn everything that has become outdated, to distance ourselves clearly and decisively from the adventurous solutions of the past, to put things right… …our questions. «Rilindja Demokratike» is a special pleasure and honour for me. Its role in renewing the democratic aspirations of the Albanian people and in their embracing of the democratic processes of civilization has been of particular importance to me. Since, from the outset, you have asked me to begin the conversation with depoliticization, I will also begin my answer with that, thus complying with the requirements of the depoliticization law (laughs). I would like to emphasize from the outset that the depoliticization of the army has been very well received by army personnel and was carried out without any major challenge. Everyone understands that this was even necessary to deepen the process of democratization, both for the army itself and for the life of the entire country. Of course, one cannot expect de facto depoliticization to be achieved overnight. This is only the beginning, and naturally it is difficult to set aside one’s personal convictions, feelings and sympathies; but what is important is that our comrades are beginning to understand that this is being done for a sacred purpose: to guarantee social peace and defend the homeland. The fact that our country, from the outset… It would be of interest to begin act in the democratic changes taking place through the newspaper country… …that we will see things through to the end. Answer: Until now, the main army cadres have been Korçarë. In the context of depoliticization, what is being done with them? Answer: That is so. The commissars were members of the command staff alongside the commanders and worked to strengthen the work of the units. Naturally, some used this position as a secretarial post and wielded command authority, creating many troubling problems for the unity of the staffs and personnel. Their function has now been abolished. Many comrades have taken up military duties in keeping with their profession. Some have been placed in the education sector. Our concern has been not to assign former commissars mechanically to this very important sector, but to engage the best specialists, those who have understood the process of democratization and possess the skills needed to perform this task. Question: Both the letters we have received in the editorial office and our conversations with officer cadres reveal a concern: cadre transfers are still taking place within the ministry or the staffs of units—in other words, the same people are being moved around—while few capable officers are being brought up from the grassroots. …to increase direct contact with the grassroots, explaining matters to them and ensuring that all links are connected, and bringing in new cadres from the grassroots who have military, tactical, organizational and professional abilities, as well as the dynamism and enthusiasm of the grassroots and a social outlook and psychology more in keeping with the times. This is an organizational as well as a social issue, directly connected with the proper conduct of work, strengthening the morale of the units and the entire army, and meeting all training and readiness indicators. Question: Mr. Minister, you have been in this post for only a short time, but have you begun to establish contact with your counterparts in other countries? Answer: We are at the very beginning and have only just overcome a taboo of the past by casting off our apprehension. We are mostly at the communication stage, because we found nothing in this area (with the exception of a few congratulatory telegrams exchanged with Vietnam’s Minister of Defence). A few days ago I had important and very impressive meetings with the special envoy of the U.S. Government, Mr. Xhon Mareskun, and the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States, Mr. Robert Wolthuis. We reached agreement with him on a number of bilateral issues…

The number one condition for political pluralism is creating equal opportunities for all parties to compete politically, a competition that will determine which party wins the right to govern the country. Bearing this in mind, Democratic Party MPs insisted that the law on parties also include the article proposed by MP Baleta, under which all property and funds of the PPSH inherited from the PPSH would be nationalized. It is understood that after this the PPSH would finance its activities through membership dues and other sources of funding provided for by law, like all the other parties. But what happened in parliament? PPSH MPs, who have declared that they have broken away from and distanced themselves from the PPSH, defended with outrageous arrogance and fanatical zeal their right to inherit property from the PPSH. This action once again brings to mind the proverb, “You can change the colour of anything, but you don’t forget the habit.” Looking back at the PPSH, one can state without fear that the great wealth it amassed was fundamentally illegal. During the liberation war, the PKSH (PPSH) had promised the people that the question of power would be settled after liberation through free and democratic elections. In fact, it usurped political power through fraudulent elections, drowning in blood the democratic opposition, which consisted of honest nationalist intellectuals. With the sweat and toil of the people, this Party faces no obstacles and is subject to no oversight by bodies elected through the free will of the people. The grandest and most luxurious buildings were built for this party; the most expensive cars were bought for it; funds without limit were taken or used to pay its bloated apparatchiks—and all of this came from the people’s sweat, from the unpaid labour of workers and peasants. Someone might point to the dues paid by PPSH members to argue that its wealth was legitimate, but this is a minor argument because their total (around two million lek a year in the last decade) was not enough to cover even one-third of the annual budgets of the patriotic newspaper “Zëri i Popullit”. And now let us return to the PPSH. This party claims to have distanced itself from the monist politics of the PPSH, but it will not give up the material wealth it acquired precisely thanks to those monist politics. Put plainly, this means that the PPSH accepts political pluralism, but in the competition it entails, it wants to have an advantage over the opposition parties. And the advantage conferred on it by inheriting the PPSH’s material assets is not small. The public has by now become familiar with its busi- …in the new elections that are already knocking at the door. In the past, the PPSH won political power by bloody means; now the PSSH wants to win it through illegal financial means. MERITA HOXHA (ZALOSHINJA) Chairwoman of the Finance Branch of the PD

Once again, Minister Genc Ruli’s report on the criminal expenses of the ruling caste was not presented. The parties had an opportunity to take a look at this report, and the facts are truly infuriating. For dozens and dozens of years, they have fed at the people’s expense and squandered their resources to the utmost. The report includes the entry for the president and his family. family. Why is the presentation of the report being delayed for so long? The facts are scandalous. Over 10 years of economic and financial activity, the Reception Directorate cost 200 million lek, most of it in foreign currency. For the 19 telephone lines belonging to the Hoxha family, telephone expenses of 560 thousand lek were incurred in the last 2 years; for Ramiz Alia’s family, 456 thousand lek; for Spiro Koleska, 110 thousand lek. RD Correspondent

On 25 July 1991, Mr Sali Berisha, chairman of the Steering Commission of the PD, received a delegation from the Agrarian Party of Kosovo led by Dr. Ivzi Islami. During this meeting, which was marked by a fraternal spirit and mutual understanding, they discussed the political situation in Kosovo, Yugoslavia and Albania, joint efforts in the constant and full service of the Kosovo cause, and the deepening of relations between the democratization processes, etc. * * * On Thursday, 25.7.1991, Mr Azem Hajdari met with the Steering Commission of the PD Shkodër branch and with the chairmen of the sections in Sëlim and the PD. The meeting addressed issues concerning the political situation and the organization and consolidation of the PD and the People’s Councils. MP Azem Hajdari also met with residents of electoral zone No. 186 at the town of Shkodër’s summer cinema. He emphasized that Shkodër, as the cradle of democracy, must condemn and take a stand against the campaign launched by sections of the Enverist bureaucracy and elements of the Security service against the PD. * * * Recently, the PD branch in the Gjirokastër district has become more active. Its activities in towns and villages have increased, with the aim of taking it deeper into the ranks of the working masses and into the heart of the countryside. On 20 July, a meeting was organized at the town’s cinema-theatre with intellectuals, members and activists of the PD, as well as its supporters. Both these meetings were attended by PD Steering Commission member Shaban Kadare and the chairman of this district branch, Sotiraq Ilro… RD Correspondent

Personally, I was not pleased that the decree on the status of the MP was returned for reconsideration by President Ramiz Alia. It was not for him to take this step, because when it was discussed here for the first time, I and several colleagues were in favour of a more reasonable and modest arrangement for MPs. I put forward this view because of the people’s economic misery and in order to protect my colleagues from any suspicion that they were being treated as privileged. If the President was so concerned about privileges, he could have paved the way for the reports prepared on the abuses he himself had committed, together with the ruling caste surrounding him, to be examined by the People’s Assembly. YLLI VESIU

PRESS CONFERENCE BY MR. MARGARIT BONIVIER, ITALY’S MINISTER OF EMIGRATION On July 24, 1991, Italy’s Minister of Emigration, Mrs. Margarit Bonivier, who was visiting our country, held a press conference in one of the rooms of the “Dajti” Hotel. Journalists from various press organizations, RTV, ATSH and foreign agencies attended. Also present were Teodor Kaco, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, and Torkuato Kardili, Italy’s ambassador to Albania. Speaking about the settlement of Albanian refugees in Italy, Mrs. Bonivier said that around 7,000 refugees had so far been settled or were in the process of being settled. The Italian government had undertaken to provide them with shelter, jobs and education. The refugees were being integrated into the Italian economy without major difficulties. “During the meetings I had with the Albanian authorities,” she told the journalists, “we also reached an agreement on creating jobs here in Albania. In this context, some of the refugees who have not yet been settled may return to Albania, since the Albanian government gives full guarantees for the settlement of those who return.” Asked by a journalist what position the Italian government would take … In the event of another exodus, Mrs. Bonivier replied that there was no reason for this to happen, since many things in Albania had changed since the exodus of last year and this year. “Nevertheless,” she said, “we have reached an agreement with the Albanian government on controlled emigration. In any case, we will treat the refugees in the same way.” Answering other questions, Italy’s Minister of Emigration said that minors were receiving special treatment. There were around 2,000 of them, grouped according to age for schooling. Soon, the possibility of establishing contact between them and their families would also be considered, so that this contact would not be interrupted. Finally, a journalist asked her how true the report was that Italy would return around 10,000 refugees to Albania. In reply, Mrs. Bonivier said that this figure was not true. “We can settle even two-thirds of those who remain by the set deadline. Then some may return, while others may also be settled later, gradually.” «RD» correspondent – Shk.…