In the General Investigative Office The public is right to expect the rule of law to act quickly and without distinction against the bloc-men who criminally abused the common property. To explain, at least somewhat, what is being done in this regard, we went to the General Investigative Office. The deputy investigator briefly informed us, as much as his duty allowed him to provide information, about the procedure being followed. On 25 July, the Ministry of Finance and the State Control Commission had sent there the material calculating the abuses. Immediately after the procedure, an investigative team was formed, which found a basis for initiating a criminal case and took the relevant decisions. The investigations are now continuing intensively, but the investigative office still cannot say how long they will take. “In any case,” they said at the Investigative Office, “we will do everything possible to complete this process within a short period, and we will make no distinction in the public interest. Except that one thing is not very clear. The list of abusers also includes the names of several members of parliament, along with that of the president. In the body of laws adopted in Parliament, it was established that the investigative office cannot pursue an investigation against a member of parliament whose mandate has not been revoked. At the Investigative Office, they could not explain how they would act specifically in the case of the members of parliament in question, since this falls within the professional secrecy of their duty. Nevertheless, the public expects swift action against them, as against the others. Meanwhile, the law adopted in Parliament concerning the President stipulates that he is answerable only when the state commits high treason against the homeland. So how will they act when he abuses the people’s property?! Is this not a kind of treason against the people or the nation? Several times, the parliamentary group distances itself from calls to grant amnesty to the children of former beys, solely because they have a bad biography—that is, because their father was with “Balli” or “Legaliteti...” or their mother was connected with the Germans! If Comrade Enver were alive, he would surely reply about the proper development of the class struggle, revolutionary vigilance, and not allowing a thread or a sow to enter Albania! But fortunately Comrade Enver’s faithful pupils are alive and can speak to you in the name of their dear teacher. He must even have been pleased by this statement, since only a few months ago, when pluralism was being demanded, he addressed the people and the communists, saying that those who wanted to create new political parties had the same desire as the greenhorns of the landlords of “Balli” and “Legaliteti.” Ramiz Alia’s conclusion about the time and its possibilities was correct because, since the Party of Labour represented the interests of the whole people, whom would the other parties represent except the former beys? Let us look at the issue politically too, as our late leader taught us. Suppose the children of beys should not enter Albania for biographical reasons. Agreed! But whom do the Socialist deputies think they should grant amnesty to, then? The communists? Because when amnesty is discussed, it seems to me that precisely this category of people is meant. On the other hand, this people has had no greater landlords and beys than the former leaders of the Party of Labour. The village bey had only one horse and one extra plot, whereas the red pashas had several cars and villas. And it was these same “sons of the people” who spared no words against King Zog, who had supposedly built a villa in Durrës! So, however you look at the issue, Comrade Enver’s line of thought emerges again. All the more so because this statement defends Enver as the commander-in-chief of the War, as he is also called in his own works. To call Enver Hoxha a traitor to the nation is to say too little about him. This people and this country cannot remember ever having been betrayed like this, deceived by force for half a century by a dictator before whom both Hitler and Stalin would have stood up out of fear. Indeed, as early as the War, by condemning the Mukje Agreement, Enver Hoxha betrayed the national interests. By driving the country into catastrophe, crippling this people, and isolating it terribly from the world—not to mention the other events for which the people should have executed him several times—did he not knowingly betray the interests of this nation? The Socialist Party’s parliamentary group almost weeps when Hysni Kapo, Haxhi Lleshi, Shefqet Peçi, or someone else is criticized. Did these wartime leaders not, like everyone else, benefit from the privileges of leadership? Did they not abuse and appropriate things, living like pashas in fairy-tale villas with servants and armed guards, as though anyone would kill them? And the parliamentary group’s statement does not call them by their real name: bloodsuckers of the people. The statement goes on with some deductions that tug at the heartstrings. Just imagine the childish logic with which they seek to defend former party and state leaders when they declare that “to condemn Shefqet Peçi and Hysni Kapo means to ‘raze Labëria to the ground, to cast mud on the National Liberation War and its leaders; it means to offend the feelings of the honest and patriotic people.’” Really?! When Enver had Mehmet Shehu condemned, did he not consider that the people of Labëria would be offended? When Labëria was not stirred by the condemnation of Kadri Hazbiu, who had no less authority or merit than Shefqet, why are you so concerned that it might be stirred if the commander from Labëria is criticized? All the more, how do you reach the conclusion that criticizing one of three or four wartime leaders means casting mud on the War? By the same logic, dear comrade deputies, we should remind you that the Party of Labour, which condemned all those wartime commanders and commissars, and Enver Hoxha, who sent all those leaders to the gallows and to prison—almost several political bureaus—did they not cast so much mud, did they not offend the people’s feelings beyond all imagination? The feelings of this people are not so easily stirred. This people was neither offended nor stirred even when an entire party, the Party of Labour, proved treacherous to it—let alone a few sword-wielding heroes, self-proclaimed heroes of the people, at a time when people and party were one and inseparable, and every part of the people made up the Party. We do not know that if “you condemn these figures, you trample on the blood of 28,000 martyrs...,” as you declare. You are making far too much of the martyrs, as though they were your property and you could use them whenever and wherever you pleased. Even a child understands that denigrating three or four figures has nothing to do with the martyrs who fell here half a century ago. Or should the martyrs of the War be held responsible because these commanders or deputy commissars betrayed the ideals for which they fought and fell? FILIP CAKULI

For more than a week, there was heated debate in Parliament over the draft amnesty law. Democratic deputies spoke of the atrocities inflicted on these people, who left behind bloodshed and camps, and of how little they are asking for now. And this is entirely true. Every day many people come to the newsroom who have suffered an injustice that cannot be remedied. The latter do not need to wander from office to office looking for work and housing, because they secured those long ago. Now they sit comfortably, watch Parliament’s discussions about former prisoners, and see the heartrending return of former prisoners who bring accounts of what they endured and suffered for years. In none of these writings do you find calls for revenge or retaliation. But when you think that these martyrs of democracy were persecuted for a word, for an opinion, for nothing, while others who criminally mocked this people are free and comfortable, you feel that this is an unprecedented injustice. long ago. Now they sit at ease, watch Parliament’s discussions about former prisoners, see the heartrending return of thousands of young men from Italy, and do not believe they feel moved either for the former or for the latter. Thousands set off into exile for a little more bread, a better room, for a... while the monsters who plundered tons of choice food and lived in villas with boundless space go abroad on business or simply as tourists. We do not know what the investigative office is waiting for—the is waiting for—

— Interview with the Minister of Construction, Mr Emin Mysliu — Question: Although you have been in the ministerial post only a short time, as a specialist you have extensive experience in the construction sector. Could you briefly explain the causes of the sector’s backwardness in recent years, so that we can form an idea of where corrective action might begin? Answer: The decline in construction investment began in particular after 1976, as a result of applying the principle of relying entirely on our own forces—a theory implemented harshly, without considering the major contradictions it presented with the needs of practical, contemporary development—when work on many projects begun with China slowed and was later stopped. From 1979 onward, the volume of construction in ... has been declining and, in fact, in 1975, 96 million lekë were realized, while in 1990, 30 million lekë were realized; after 15 years, in 1990, 63 million lekë were realized, that is, 30 percent less. It is understood that the progress of construction cannot be achieved without the support of a developed building-materials industry. And energy is no solution either? We must again stress that the latter not only has not increased as it should have on the basis of even a modest rise, but, on the contrary, the main products have declined over the past five-year period. In 1990, 60,093 tonnes of cement, 200,000 m² of eternit, 2 million roof tiles, and 480 fewer prefabricated apartments than in 1986, etc., were produced. And this decline has its causes. Our brick factories are decades old, with depreciation rates above 50 percent, primitive technological processes and low productivity—up to 70,000 bricks per worker per year, compared with 1–2 million in other countries. The cement factories are similar: the newest are 20 years old, not to mention that we have been forced to keep operating the one in Shkodër, which is nothing less than a living museum of cement factories. Likewise, generally speaking, all types of factories, lines, plants and concrete-aggregate facilities are extremely worn-out and primitive. The shortage of raw materials over the past 10 years has become an increasingly acute problem, particularly the shortage of iron, timber, sheet metal, glass, spare parts, etc. Likewise, recurring shortages of fuels and their use with low calorific value, the lack of fuel, tires, and interruptions to the electricity supply have had a significant impact on creating this situation. Alongside the negative impact of these material shortages, factors connected with the organization and management of this sector have also had a negative effect. The wage system in construction has not only failed to incentivize increased labour productivity, but has done exactly the opposite, making workers uninterested and indifferent. Wages in this sector have been very low and in no way reflected the difficulty of the work. This has reduced interest in working in construction and the building-materials industry to a minimum. This has been reflected in the departure of many capable specialists from the sector and in the decline in the qualifications of construction workers. Question: The aim is to rapidly industrialize the country and develop dozens and hundreds of projects in a relatively short time. Are we prepared to handle such a volume of work and, if not, what should we do to overcome the difficulties? Answer: For all this to be done, it is essential—and I say this emphatically—to begin immediately with construction projects to develop the building-materials industry. How is this task intended to be carried out? First, all measures must be taken to preserve the capacity we already have in construction and in the building-materials industry. Their privatization on a buyout basis will create an incentive to use existing capacity more effectively and to increase, to some extent, the production of building materials and construction. The Ministry of Construction, together with the design institutes, has already been working on this, and especially during July and the first eight days of August, has done particular work to promote cooperation with foreign firms for investment in the building-materials industry. We have planned the establishment of many new works, specifically: reconstruction of the existing cement factories in Fushë-Krujë and Elbasan; construction of a new cement factory in Vlorë with a capacity of 1,000,000 tonnes per year, and another in Shkodër or Shëngjin with a capacity of 500,000–1,000,000 tonnes per year; a white-cement factory in Elbasan producing 100,000 tonnes per year; a cement factory in Tirana producing around 50,000 tonnes per year. Construction in the main cities of 10 production lines for prefabricated housing elements, each with a capacity of 1,500 apartments per year. Construction of 8 lines for mass production of concrete blocks, etc., etc. (Continued on page 5)

The tragedy of the exodus experienced these past days by Albanian mothers was unprecedented. It is abundantly clear that the hopeless situation into which the 47-year-old dictatorial regime and its still-unpulled roots have reduced the country drove thousands of our sons and daughters into emigration. Undeniable facts prove that certain forces deliberately lit the fuse and provocatively incited the exodus, which had been carefully prepared down to the smallest detail. Our newspaper wrote about people in uniform who send people onto ships and blame the Democratic Party and Democracy for everything. The case in Korçë was the most criminal. For days on end, fighting went on in Bitinckë. Large forces of law and order surrounded them. Hundreds and thousands of bullets and shells were fired. And in the end, even though there were two people killed, the killers—the surrounded people—were allowed to leave without a hair being touched. What is this? A war against ghosts? Why were these battles necessary, and who needed them, at the same time as the dreadful exodus? The truth will not be long in coming to light. But after every event, the first question asked is: who benefited from this destabilization, this exodus, this armed conflict in Bitinckë? There is only one answer. It benefited only those people and forces who have blood on their hands from monstrous crimes, those who yesterday stole and criminally abused the people’s property. These are the criminals who, to this day, have not appeared before the people’s court and who are trying to lead the country and its people down a dead-end road. Such events, not to mention the provocations and incitement by the blocists and criminal forces who want to evade trial.

The long arming of the Serbs and Montenegrins, followed by the arrival of tens of thousands of reservists from Serbia and the deployment of regular military units outside the barracks, in combat positions, has rightly heightened Albanians’ concern about a possible massacre, which will never be erased from the inflamed memories of Albanians and the leaders of Serbia. The Albanians in Kosovo, who in reality are unarmed, have a military and police structure facing them, and only some major internal upheaval in Serbia could avert a direct conflict between these two peoples. In such a conflict, the Albanians would find themselves facing one another; they are ready to defend—or, as the current change puts it, to defend themselves—their land and homeland, while on the other side would be the Serb, already surrounded by weapons... (Continued on page 6)

We are experiencing with concern the extraordinary events that continue to shake the social and political life of our people. The Democratic Party, conscious of its duty to defend to the end the established balance and the creation of a law-governed state, in a [fragmentary text] of the people, a police officer and a soldier, means a great deal, because it was as if the fight had been against ghosts. All these events “without culprits” make one believe that dark forces, with prearranged scenarios and tactics and strategies formulated behind the scenes, will bring about this outcome for these unscrupulous abusers. Perhaps the fact!! But are there any greater facts than the fantastic figures read out before Parliament? The decree approved by the former Political Bureau turned out to be illegal. But even if it had been legal, the gentlemen of the leadership had completely broken away from it. We do not believe that any justification for these abuses can be found before the people. That a brigade leader, a driver, a welder [fragmentary text] the people demanding the punishment of those who abused their property, to kill in Shkodër, those instigating the mass exoduses; the same scenario to destabilize the relatively calm situation in this city is also being organized in Korçë; in the name of [fragmentary text] so much the very end the balance established with the creation of pluralist power at the centre and at the local level, is deeply indignant at these manifestations—specifically, the mass exodus, the various killings, the restrictions and violence, and even the armed clashes, as in the case of the village of Bitinckë, where in recent days hundreds of police and army forces fired thousands of bullets at unidentified, almost imaginary forces; and, if it were not for the killing of two sons of the people, a police officer and a soldier, we would say that they fought with ghosts. All these events “without culprits” make you strategies formulated behind ominous scenes, are trying to prepare an extraordinary situation that will drown the fragile democracy in blood. Analyzing everything with a critical eye and civic responsibility, we think that these dark forces are the red power-holders themselves and the state security service which, sensing their imminent end, are trying to prolong their agony. We are also convinced that, in order to divert the attention of the events “without culprits” make you that in order to draw the attention of