DP—inspiring mass civic action: Democracy will begin. Let us uproot communism from Albania — Peaceful protest demonstration by the residents of Tirana — The time is passing; it is approaching 4 p.m. on 5 October 1991. Today, the citizens of Tirana have decided to leave the “big siesta” and spend the afternoon in “Skënderbej” Square. Hundreds of people are already seated on the edges of the fountain, and thousands upon thousands of other citizens have gathered and continue to gather around them. The loudspeakers, beneath angelic strains of music, fill everything—the whole square: the peaceful message springs from the civic spirit and from the music. The protest springs from reality. Communism still lives, not only invisibly, but also in its visible signs and symbols: from the façade of the National Historical Museum, Enver Hoxha’s stars and “daci­bahot” [sic] greeted us, Communism lives on in the delays in bringing the bloc leaders to trial as soon as possible, in the failure to remove monist leaders from RTV, and in the failure to dissolve and purge the State Security service from the MRP and SHIK. It is for all these reasons that these people have gathered here today, at this peaceful protest rally. Civility has by now become the ethical norm at these gatherings organized by the DP and the opposition coalition. “And communism still lives. It lives, too, in the stars on the caps of these thousand-year-old cadets of the ‘Skënderbej’ school.” “We have ‘liberty leave’,” they tell me, and continue with a confidence of ninety: “You know that we are ‘depoliticized’, but still… above all, we are Albanians, and first and foremost we are young…” They express their concern not only with their eyes but also aloud: what if one of their “depoliticized” commanders sees them here? They all hold small red flags in their hands, with the double-headed eagle and no star on its wings… At 4:15 p.m., the music stops for a few moments and, from the podium on the steps in front of the Palace of Culture, Mr. Azem Hajdari, expressing the general demand for the arrest of the bloc leaders, N. Hoxha, S. Gradeci, etc., declares the peaceful protest rally open. Then, once again, the square fills—[text breaks off]… appeared before the investigators. They are: N. Hoxha, M. Myftiu, H. Isai, Q. Mihali, S. Stefani, B. Bekteshi, L. Çuko, L. Gëzheprifti, R. Marko, P. Miska, K. Buxheli, S. Gradeci. The four arrested are: M. Myftiu, K. Buxheli, Q. Mihali, H. Isai. A certain interval separates each speaker from the next, filled with wonderful melodies and songs. Mrs. Fatime Gorbi, a lawyer at RTV, then speaks about the arbitrary and brutal methods and practices, and the incompetence and professional ignorance of F. Kumbaro and his clique. “The RTV staff is a democratic collective. It is F. Kumbaro and his comrades who have misunderstood both us, the collective, and what was being broadcast. They censored everything…” she stressed. Now, in addition to the music, the speakers’ passionate commitment also moves the people. MP Albert Karagi stresses that for a week we have been waging a struggle in parliament to send all the bloc leaders where they belong: to trial! But the silence and the vote of the PPSH are delaying the restoration of justice and democracy. We think and demand that former State Security employees be transferred to social assistance. This is in their interest as well as in the nation’s. We demand that the elections be brought forward, and we will all bring them forward! he concluded. As the people chant “Enver Hitler,” Mr. A. Baleta takes the floor. He stressed that this curtailment of the justice system’s powers shows the desire not to see matters brought to their conclusion. The people’s and the justice system’s demand that the President stand trial is just. His immunity cannot protect him, and I say this both as a lawyer and as an MP. We will continue our struggle for justice to the end, he said. Gradually, to the strains of melancholy too, à la Baglione (“Piccolo e grande amore”), the sun passed beyond the crowns of Komb. Tekstili, giving way to dusk and cheers in… [it] was agreed that it would be held the following day at 10 a.m., in “Skënderbej” Square once again. At around 6 p.m., to Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” and as the lights in central Tirana came on, the citizens quietly dispersed. 6.10.1991. Sunday morning, around 10 o’clock. Once again in “Skënderbej” Square. A day with a fiercely burning sun. The law-enforcement forces call today’s gathering illegal, and attempts are made to prevent the peaceful protest from proceeding normally. There are no loudspeakers, but thanks to the private initiative of the technicians responsible for the sound system and the driver I. Gjilani, it was possible to secure one. As Mr. A. Imami’s associates were carrying this sound system on their shoulders toward the podium, the police stopped them with threats, disregarding the efforts of their MP. The people intervened and cleared the way for the aforementioned men. The sound system was put in its place. Finally, at around 11:10, it was made operational. As the square chants, “Heroic Tirana with the Democratic Party,” Dr. S. Berisha declares that the DP will not stop its mass civic actions until communism is uprooted. Therefore, two weeks from today, on Sunday, we will hold a national, peaceful protest demonstration against communism, to secure fulfillment of our demands for democracy, he stressed. Mr. A. Baleta then reported on the previous evening’s meeting between the group of 15 DP MPs and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister had expressed his position and fully supported the demands put forward. He did what was within his authority: he would announce the dismissal of RTV deputy director H. Lita. The deadline for submitting the bloc leaders’ case files to court was set for 25 October. Meanwhile, the justice authorities are not breaking away from the practices of communist monism, and their interpretations do not serve justice but instead prolong it as much as possible. We must increase our pressure as much as possible in support of justice, he continued in his speech … from Azem Hajdari, voicing a general threat to arrest the former-bloc members, N. Hoxha, S. Gradelici, etc., declares the peaceful protest rally open. Then the sounds once again fill the square: Toto Cutugno sings of a united Europe, while the people below in the square wave placards in their hands bearing the words: “Ramiz! RTV and ATSH belong to the people. Remove the communist directors.” “Ramiz! Enough of backstage manoeuvres! Don’t obstruct democracy!” “Ramiz! Remove the spies from the Ministry of Public Order and the National Intelligence Service!” “Ramiz! Hand over the female criminal and her entourage!” and so on. Next, the floor is taken by Mr. Maksim Konomi, an MP in the PD parliamentary group. He stressed that the deadline for submitting the investigative case file on the former members of the ruling bloc to court expires on 25 October. So far, of the 35 people charged and investigated, only 11 have been summoned for questioning, and only 4 of those have been arrested. He said that, for thieves and criminals, democracy is dictatorship. Therefore, we demand that their case file be submitted to court by 25 October. We have all gathered here to demand this. Then Mr. S. Qirjaci, a member of the governing committee of the PD branch in Tirana, read out the list of the 12 members of the former ruling bloc whose files… … at the front of the square … and another one; having called for the rule of law, Mr. A. Imami concluded his address. Then Mr. A. Hajdari proposed that, while avoiding provocations, the peaceful protest march continue past the President’s residence to the end of the boulevard. At 11:35, several tens of thousands of peaceful protesters set off along “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard. With slogans such as “Down with communism,” “Down with R. Alia,” “Down with the President,” “Heroic Tirana with the Democratic Party,” “Freedom and democracy,” “We want Albania to be like all of Europe,” and others, they demonstrated along the entire boulevard, especially in front of the Prime Minister’s building, near the former Central Committee of the Party of Labour, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, and then in front of the RTV building. At around 12:35, the protesters dispersed peacefully, while behind them, in its bickering and indifference, the RTV building remained… RAKIP SULÇE Tirana, 5 October 1991.

— SPEECH BY PROF. DR. SALI BERISHA AT THE MEETING WITH UT STUDENTS ON 6.10.1991 — Dear students, both women and men. Never before had I looked forward to a meeting as joyfully as I have looked forward to meeting you. For me, students have always been, and will always be, the most progressive part of society. Meanwhile, on the obelisk of Albanian democracy, the word “student” will be written in gold letters. Hundreds and thousands of Albanians set out toward democracy during these 47 years. But they found prison, torture, denunciation, death, and never managed to break the chains of dictatorship or open the gates of democracy. When I set out on this path, to tell you the truth, it never occurred to me that I would be victorious; on the contrary, I was quite convinced that defeat awaited me, that I would meet the fate of hundreds of thousands of others. Nevertheless, from the perspective of the future, I was never pessimistic for a moment, and that was solely because I was convinced that Albanian youth, the student youth, would very soon achieve what my friends and I could never accomplish. I was convinced that the day when you would overthrow the communist dictatorship was not far off. In the few articles I wrote during 1990, I had tried to say what could be said and published, but it was the second criminal act of Mr. Alia and the Nano government; the DP tried, but unfortunately it found no support. Nevertheless, without a doubt, it should have fought much harder. We must say that the balance sheet of the University’s closure was tragic: two to three thousand young students took to the roads of the world because the architects of the exodus scenario intended precisely this: to strike Albanian youth by every means and in every way, to beat them, imprison them, kill them, drive them out of Albania. For them, the only true young people of Albania were the Party’s schoolchildren. I clearly understand the deep reasons why our brothers and sisters left in the exodus. Perhaps I myself, had I been young, would have left with them. But even so, today I call on you here, in this hall, not to leave Albania, not to abandon Albania. Albania is a beggar today, and no one should abandon their beggar mother. She is poor and sick, so let us heal her; and if you do not heal her, if the youth do not heal her, who will be able to heal her in the condition she is in? Let us heal our mother first, then think about the others. You may even say to me: Why are you asking us to make sacrifices? It is true. I am asking you to make sacrifices, and I am not doing this… [text missing]… and this battle is the uprooting of communism from Albania. In this battle, the student movement, as always, must and will be the vanguard of Albania’s democratic movement. In our struggle to uproot communism, we aim: First: To prevent the establishment of a right-wing dictatorship, which attempts have also been made to establish, unsuccessfully. Second: We must clearly understand that unless communism is uprooted from Albania, our country cannot be admitted to the Council of Europe. Democratic Europe will never, ever accept us into its fold with a communist president, an Enverist parliament and a government headed by communists, who torment or wish to take Albania to Europe and build a capitalist society with Stalin’s red star at its head, or with the failed sovkhozes of the Soviet Union. No, dear students, Europe will not accept you into its fold in this form, with the monist leaders of Ramiz Alia still in charge. Recently, Mr. President has been hurling accusations and anathemas left and right against the DP and its leadership. Ramiz Alia, the criminal political police—[text corrupted]—its leaders. In this campaign they use slander, lies and deception as their tools. But you must remain very calm and confident that their battle against the DP and democratic forces in Albania will meet the same fate as the others; their plans and traps to eliminate this or that DP leader are as laughable as they are criminal. They are all gravely mistaken if they think the DP rests on Sali Berisha or any other one of its leaders. Fortunately, today Albania has hundreds and thousands of others like me. The DP lives in your spirit, aspirations and democratic ideals, and in those of all the democratic forces in Albania. Neither the Albanian reaction nor the anti-Albanian reaction can, or will, be able to do anything to it. In the next elections, which the DP Assembly decided to bring forward, the DP will win definitively, and true democracy will be established in Albania. Naturally, I have not [text truncated]… given? Only I … (Continued on page 2) I wrote in the newspaper in and published, but I always had a particular concern. I wanted to write an article, as a kind of message for young people and for young people alone. My article began with the words of a great man: “For great dreams to become reality, first you need the ability to dream great dreams; second, you must believe in great dreams; third, you must have the strength and energy to make them come true.” In my article I went on to say that the youth, the youth alone—sixteen or seventeen thousand young Albanians—were capable of realizing Albania’s dream of true democracy. But I never finished or published the article, because before I could finish it, you were the ones who listened to me and to all the Albanians who had been waiting for years and decades for the great message of the appeal for democracy. It was you who brought us into the arena of democracy, and you will always have that honor. For me, as an intellectual and as a citizen, news of your demonstration was undoubtedly the happiest news of my life. With my two girls, Besnik Mustafa and Kujtim Gashku, I received this news in a café in Tirana. We left one another and set off toward the field. On the way I met a friend of mine, a lecturer. He asked me, “Where are you going?” I told him, “To the students, to the demonstration.” He said, “Have you thought it through?” “I have thought it through once and for all.” And I came to you having sworn never to part from you again. I have not come here to take stock of the DP’s victories, but I want to tell you that one of its weaknesses was that it failed to defend the students and the student movement. For a long time, the dictatorship had been carrying out a savage and bloody assault against Albanian youth. The [unclear: Sikurmi] of 2 July and the killing of hundreds of young people at the border demonstrated this very clearly. The closure of the university … transformed, many people would I wrote for the newspaper in and published, but I always had one man: “For great dreams to become reality, first you must be able realize them.” In my article I went on to say that young people—young people alone, sixteen great message of the struggle for democracy. You were the ones who led a citizen, the my life. With my two daughters, Besnik Mustafa and Kujtim Gashku, I heard the news in the Tirana cafés. There is one more thing I want to stress here to you. It may indeed seem at first glance that we have gained nothing; in fact, in some respects, things have gotten worse. But I would say that all of you, all of us, every Albanian who committed to the democratic forces, should hold their heads high, because together we all succeeded in rescuing a moment that history will never forget: that of national rebirth. We prepared and brought about the moment when our people cast off a yoke and rose to their feet once more. This is where your merit lies, and that of our Democratic Party. During this year we have not written books or treatises; instead, we have held rallies, demonstrations, strikes and protests, and carried out those peaceful civic “uprisings” through which the communist dictatorship was proclaimed. The dignity of these civic acts will be remembered forever. For this, they have called us extremists, rally-goers, hysterics, and all manner of other names. But do not be at all concerned by the labels used by Ramiz Alia and the Enverists and Ramizists. History will remember you all as true liberators, and for your acts, civic courage and bravery in standing up to the communist occupation, which had taken from people the most precious of all freedoms: personal freedom.

At the invitation of the leadership of the Conservative Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha left for England, where he will attend their conference. The conference of the [unclear: Rinait] has also set off with him, as usual. Mr. Berisha was seen off by deputy chairman Eduard Selami, Secretary of the Governing Council, and Afrim Karkagjozi, head of the DP’s foreign relations section. RD Correspondent 1

Among the many criticisms made of Father Gjergj Fishta, I will address just one, which seems to me to have stood out today for its absurdity. Fishta has been accused of opposing the development of national education, and of saying that “he wanted not teachers and schools, but gendarmes and police posts.” This harsh criticism has been stated and repeated time and again. Whenever our education in the past has been annulled, everywhere and whether appropriate or not, the reactionary role of the clergy in education has been forcefully emphasized, with Father Gjergj Fishta at its forefront. How did this idea arise, where did this view originate, and how did anyone arrive at the conclusion that this great national poet, this distinguished director of schools and Franciscan activist in Albania, wanted schools closed and teachers dismissed, police posts opened and gendarmes increased? At the National Assembly of the Albanian state, during discussions of the 1921–22 budget, Fishta delivered a speech in which he set out the state of education and the condition of Albanian schools. To conclude that Fishta sought to close schools and dismiss teachers based solely on three lines excerpted from a 37-page report conceals a deeply flawed judgment. This is an unscientific act, carried out solely to serve a particular policy—the policy of the Party of Labour, the policy that taught us to view everything through the lens of class in the past. Fishta supported opening schools, not closing them; he supported training teachers, not dismissing them. But the Marxist-Leninist theoreticians mistreated, truncated, shortened and rearranged his words to suit party interests. What is the truth behind Fishta’s complaint that there were too few gendarmes and too many teachers? At the very beginning of his speech, Fishta himself sets out the idea: “A person can do only as much as they know.” Humanity’s progress and learning in every sphere of life show that human knowledge and the refinement of the mind have made people stronger and more capable of penetrating life’s secrets. After a lyrical exposition of humanity’s achievements in understanding the world, he states, in the form of an aphorism: “…a strong and powerful people are founded only on knowledge, because just as without strength one cannot be called alive or remain standing, so an ignorant people cannot endure or sustain itself as a state in its own right.” But Fishta does not stop at… (Continued on page 4) … of the Albani- [?] … house of the se- [?] …