In implementation of the law on parties We are on the eve of the election campaign. Its successful conclusion in favor of democracy depends on many factors. In this article we will focus on the financial side. Finance is directly connected with the election campaign. Everyone understands this. But not everyone is making an effort to create financial resources. Many party branches in the districts are standing by. They are waiting for Tirana. They are waiting for the party leadership, even though everyone knows that the DP’s coffers are empty. Others think that our many friends from all over the world will help us. This is true. But it is not enough. With these mindsets, with these concep- (Continued on page 2) MITRO ÇELA

BAROMETER OF DEMOCRACY The student revolt, democracy, and one-year-old pluralism in illegal shops proceeded through challenging rounds, with two irreconcilable opponents. On one side were the political improvisations of the monist and pluralist president R. Alia, and facing them on the barricades were the students of the generation of democracy. Their first clash took place in the darkness of last December 8. For the first time, the students turned R. Alia’s fake smiles into signs of failure. He had never thought that a few «smiles» coming from the highlands would bring him to his knees— (Continued on page 6)

— From the rally marking the first anniversary of the founding of the DP — STUDENTS — THE FORERUNNERS OF DEMOCRACY — Speech by Mr. Sali Berisha — IN «DEMOCRACY» SQUARE — DECEMBER 1991 TESTIMONY OF HOPE AND FAITH — From the rally marking the first anniversary of the founding of the DP — Once again, as on that first December 12, we hurry toward the square that at the time was not called «Democracy». Today is an anniversary... It is December 12, ’91, and the weight of the year between it and its namesake in ’90 is a reality and a sub-community of our own. Today there is no damp rain, no wind; the weather is dry and cold, and the nightmare of dictatorship is left behind like an image, while now we are overcome only by emotions... Here in this square are all the relics of the December that went down in history: the student dormitories, the cafeterias, the squares. Only the banners have increased, bearing the words «Freedom to Democracy». «Long live the students, founders of pluralism and the DP». «Long live Albania». On a large banner bearing the DP emblem is written «Freedom to Democracy». «Long live the students». For the most part, the people are the same: students from the engineering, geology-mining, electrical, mechanical, and other faculties; residents and patriotic, democratic workers of Tirana. Here is Bajram, too, a fervent supporter of every DP rally, a strong worker at the «M. Mame» Wood Combine. We meet Napoleon Koleci, known from the news reports, who last December had just left behind 27 years of political imprisonment. STUDENTS — THE FORERUNNERS OF DEMOCRACY — Speech by Mr. Sali Berisha — Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters! Citizens of Tirana, honored friends! I hope you will allow me, before you and on your behalf and that of the DP, to speak first at this rally and address the students, the forerunners of democracy in Albania. It was you, dear students, respected sons and daughters of the people, who not only sensed what was coming but, on December 8, under the leadership of the head of the student movement, the distinguished fighter in the first ranks of democracy, Azem Hajdari, poured into the streets of this city and, resolved to make sublime sacrifices, clashed with the dictatorship, confronted the regime, and won through your movement. With your December victory, you opened Albania’s gates to the road of freedom and democracy, toward which hundreds and thousands of Albanians set out during half a century, but left their lives, youth, dreams, and hopes in the prisons and concentration camps of the communist regime. It was you, respected male and female students, who, through your stance, integrity, determination, vision, and courage, changed Albania’s history and the fate of our entire nation with your December movement. Therefore, the year that has passed will be marked as the year of the students, and among Albanians it will be commemorated as their monument to freedom, which must be erected. I hope and believe that the word «student» will be inscribed in golden letters, or perhaps that monument to the students will resemble one of them. Thus, the students brought pluralism to Albania, so I invite you all to cheer: «Long live the students! Long live the student youth!» Ladies and gentlemen! The legendary battle of December, which the students waged against the dictatorship, was won because they were wise and brave. They won because they had the heartfelt support of the entire Albanian nation. They won because in their struggle they had the blessing of God, who wants a free and democratic Albania. But above all, they won because you—boys and girls, men and women, children and the elderly, workers and intellectuals—came to this square and formed around them that living wall which defended them from the dictatorship and blocked its machinery of oppression. You, together with the students, in three days, turned what Edgar Allan Poe called black into a white December, and together you created the Democratic Party. Among (Continued on page 6) Tirana. Here is Bajra-mi too, the fervent supporter of every Democratic Party We meet the familiar figure from the news reports, Napoleon Koleci, political imprisonment. Last year things were even worse: the square offered no security about tomorrow. Today we have come to talk about tomorrow. And here, more than anywhere, one remembers where we were, where we are, and where we must go. “Once again today we are feeling strong emotions,” he says. Meanwhile, fifth-year geology and mining student Arben Bajo (a figure from December 1990) tells us: “This year we no longer have the rubber truncheon hanging over us, but freedom (even though I left the canteen hungry) and hope. Let us hope while remembering.” Xhevair Rexhepi, a lecturer at UB Kamëz, says: “The aspiration that brought us together in this square last year has now become reality. Events have their own specific features. What brings us back here is the hope that the road to democracy is in keeping with the logic of our times.” On the roof of the canteen, [fame?] and many young people call out together, “Long live the DP!” The square is now almost as full as it was on the historic days when for everyone to cheer, “Long live the Students! Long live the Stu-

Regarding reports circulated by socialist power-holders to diplomatic representatives and other sources of information, claiming that half of the current ministers in the Government headed by Mr. Vilson Ahmeti were recommended by the DP, the Democratic Party Information Office is authorized to state the following: The DP of Albania has not recommended any minister for the New Government headed by Mr. Vilson Ahmeti. During their discussions in the People’s Assembly, DP deputies expressed reservations about the fact that ministers such as Deputy Prime Minister Zyld Rep[a?], directly responsible for the serious situation created in various fields by the failure to implement the Law on Land, remain in the New Government, as well as a number of other reservations. Most DP deputies abstained in the vote, emphasizing at the same time that they would not obstruct the work of the New Government, whose main mission is to secure food for the people, continue aid, and prepare the country for elections. DP Information Office

On Friday, 13.12.91, a meeting was held at the DP headquarters between Mr. Grafini, special envoy of the Italian Foreign Minister, Zhani De Mikeli, and Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, chairman of the DP. The open meeting took place in the presence of journalists from RTV and other press organizations. Also present were Mr. Eduart Selami, secretary of the DP Steering Committee, and the Italian ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Torkuato Kardili. At the outset, Mr. Grafini explained that, given the new political circumstances created in Albania, the Italian Foreign Ministry considered it appropriate to send him to Tirana to talk with DP representatives. The discussion then turned to the Albanian people. The DP has repeatedly asked the Italian government, the European Common Market, and the Group of 24 to continue aid to Albania. “We do not want,” Dr. Berisha emphasized, “our leaving the government to be exploited by the communists, as happened with Mr. Bufi’s statement about six days’ worth of bread. On the contrary, we want this aid to reach the Albanian people and its distribution to be monitored at all costs. But the DP cannot allow public opinion to be manipulated for electoral purposes, as if this aid were being brought to Albania by the com- …together with the Democratic Party. Kardili. At the outset, Mr. Grafini explained that, in view of the new political circumstances created in Albania, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had considered it appropriate to send him to Tirana to see the situation on the ground. He added that, with the DP and the opposition withdrawing from the government, there was a possibility that the new government would be controlled by the former communists and President Alia. “We,” Mr. Grafini continued, “want our material and financial aid to reach the Albanian people and not to be used by the communists for the coming election campaign. As the special envoy of Minister Xhani De Mikelis, at this meeting with my old friend, Mr. Berisha, I am asking him and the DP for assurances and confirmation that Italian aid to Albania will continue. We also want to know,” Mr. Grafini stressed, “whether the DP can oversee the distribution of this aid so that it is not instrumentalized for political purposes.” For his part, Prof. Dr. Berisha explained that the DP had left the Government of Stability because of the intolerance of the communist power-holders and the serious obstacles they had created to the implementation of economic reform. Regarding his conversation with Mr. Grafini, Dr. Berisha added: “I am extremely pleased with this meeting. We, as the DP, want the aid to continue to arri- … the aid to continue to arrive…” [The source text then contains a garbled fragment: “re-tok të bideba dhe krufat në ba-shku Partinë Demokratike.”] Kardili. “This aid must reach the Albanian people, and its distribution must be supervised to be manipulated for electoral purposes, as though the communists were the ones bringing this aid to Albania. As for supervision,” Dr. Berisha continued, “it should be neutral and as effective as possible.” At the end, Mr. Grafini and Dr. Berisha answered questions from the journalists present. Replying to one of them, the DP chairman said that this meeting had nothing whatsoever to do with the election campaign. “Mr. Grafini asked us to confirm that the aid would continue, and we did so.” Likewise, when Mr. Grafini was asked whether the Italian government saw any competition with Greece, he said that the Italian side wanted no competition whatsoever, but wanted Albania to be helped. “For this reason,” he added, “a meeting was also held between Greek Foreign Minister Samaraki and Italian Minister De Miklis, to cooperate so that aid to Albania would be coordinated.” Asked which party the Italian government would like to win the forthcoming elections in Albania, Mr. Grafini, as its representative, said that he hoped a capable majority would win, one able to lead the country towards democracy. P.S. While the journalists present at this meeting asked questions, one television journalist seemed more upset. He did not say it, lest the Italians get angry, but the question gnawed at him: why had the Italian representative not first met comrade Fatos Nano, and why had he not even obtained the president’s permission on how to act in Albania? His concern was the same as that of the PS, and both sides expressed it openly on television. The Socialist Party, buoyed by its chairman’s successful visit to Italy—as confirmed at Fatos Nano’s press conference—was taken by surprise by the visit and unexpected statement of the Italian Foreign Minister’s special envoy. The misfortune for the Albanian socialists was that Mr. Grafini arrived a day after Nano’s press conference, at which he solemnly declared that he had held “serious talks” with the PS in Italy. And there is nothing wrong with that: because it lacks members inside the country, the Socialist Party is recruiting socialists abroad. Just as their immortal leader Enver had done, establishing communist parties as far away as Ceylon. In any case, the Albanian socialists found themselves in a difficult position. Could their chairman have been lying? No, never; lying is not in the nature of Albania’s former communists. Then what? Have the communists kept in their socialist archives enemies, remnants that they have given many names? They should blame the Democratic Party and insinuate against it that it does not teach Italy, America and Europe how to conduct their foreign policy towards Albania. The Socialist Party would do well to criticize the Italian government, as it has always criticized its foreign policy. After all, in Italy—[garbled]—why hasn’t it learned?!

The beautiful road of democracy It began early, soon after the first years of the communist night. It began with an inevitable event, with the revolts of pupils in the country’s secondary schools and in Tirana, with the Vostri movement, with the youth uprisings in Liria in Mirdita and in the northern highlands, with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of young people in the medieval prisons of the camps and the gradually expanding artisan workshops, or in the bleak places of internal exile, with rows of classrooms, the hands that attacked the ballagaJale, the Youth and Students’ Movement that would bring the people truly together, that would bring a powerful mass with a people in the mass? human lives and material wealth that the Greek people had to pay to escape the grim communist fate destined for the Balkans for every ten, and it was clear that without powerful Anglo-American military and economic assistance, we would have had the People’s Republic of Greece on our southern borders; perhaps today we would see Greek women occupying [unclear] and bursting across the borders to escape hunger. The red paw of the Slavic bear weighed on our land for 17 years, but the black pillar survived for another 30 years, and for these years it [unclear] a [unclear] against black hands and others on its back. Nevertheless, at the limits of human endurance, each of us recalled with a shudder the words of Malenkolmi, addressed to his friend Makdaf, in front of the king’s palace: «However hard it is, take comfort that there is no night, Oh, may it not dawn, however long it may be». An event with a promise, with a hope brought to us from the depths of the centuries by great Albania. And indeed, although it seemed unbelievable, the communist night too began to disperse amid the powerful earthquakes of Eastern Europe. Everyone felt it: the men, the struggle, and the beasts. Today, following his instincts, the Dictator [unclear] the place that belonged to him; to escape the storm, he revealed that we were neither East nor West. Apparently, he considered «being neither meat nor fish» very convenient. The first public confrontation took place in Shkodra, where the revolted masses toppled the hated statue of Stalin. On 6 January 1990, in Tirana, there was a demonstration of silent revolt, the first test of organized resistance in the capital. In February–March, Kavaja became the first town in the country where communist power had almost ceased to exist in reality. Shkodra, too, was approaching such a situation. In the spring of 1990, the famous circle of Dr. Ylli Popa gathered ... SKENDER SHKUPI (Continued on page 6) (Continued on page 6)

(Photo: DRITAN KABA)

No. 89 Saturday, 21 December 1991 Year I of publication Price: 1 lek Published every Wednesday and Saturday