The United States Undersecretary of State, Lorenc Igelberger, and a delegation representing various U.S. states, sectors and coordinating agencies for aid programs for Central and Eastern Europe will visit Albania today. He will meet with the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, and members of the government. Our American friends will also discuss with the Albanian authorities the aid the United States has granted to our country.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, the Turkish prime minister, Sulejman Demirel, will arrive in Tirana on Sunday, 31 May, for an official visit. Talks are expected to be held with him on expanding relations between the two countries. In our next issue, our newspaper will provide detailed information about the visit.

Nostalgia among «ZP»-ists for Enver’s «Mauthausen» era — The PD did not promise a «golden spoon». «ZP» is lying — «We’ve stalled in governing; the world is helping us» — it is helping us and will continue to help us — The very notion of «democracy» in itself promises nothing to anyone, but, by including the human being—as in the great American democracies—democracy always promises freedom and the path to happiness. In keeping with this essence, the PD’s carefully considered electoral platform was developed as well: We promised that we would build a democratic state that would guarantee and protect human rights and freedoms; that we would develop the economy on the basis of a market economy; and that, for all of this, we would enact good laws so that Albanian life after the dictatorship could follow the road of our dreams: toward Europe. Naturally, Europe and the democratic world would not withhold their assistance on this journey. Our promises were never «promises without customs duties»—the sort that were characteristic of the «golden spoon» of the PP(S). But Luan M. Rama, in his article «The Democratic Party’s Promises and Reality», published in «ZP» on 28.5.1992, tells us—with a «competence» as though he himself had been a protagonist in the PD campaign—that we supposedly promised: «If the PD wins, public order and peace will be established within 24 hours»; «every farmer will have his own tractor»; «telephones for every family»; and so on. Since «ZP» and its journalists have made a strategy of distortion (exaggeration) and boundless deceit their own, I have the moral and legal right to ask Mr. Rama which person, possessing authority on behalf of the PD, supposedly made such promises. (Continued on page 4)

The President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, received the prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Bujar Bukoshi. He congratulated Mr. Bukoshi on the success of the elections in Kosovo and added that 24 May was a historic day for the Albanian nation. Through them, progress was made, and the President-elect in Kosovo—[text unclear in the original]—received the people’s mandate to govern in a free and democratic manner, thereby becoming a factor for stability. We must bear in mind that through constructive dialogue and efforts to manage the conflict, we will achieve the realization of the rights of the Albanian nation in Kosovo in the same way. In Albania we are going through difficult days, but nevertheless we have a duty to find ways to overcome the difficulties. Albania will remain a factor for stability in the region, since peace and stability in the Balkans are essential both for us and for others. Mr. Berisha expressed his gratitude for the special attention shown by the international community, and especially the West, toward these elections, and added that he was confident that these elections would also be recognized internationally.

On Friday, 30 May, the National Council of the PD met in the lecture hall of the Palace of Culture in Tirana to discuss and set the date for elections to local government bodies, the PD electoral platform, and the tasks facing the party in order to crown this major political campaign with victory. The meeting was chaired by the PD chairman, Mr. Dulla Saliam; the secretary, Mr. Tomor Stani; the deputy chairman, Arben Imami; and Ali Spahia, as well as members of the National Council. The President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, were also present. After the opening remarks by Mr. Eduard Selami, Mr. Besnik Rama and Mr. Meksi also spoke. Questions and discussion followed. The general view emphasized was that these elections should be held as soon as possible, on 28 June 1992, in order to eliminate the contradiction between the democratic central government and the local government, whose legitimacy derived from an old model of the communist state. Objectives were also defined and tasks set for all the parties, so that the party could work at a rapid pace and focus on implementing the PD program, restoring order, eliminating disruptions in the supply of goods to the people—especially food—fully implementing the land law, privatization, etc. RD correspondent

On 27.5.1992, at a meeting between the President of the Republic and representatives of the Association for Human Rights and Religious Freedom, the latter presented Mr. Berisha with an award bearing the following citation: «In recognition of his great service to the promotion and strengthening of international understanding and the protection of human rights, freedom of conscience and religious freedom».

Italy’s ninth president On Monday evening, after numerous rounds of voting, the ninth President of the Italian Republic was elected: the Christian Democrat Oskar Luixhi Skalfaro. Parliament elected him with 672 votes, leaving the other candidates with insufficient votes. The Italian Democratic Party and seven other parties supported his candidacy. The new Italian head of state swore allegiance to the Constitution on Thursday and delivered his programmatic speech. His first words after the election were: «I will try to perform my duty, with God’s help, to the end and at any cost».

Recently, several newspapers have speculated about the problem of increases in the prices of sports goods. The truth is that the government has so far made no decision regarding the liberalization of sports goods. Everything is still at the proposal stage. What is written in the newspapers «24-Orë» and «Pasqyra» is malicious and intended to mislead the people. It should be said that the measures for further liberalization of retail prices are in keeping with the government’s program and with the request made to the IMF, the World Bank and the European Community for support of economic reform in Albania. In the proposals put forward, it is envisaged that the prices of food goods that will remain controlled include sugar, oil, rice, salt and milk, while the other goods will be liberalized. The prices of goods that remain controlled are expected to rise by 2–5 times, and at the same time full wage compensation has been envisaged for the items sugar, oil, rice and unemployment [benefits]. As for meat and its prices, they will rise to a level at which they can be controlled by the state, but there will be no compensation. The idea is that compensation should be made according to the household income per capita, taking into account that these products place a burden on each family. Such compensation has been introduced in some Western countries alongside the increase in the new prices. At present, the list of controlled goods includes 12 food products and 14 types, while textiles and other non-food items will not be liberalized. Some will remain controlled. There will be a price regime, with specified prices that will be controlled. To reiterate, speculation on this matter is unfounded. The government has made no decision to date. The above proposals may or may not be approved. It would be appropriate for the discussion of this issue to be conducted accurately and objectively. ARMAND SHKULLAKU

I am not referring to the fact that almost every session of our Parliament starts 30 minutes late. That too should not happen, but let us overlook it in the face of the more serious problem: the absence of more than half the deputies from the chamber. That is what happened last Thursday, when only 60 deputies remained in the chamber. The session was postponed until the afternoon. Yet the deputies had not objected to going to Parliament, even though the bill under discussion was of particular importance: who is entitled to carry weapons and who must hand them in. But how would public opinion have been harmed by those who carried weapons without a permit? There are also often more than half the deputies absent from the various committees, as Mr. Pjetër Arbnori reported in one session. Worse still, on 25 May the law committee did not meet at all. On Wednesday afternoon, the secretariat was asked to count the deputies because «the quorum wasn’t there». This situation gives the impression that some deputies from the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party or the two other parties think that attendance in Parliament is optional. They can come in whenever they want, or not attend and leave whenever they want. We remind you, deputies, that the people did not elect you to treat their trust this way. You may have reasons, but in any case they cannot be generalized into such a phenomenon, especially on this scale. GURI DHIMO

— The 17 families from the former Blloku send this letter to Mr. Pjetër Arbnori. — Mr. Speaker! We are citizens of the Republic of Albania, affected by Council of Ministers Decision No. 193, dated 18.5.1992, «On the use of buildings in the former Blloku for urgent state purposes». We are being evicted from the homes we have occupied until now in an arbitrary manner, and are being given a living area at the legally prescribed standard. Some of these homes belong to people who are refugees abroad but have not vacated their houses, because they have paid their rent regularly in accordance with the law; indeed, they have threatened to take revenge on those who move into their homes. In addition, the law is being violated, namely Article 289 of the Civil Code currently in force, which gives us the right to appeal to a court within five days, and the court’s decision is final. This year, 1991–1992, under the three governments that have been in power, three decisions ... EDITOR PETRO DHIMITRI’S NOTE: Every citizen has the right to complain. But in this particular case, the legitimate right to complain belongs only to the state—above all, to the owners of these homes. In this case, 50 years ago the homes were forcibly seized from their owners; some were imprisoned, executed, or had their families and relatives interned, and to this day they have not been returned to the homes they built themselves, which were unjustly nationalized so that they could be allocated to the leading figures of the dictatorship. They are not complaining because they are waiting for democracy to do them justice, as it should do for them and for many other owners throughout Albania. You call your eviction a class-political problem; how do you view the eviction of the owners, and why do you not raise the question of returning them to our homes? The measures applied to our homes have been varied; some cases have even been decided by a court. These court decisions, too, are now being violated by this decision of the Executive Committee of the Municipality of Tirana. The decision says that these homes are needed for urgent state purposes and that the deadline for vacating them is 24 hours, whereas the other families currently living in these homes have not been ordered to move out. So the issue is not urgency, but the class-political problem. Once again, we ask you to intervene as soon as possible to suspend this illegal decision. Respectfully, on behalf of the 17 families affected by the above-mentioned decision of the Council of Ministers. The signatures of members of the Hoxha, Kapo, Kolaka and Marko families are clearly legible, while several others are not readily decipherable. At the end of the letter there is also this note: «If no action is taken on this matter, we will seek assistance from the domestic and foreign press and from international human-rights organizations, etc.» EDITOR PETRO DHIMITRI’S NOTE: In this case, we remind you that it is the owners who should be complaining; in this particular case, the legitimate right to complain belongs only to the state—above all, to the owners of these homes. In this case, 50 years ago the homes were forcibly seized from their owners. You are right to complain that even the slightest reduction below the area to which you are legally entitled could harm you. But do not forget that not only in Tirana but in every city it is rare to find a family with as much living space as it is legally entitled to. This wound is the result of the poverty into which the dictatorship and your leadership brought us. How is it possible, when most of the population lives in cramped housing conditions, for you to have such large living areas? Where are we to find them and give them to you, when thousands of former political prisoners and innocent internees are still without shelter? Do not forget that you were housed in Tirana, in state-owned apartments, and you did not complain about class politics in the villages, or when you went to small towns and other districts, as you did to the real former owners of those homes you called your own. As for the decisions of previous governments, do not forget that those governments, and the courts that issued orders in their favor, were compromised socialists and could not step outside their own framework to remove you from homes you had unjustly occupied, when you yourselves made both the law and the lawlessness. As for appealing to international institutions, even if you do so, we believe they will demand that the homes be given to their rightful owners, not to those who have taken advantage of their misfortune.