On 6 July, representatives of the “French Courtesy” association, Messrs. Nikolas Arsidi and Simon, presented Mr. Sali Berisha with the “French Courtesy” prize at the presidential residence; it is the association’s highest distinction. This prize was awarded to Mr. Sali Berisha, the representatives of the “French Courtesy” association explained, in recognition of “the man of freedom in Albania, for what he has done for democracy, and for the excellence of his work, which was judged to be ‘among the noblest.’” The representatives of the “French Courtesy” association, describing the day the distinction was presented to the Albanian president as a special one, wished him “all the energy needed to lead Albania along the road to modern civilization.” After noting that the “French Courtesy” prize had previously been awarded to such world figures as Sandro Pertini, the French gentlemen also mentioned the four basic principles required to merit the prize: kindness, optimism, honesty and dignity. In his remarks on the occasion, Mr. Sali Berisha thanked his French friends for the special honor they had bestowed on him, saying that he also felt it as an obligation as an Albanian. President Berisha praised the role of free French democratic thought in the democratic movement of the Albanian nation. “The road to freedom,” President Berisha stressed, “is the only road to citizens’ participation in building the new Albanian society.” Those attending the ceremony included the Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori; Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi; and other members of the government. Also present were the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. S. Godo, and the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Mr. Skënder Gjinushi, as well as journalists from the press and radio-television, and other guests. RD correspondent.

The voting on 26 July for local government elections “will give a complete picture of Albania’s new executive power framework and, after 22 March, within the framework of its democratic reorganization, seeks to clearly define the character” of the first Albanian state governed by the rule of law. FEATURES These are the first elections of their kind in a setting shaped by dictatorship and, naturally, they carry solemn importance. The form is also unprecedented: based on a new administrative division (37 districts), this is the first time people are voting to elect a local government organized at the level of communes, municipalities and districts. This form arose from a long-standing need for more democratic substance. This is an organizational form and substance that will be implemented on the basis of legal guarantees and greater relative independence for this level of government. In pursuit of its local interests, it will administer considerably more financial and material resources and exercise more executive powers. All of this will stimulate faster socioeconomic development in keeping with authentic regional characteristics. For example, even the smallest unit of this government, the commune, will, according to its means, have its own administration and specialists such as a doctor, veterinarian, zootechnician, agronomist, police officers, etc.; and, on the basis of taxes levied on production and commercial activity in the commune, it will secure its own fund, which it will... ...In the past, all these resources went into the budget of the state of bunkers and communist pyramids, leaving local social and urban development in the miserable state we see today. Now, with the emergence of the private sector, which will generate highly profitable activities, the value and role of local government’s administration of these funds is clear. In its activities, this level of government deals directly with the people who elect it, and its performance will therefore be assessed more realistically and directly. The prestige and success of the central executive government also depend to a great extent on this local government, just as its failure may depend on it. In the elections of 22 March, the Albanian electorate was divided among a total of 100 electoral zones. Within a single zone, which could include several villages and even several regions, preferences for a political entity or a particular candidate were more numerous and more dispersed. In the present elections, where people will vote for 307 commune heads and councils, the electorate will be divided into smaller units and will thus be better able to express and satisfy its preferences more accurately. In this sense, these elections may be said to be more democratic than those of 22 March. The above characteristics should lead us, when selecting the candidates to put forward, to take full account of the electorate’s preferences, which are primarily connected with the standing a candidate enjoys among the voters in the area where they will stand. Naturally, their ability, honesty and commitment must also be taken into consideration. To this end, the DP committees in the districts should take the sections’ suggestions into account. The sections and branches themselves should eliminate subjectivity as much as possible and avoid the vicious circle within their own ranks, as has happened in some cases so far. This requires making the greatest possible use, in selecting the current candidates, of those traces of popular consultation that can be achieved through broad meetings and gatherings. This would be a more objective and more reliable way to secure victory. Let us not forget that in these elections, especially in the districts, rural areas and villages, the individual will carry more weight relative to the political entity than in the 22 March elections; that is, this time people will vote more for the individual, which makes the selection of candidates from among those available all the more important and responsible. DIFFICULTIES These are mostly subjective in nature and are chiefly connected with the state of psychological distress in Albanian society: prolonged misery, exhaustion, deprivation and the scars of the past, which make people expect everything from above, from the government’s “magic key,” which is supposed to open the Sesame door for us in a single day and bring forth gold and happiness from its treasure. you could say, are more democratic than those of March 2. Another difficulty is the existence opposite us of a destructive opposition, such as the PS, which (Continued on page 2)

- International Media Fund assists Open Society Fund - Open Society Fund has received a loan of $300,000 from International Media Fund to buy newsprint for Romania and Albania. Two thirds of the loan have been allocated to buying and distributing paper for the independent Romanian press, and one third has been allocated to Albania. The sharp rise in the price of newsprint, combined with the shortage of paper, put the continued publication of independent newspapers in these countries at risk. The entire quantity, 1,500 tons of newsprint, was distributed in Romania during January from sources in Russia, Poland and Hungary. The newsprint purchased through the assistance and cooperation of the Foundation (Continued on page 4)

On 3 July, a rally of the DP branch in Vlorë was held in the cinema-theater hall. The agenda included the progress of the election campaign for the local elections and discussion of the Pashko issue. The chairman of the DP, Mr. Eduard Selami, and the party’s secretary, Mr. Tomorr Dosti, attended. The notable feature of this rally was the absence of the chairman of the DP branch in Vlorë, Mr. Afrim Jupi, which prompted extensive discussion. The rally was in agreement on all the matters discussed. The meeting emphasized the need for a second rally. RD correspondent, Vlorë

DEPUTY?!... It would be a desecration of the vision of a democratic state if former secretaries of the fallen state party, the PP, from the PP district committees were allowed to remain in parliament. Not because they were members of that party, but because they were the actual heads of the internal affairs branches, state security and its agencies, the organs of the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” The heads of these branches did not carry out any action without the first secretary’s approval. With regard to state security, this had been formalized by the Political Bureau’s Platform. Every morning—to say nothing of several times a day—they were briefed on everything by telephone over the direct (secret) lines connecting them. No arrest, internment or expulsion was undertaken without these comrades’ approval. No person who engaged in “hostile agitation and propaganda” was merely advised or denounced; and these… were not just any kind of advice or denunciation, but had consequences that only those who experienced them know about, and they did not happen without the party secretaries’ signatures. They also ordered the admonitions and denunciations. Even the desecration of the bodies of people killed at the border took place after approval had been obtained from the party committee’s first secretaries, who in not a few cases attended these “ceremonies.” One of the first secretaries, a member of parliament in both the communist and democratic legislatures, who approved the blacklists for the district of Tepelenë, was Gramoz Ruçi. His deeds in high office (as someone who enjoyed privilege?) have been extensively covered in the press. To recall his “human” and “democratic” spirit while he was Minister of Internal Affairs, it would suffice to mention his insistence that an army officer be discharged for the sole “offence” of having been glad when the dictator’s monument was toppled. That same day Gramoz defended several Guard soldiers suspected of having tried to assassinate two figures who are now the presidents of Albania and Kosovo. At the same time, he demanded an explanation from former Prime Minister Fatos Nano for allowing the Kosovo LD delegation to be accommodated in the villas where “Comrade Enver” had stayed. Comrade Gramoz was apparently left wishing that Dr. Rugova had “deigned to place a bouquet of flowers on Comrade Enver’s grave,” as he put it at the time. Members of the People’s Assembly should decide for themselves whether they would agree to sit and legislate in the same chamber as such people. But as a citizen, I believe it would be to their credit to revoke the mandates of these deputies. Just as the state apparatus is being cleansed at every level of the corrupt, the incompetent and the lawbreakers, the temple of democracy must also be cleansed! (continued on page 2) those who have experienced them know they were carried out without the signatures of the party secretaries. They also carried out the consultations and the denunciations. Even the lynching of the corpses of those obtained from the secretaries of the party committee, who in quite a few cases were present at these ceremonies. They are scenes that only the imagination of a particular breed could conjure up. The first secretaries of the Labor Party committees in the districts also had a role in the BLACK LISTS, which N. Tozaj wrote about in the pages of this newspaper. These lists represented the categorization of the “enemy element” and were drawn up by the State Security (SSH). At certain moments, or to stage political show trials that suited the Labor Party at a particular time, those on the lists were arrested. From a cadre who had administered these lists, I learned that the people who would carry out the arrests had also been designated, he-

Work has begun in the economic enterprises of the Lezhë district as well. After a months-long, lethargic and interrupted “sleep,” a promising awakening is beginning. In conversation with the district planning chief, Ms. Kozeta Gjika, we learn that work has begun and, with the olive harvest, the pace of production will increase. The canning enterprise has begun collecting and preserving. The food enterprise, the biscuit factory and the bread factory are all in the vanguard. The figures are generally low, but the enterprises’ daily performance is satisfactory compared with the past. Thus, the paper factory resumed work today, although not at full capacity. Raw materials are lacking: caustic soda and PVC from Vlorë. The increase in work this ... [?] ... [?] but buyers are concerned about the price of products, which is very high for our empty pockets. The producers’ justification: the high price of raw materials. The builders have resumed work. New construction sites are opening. The tasks are demanding, but entirely achievable. The Wood Enterprise is carrying out organized work and turning out quality products that are in constant demand. The Port of Shëngjin has still not started operating, while the fishing enterprise is meeting its targets steadily. Good work is also being done at the municipal services, housing and electricity enterprises. But the upkeep of parks and gardens leaves much to be desired; they have been turned into grazing land for the townspeople’s livestock. The animals have overrun … [?] the towns of Lezhë and Shëngjin. Work is progressing well in agriculture too. The wheat harvest has begun in Balldren-Torovicë. It has also begun at NB Gjader. The Agricultural Enterprise has provided private farmers with combine harvesters to reap and thresh the wheat. The Water Enterprise is faced with a dense irrigation network that has been completely destroyed. The main Vau i Dejës-Gjadër canal has serious defects. The workers of NM Qendër are doing good work supplying the people with vegetables. The market is well supplied. This is the picture of work in the Lezhë district. After a long pause marked by defects, losses and abnormality, serious and organized work has begun, promising more in the future.

“Albania will put part of its territory up for auction for oil and gas exploration by foreign companies,” Vullnet Xhango, oil supervisor at the Ministry of Industry, Mineral Resources and Energy, told the ATSH journalist. In accordance with Council of Ministers Decision No. 27, dated 25.1.1992, “On cooperation with foreign firms for the exploration and increase of oil production onshore,” this ministry approved the proposal of the Governing Council of the “Albpetrol” Oil Economic Community to divide the territory of the Republic of Albania into oil and gas exploration blocks. Under this decision, “Albpetrol” will conduct exploration activities using its own capital and that of the Albanian state and, where deemed necessary, also in cooperation with foreign firms, with shared risk, across 22 percent of the territory of the Republic of Albania. The rest of the territory will be left available for negotiation with foreign companies. In accordance with the platform for cooperation with foreign firms, the principle of equal competition among them will be respected. The Albanian state will grant no firm monopoly rights. The competition will follow established procedures. “Albpetrol” has assigned its Fier Oil and Gas Geophysical Complex Enterprise to organize it; the enterprise is cooperating with the international geophysical firm “Western Atlas.” (ATSH)

The economic enterprises of the Korçë district are making every effort to secure raw and auxiliary materials. Through a Greek firm, the Wood-Processing Enterprise has secured considerable quantities of nails, foam rubber, varnish and other auxiliary materials. Almost all the workers in the furniture workshop have returned to work. In recent days, 200 armchairs, 100 sofas, 2,000 chairs, 1,500 tables and stools, and several thousand packaging crates have been put on the market. The main problem for this enterprise is the supply of plywood and fibreboard from the Wood Combine in Elbasan. All four departments of the Stamp Factory are operating normally, and no worker has gone on social assistance. The factory’s problem is the failure to settle invoices for goods purchased from the domestic economic enterprise. To meet workers’ wage payments, the factory changed its product mix these days to make items in demand on the market, such as coffee grinders, plastic drinking glasses, handles for pressure cookers, plastic fruit bowls, funnels, several types of screwdrivers, etc. The Brewery is operating at full capacity; with its stockpile and daily output, it is adequately meeting the needs of the social food-service units in Korçë, Bilisht, Maliq, Ersekë and Pogradec. The Garment Production Enterprise is also operating at full capacity, while some departments of the knitwear combine, the Instrument Factory, the Handicraft Production Enterprise and the Miscellaneous Products Enterprise are operating partially. Correspondent of “RD”

Year II of publication No. 144 Tuesday, 7 July 1992 Price: 2 lek Published Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday

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