The oppressive heat of these August days was made even more unbearable for me by the Motion signed by the group of “Democrats” Imami, Demeti, Teta, Zogaj, Trako and Peshkëpia, published in “RD” on 7 August 1992, and by Neritan Ceka’s article “Democracy for Sale,” published in “Koha jonë” on 8 August 1992. All these days I have been worried and have been asking myself: gentlemen who authored the motion, whom the people loved and respected so much during December 1990 and afterwards, what are you trying to do to this people at this very difficult and delicate moment for Albanian democracy? Gentlemen, I who am writing to you am one of those intellectuals who, although we felt the communist dictatorship on our backs as a family from its very first days, did not have the courage you had in December 1990 to stand at the forefront of the democratic movement, take the microphone and speak about the evils of the communist dictatorship. We had more to say than you, but we stood together with the crowd, applauding or cheering you. Perhaps this was because we were still afraid of the communist beast. We could not believe that it was at its last moment; we feared that it might bite again and, if it came back to life, we would be the first it would devour, not you, who had climbed onto the podium, since there would be someone to protect you. Nevertheless, I admired you and defended you wholeheartedly whenever anyone tried to give you a nickname; but with the writings mentioned above, in which you present your views on democracy, you have disillusioned me. Gentlemen, the Albanian people have suffered more than any other people in Eastern Europe under the communist dictatorship, which impoverished them to the extreme; killed them; interned them; fenced them in with wire like livestock; and finally stripped them of their identity. December 1990 was a historic moment for this people, who understood that communism had come to an end and took to the streets, clashing and bleeding in confrontations with the communist forces until they defeated them. The formation of the Albanian Democratic Party, at whose head you were also standing, and your attempts to deceive the people—which in some cases succeeded—are part of this story. At this moment it is up to us Democrats and intellectuals to stand by the people and patiently explain things to them, so that democracy may grow stronger for the good of the people and of our children. That is how I see myself as a citizen, Mr. Neritan, and when the Nation asks me, “Where were you, Adam?” (as you write in your article), I will answer that I was on the barricades of democracy to the very end, on the opposite barricade from Neritan, Frroku, Arben, Preçi, etc. Unlike you, I was afraid that the Democratic Party was leaning to the left and not to the right. Nevertheless, like many other intellectuals, we are convinced that the Democratic Party is the only party representing the interests of the many sectors of our population that oppose communism. You unjustly make grave accusations against members of the democratic government, the president and many others, alleging “anti-democratic” actions and a new class struggle. You are upset that we are replacing communist cadres with democratic ones, and make many other slanderous claims of a communist nature, which you have surely copied from ZP, since they are the same accusations we read for months in its pages. Among other things, you attack the DP, claiming it is returning to the ranks of Balli Kombëtar and Legaliteti; these accusations are taken from Enver Hoxha’s books. In doing so, you want to eliminate two of its activists, Messrs. Toto and Dosti. Mr. Neritan contemptuously calls them offspring of the monarchy or of Balli, and does so maliciously, since as a historian he knows better than anyone that the Toto family was not monarchist, but fought against the monarchy. Mr. Tomorr Dosti, meanwhile, is one of the activists of democracy. Those of us who truly love democracy are glad to have them in the DP, because we are convinced they will fight with all their strength to defend it. Unlike you, gentlemen, they will do everything in their power to prevent communism from returning—a system under which they suffered so much, wandering through prisons and internment camps—while you, Mr. Neritan, were delivering papers in the congress halls at… ...suffered more than any other people? Eastern Europe, under the communist dictatorship, which impoverished it to the extreme; killed it; interned it; surrounded it with barbed wire like livestock and, finally, depersonalized it. December 1990 was a historic moment for this people: it realized the streets, clashing and shedding blood with the communist forces until it defeated them. The formation of the Albanian Democratic Party, led by you, Mr. Neritan, and the other gentlemen of the Motion, was a great victory and a guarantee of democracy for Albanian democracy. Nevertheless, until the historic victory of March 22, the Albanian people suffered greatly; hooliganism and crime increased, incited and organized by the socialists to show the people, “See what democracy brings,” and to stir up nostalgia for the time of dictatorship. The people lacked food because the socialists burned down the food warehouses or stole their contents, while the offspring of communism began to enrich themselves through trade and smuggling at the people’s expense. With the establishment of a democratic government, great prospects have opened up for our country to improve its economic, cultural, health, and other conditions. But of course these things will not happen in three months, and it is absurd to think so. The anti-communist forces calling themselves socialists, who do not want democracy because they want to live as before at this people’s expense, are trying to sabotage Albania’s democratic development and the economic reform they voted for in parliament. They make slanderous claims about Neritan, whom so many members of parliament voted for. The formation of the Albanian Democratic Party is a mechanism for all forces to protect the democratic truth in this country, and they are convinced that Unlike you, gentlemen, they will fight with all their strength to ensure that communism never returns—a congress halls in Vienna or Berlin. You will find no democracy among so-called democrats like these, but among people like you, who at such a delicate moment, when the community-socialists have thrown all their strength into keeping it in the cradle while it is still there, come out after leaving a parliamentary meeting where they unanimously approved the law liberalizing prices and make propaganda, talking about the price of bread and other products to turn the people against democracy. At this time, you too come out to destroy democracy from within. But the people do not believe you and will throw you away as worthless objects, just as they did with Neritan Ceka in December 1991, because they cannot tolerate red boils on democracy’s back. Therefore, gentlemen of the August 6 Motion, I advise you to do the same thing you advise the “Balli” of the DP: for the sake of political honesty, you should return to your own PARTY (PS), from which you came, and leave this people, exhausted by communism, in peace to build the democracy they have begun. Leave the political stage, or history will condemn you. PËLLUMB KARAAGJOZI

At this meeting, which was the result of this working trip, during which Mr. Paniq, on his return from Athens, made this stop here, our discussion of the problems of the region that concern Albania today once again addressed the conflict in northern Albania, a conflict that we want to bring to an end. We want it to end because we know that war does not benefit peoples; we want it to end because we want Bosnia to move no further south, since we know that the farther south it spreads, the more Balkan peoples and countries will be drawn into this conflict, which is undesirable not only for Albania, but for all the countries of the Balkans, Europe and the world. We also believe that there is a great danger that this conflict may spread to Kosovo, where the conflict in Yugoslavia began around ten years ago. As Albanians and as a Balkan country, we understand that the Kosovo question must be resolved in accordance with the will of the Albanian people in Kosovo. The best path we can choose is dialogue between the legitimate representatives of Kosovo and the Serbian government, in the presence of third parties. We also informed Mr. Paniq that it would help to achieve this if the state of emergency in Kosovo were lifted immediately, federal troops withdrawn, foreign European observers accepted by both sides were present, and the Albanian people in Kosovo were granted their rights in accordance with the political will they have expressed. We believe that without resolving these matters there can be no further progress; these steps would be difficult, or practically almost impossible. As for finding solutions to the problems between countries and peoples, we support solutions that have a real basis for implementation. Our discussion here was precisely along these lines, and it was not an easy discussion, because for the most part each of us remained in our respective positions. Nevertheless, both sides were convinced of the need to stop conflicts and aggression immediately, to engage in dialogue, to move from the battlefield to the negotiating table, and to respect the rights of every people. As representatives of the Albanian people, we expressed our concern about the seriousness of the situation, our desire for a peaceful solution, and our demand that all the rights of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia be respected and granted, up to and including self-determination. We are certain that dialogue will lead to acceptable solutions and that lasting peace can be achieved only in this way. Temporary agreements or solutions, and the denial of peoples’ rights, will cause situations to recur that have repeatedly arisen in the Balkans since the beginning of this century. Albania is a country that has set out on the road to democracy and freedom. It wants peace and good relations with its neighbors; it wants its neighbors, too, to preserve well-being and peace, but above all it wants this for itself and for its brothers in the former Yugoslavia. We are convinced that one day these issues will be resolved. The sooner, the better. Press and Information Office of the Prime Minister

Democracy is at a stage in which it has become a tangible reality, something that calls for truth both outside and within it. This is not only about that power of selection, that vitality the Democratic Party is displaying in filtering its ranks. This is something unforeseen in the scenario for transforming Albanian society through political schemes. Under no circumstances can this be taken to justify preserving the fifth column, since the search for truth is the logic of the people, which cannot be computerized. In seeking the truth, democracy aims to uncover and understand the hidden mechanism of the communist administration that existed for half a century. There can never be an honest path to transforming democracy without understanding, considering and uncovering it, because beneath this mechanism lie many paths to the hidden truth of the dictatorship, such as crime, gold, and national treason. Beneath this mechanism lie all those facts and many figures who were struck down by the dictator, even by firing squads, and who themselves bear a heavy complicity for the time in which they were alive. For precisely this reason, communist figures struck down by the dictator do not constitute material for dissent and democracy, but rather a tragic guilt; for their families, however, they offer an opportunity to make their mark in the history of the struggle against dictatorship. The hidden mechanism of the communist administration surely shelters those intellectuals who form the foundation for interpreting the dictator’s cult and falsifying history. Without uncovering this mechanism, simple in appearance and taken for granted, but which, in its most sophisticated version, is thought to exist in an accessible or decipherable archive, we will continue to suffer from the distortion of truth. When truths are deciphered with dignity, Democracy, in seeking the truth, aims to uncover and understand the secret mechanism of the communist administration that lasted for half a century. There can never be a different path to building democracy without knowing and uncovering, in depth and in detail, the past of the communist administration. One of the great dangers is falling into the belief that every official of the old administration was its final act of faith; on the contrary, there was also a secret vote of confidence, a personal “recruitment” through some old man who was a friend of the dictator, because without his approval no decision or congress had any weight. This is why the published positions of the Political Bureau and other senior officials often do not correspond to their real power. Conversely, people holding high-ranking positions perform middle-ranking roles. This secret mechanism must be documen- (Continued on page 2)

Until today, I have preferred not to respond to attacks or accusations made against me in the press. Anyone involved in politics may, rightly or wrongly, address anyone with criticism, attacks and, why not, slander. And you, Professor, under the title “A Little History” (and history means the objective recording and interpretation of events), make a false accusation against me, whether mistakenly or deliberately. I hope you are mistaken, since, rightly or wrongly, I have had respect for you as a person. Be assured, sir, that I do not need “cliques” or empty “friendships” in order to define and express my political and civic views. The only clique I belong to is the clique of my political principles. If you wanted to make your “history,” your “historical aspect,” more credible, you would publicly present “historical documents” while accusing me. Be assured that it will not disappear and, furthermore… Perhaps you would nevertheless like to burden me with it; the label of “slanderer” of the “Democrats” would be less credible. The lever. The lever is the only advantage I have over you, Professor; it would give me the opportunity to prove this in time. That is why I cannot… GENC BULLI

On 11 August, a PD branch meeting was held in Shijak to organize the PD in Shijak. Also attending were Mr. Azem Hajdari, the deputy for the Shijak area, and Mr. Tritan Shehu, a member of the National Council, serving as delegate. The meeting reviewed the work of this sub-branch during the 26 July elections and the results achieved, as well as the motion presented at the meeting of the National Council by Mr. Arbën Imami. The report on the work of the Shijak branch was delivered by the sub-branch chairman, Mr. Kokole, who emphasized that Shijak had achieved very good results in these elections and ranked second after Kavaja. Deputy PD chairman Mr. Azem Hajdari also spoke and expressed his satisfaction. (Continued on page 2).

As the people of the capital were marching along their great promenade against communism, the red dictators and the military occupiers, the shadow of Neritan Ceka emerged like a phantom from the agitated crowd; perched on the shoulders of several demonstrators, he turned them back. This happened on 21 February 1991, at around 1:00 p.m., and only later would we wonder: who was this man, what mission drove him to such an act, and where would he appear later? His phantom-like image within the DP, also shaped by the way he became a Democrat—during a service with his friends in Fier, then arriving in the capital the next day as a party member—was further cemented by his appearance on RTSH television in early December 1991. There, at the voice of Ramiz Alia, he issued the manifesto-like declaration against the DP and the democratic movement, in favor of Enverist forces: communist, spy, intelligence-service, revanchist and destabilizing forces. Once again, it seemed to us that we saw the phantom of the violator of democracy, the trader in its values. This impression was reinforced even more by the exhausted television screen, after the long sessions of the trial of the communists’ stability government against Professor Berisha; then by that young man, in bad weather, under cloudy skies, rain and fog, which made the phantom’s anti-historical declaration even more threatening. This time the phantom appeared on the screen of their era, pretending to be a Democrat from the very beginning. Until the day pluralism was proclaimed, he had been, as Rexhep Qosja says, “Quieter than a blade of grass, smaller than a grain of sand.” By still defending the formula of the stability government, he displays the provincialism of the Europeanized, argot-speaking treacherous communist. The remnants revived in “eurondije” lately find their official witness in Ceka. In everything he does, he becomes Enver Hoxha’s spokesman when he rises against the legal acts passed and the rights of Albanians, displaying a lack of culture and human compassion. But, as Goethe says: “Whoever does not go forward, goes backward.” Macbeth’s witch calls for civil war, to set one movement against another. He performs irresponsible arithmetic, outside the logic of an intellectual, throughout his article “Albania Between East and West.” The phantom sees only people from Tropoja, people from Dibër and other such fabrications. Gentlemen, a few days ago “ZP” counted among the people of Tropoja Ramiz Alia, Besnik Bekteshi and Ali Vukatana, though everyone knows where they come from, while our contemporary microscope could barely count three people from Tropoja who, after 50 years, might have risen to become two or three directors entirely on merit. The Ceka phantom sees nothing in the new democratic government but banality and unprofessionalism; yet, much to his chagrin, every specialized international institution, including the IMF, rated the Meksi government’s program as excellent. So what is there behind the archaeologist’s accusations? Nothing but the ego of an aspiring careerist with too few chairs. He talks and talks on RTSH, solely because it does not offer him its screen, to make ominous warnings and go further, like Enver Hoxha, in intensifying the class struggle, labeling honest people in his own style as Ballists, Zogists, etc. This is one of Mr. Ceka’s lowest precepts. You are trying to destabilize the country, and to people of this category I would recall a passage from Victor Hugo, which precisely defines the contemptible person: “In his loathsome wretchedness, he does not merely defend today’s social order; he undermines philosophy, undermines science, undermines justice, undermines human thought, undermines civilization, undermines revolution, undermines progress.” Ceka makes a mistake with these phantoms. He appeared too soon: “Architects” can no longer turn the Albanian people back as they did in February 1991, just as they will not be able to turn them back now through the desperate and unethical articles he publishes in “Koha jonë” against the new government and the President. The Ceka phantom has appeared on the scene once again, with the same aim of dividing democracy, the same mission of calling for joint government with the communists, and the same thirst for power and career. But things have changed since December 1991. The Albanian people voted for democracy and for Professor Berisha as President. The entire civilized world welcomed this choice, while you vote, traveling around Europe in your capacity as … (Continued on page 3)