Democratic transparency accepts all versions. The right to speak and think is not free, nor is it punished or infringed upon. But when this right and the transparent climate of democracy are used for dubious political purposes, in support of clans and destabilization, words are no longer ordinary but a strategy of pressure, imposition and antidemocratic intolerance. Anyone who was present at the parliamentary discussion of Mr. Azem Hajdari’s amendment, and who has read the press commentaries on that discussion, will surely feel the heavy burden of the pettiness and antidemocratic improvisation of the “moderate” group, and especially of the social-communist majority. The Socialists, with their nostalgia for the dictatorial power they have lost forever, with their stream of anti-reform declarations and their thirst to oppose everything democratic, have become the best supporters of stabilization. The Socialist strategy, based on the colonial slogan “divide and rule,” having been unable to achieve the second part, has focused on the first—division along regional and religious lines, and political and economic movements: national ones. In its stubborn defense of those who falsify justice, the PS has donned the clothes of the popular opposition and turned into a destabilizing, antidemocratic political force. Mr. Hajdari’s statement in parliament also sounds strange, since he has always presented himself as a fanatic of the law. A. Hajdari, with his mandate as an MP and chairman of the parliamentary committee on Public Order, Justice and SHIK, suddenly becomes a “defender of the law.” To beat someone you have worked with and fail to understand the responsibility that this act carries means being twice as guilty. Azem says he knows very well, but does not like to let it go, because he does not like the law, because he wants to stand above the law again, above parliament, above the body responsible for respecting human rights. This is clear when he declares that “this is politics, not law”! Why? Hajdari politicizes himself and justice? Who believes that political schemes carry any weight when, in a public forum, you punch a father, a colleague, a citizen whom Tirana voted onto the Municipal Council? Truly, it does not matter who it is, since this is not the first time you have beaten innocent citizens; but you want your tolerance of your unlawful and inhumane actions to last forever! Forget that only justice is eternal—that is what accuses you now, precisely when you present yourself as a man of the law, precisely when people have been made perfectly clear that there are no longer any members of the old communist nomenklatura, and that before the law everyone is equal! Therefore, this is not an attack by the DP against you; quite the contrary. The DP has tolerated you, defended you; it has loved and pampered you more than any of your colleagues…

[these were] made only after the threats. You say you were number one and know many things! Bravo, Azem! It is true that you know many things, but I assure you that you have kept no secrets about the things justice needs to know, just as the DP has not. The people have always been spoken to openly. But it seems you mean other, illegal things. Rumors have circulated before that you collaborated clandestinely, but I did not think it was true; I did not think the day would come when you would legitimize the threat in parliament. You say that a person who “knows” may also disappear, alluding to open dictatorship! But who has threatened Azem Hajdari? On the contrary, he himself threatens and beats innocent journalists, warning that he will use against democrats and ordinary citizens the torturous methods that the old communist nomenklatura used in Albania’s prisons! Has A. Hajdari really fallen so low—so low that he breaks the law, denies it, shows solidarity with the socialist-communists and seeks their vote in order to perpetuate an injustice he has committed? No, Mr. Hajdari! Idols are foreign to Albanian eternity. Justice above all, honesty above all! The prosecution is not guilty for seeking justice. Your victim is not at fault because the real culprit is a DP leader, a member of parliament and an extremist orator full of imagination! The DP won on March 22 because it promised a state governed by law, not two laws, one for the people and another for itself! And, Mr. Hajdari, with a little less nostalgia for the Socialists, because if you keep going as you are, a day will come when you will no longer know whom you rose up against with the students in December ’90—communism or democracy.

On 30.9.1992, the chairman of the DPSh, Mr. Eduard Selami, departed for Madrid. He will take part in the conference of the leaders of E.P.D.U. parties on 1 October, as well as in the conference of the leaders of IDU parties on 2–3 October. Mr. Selami will represent the PDSH, which holds permanent observer status, the final procedural step before full membership. Representatives of 15 prime ministers and party leaders will attend these conferences. The DP’s participation is a new political confirmation of its standing in European political circles. DP PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE.

— The secretary-general of the PDSH, Mr. Tomorr Dosti, attends — On Tuesday, 29.9.1992, a meeting with the intellectuals of Mat was held at the cultural centre in Burrel. It included members of the DP and others without party affiliation, but with convictions and commitments to true democracy. The meeting was also attended by the secretary-general of the PDSH, Mr. Tomorr Dosti. The meeting was opened by Mr. Hysen Kuka, chairman of the DP in the district. In his speech, Mr. Kuka presented the achievements of the people of Mat during this six-month period of the democratic government. Above all, these citizens gained freedom of speech and thought, and gained the sacred property created by generations. More than anything, each person gained freedom, everywhere in the world. The speaker went on to highlight the poor image cast by many people of the socialist population, who won over spouses and several municipalities through a vengeful reprisal against intellectuals with deeply held democratic convictions. Supporting this new system we have created and this new reform we have undertaken would be the foremost duty of Mat’s intellectuals, the speaker concluded. Mr. Dosti, rightly calling class warfare the ugliest regression of human society, stressed that revenge is a communist-Enverist call. To condemn those who should be condemned and forgive those who should be forgiven—that is our relief. It is significant that those who have suffered most, those who bore on their shoulders the experiments of the harshest dictatorship, are ready to forgive even things that few could forgive. The view of Mr. [text unclear] is that we will kill the communists, wherever they are; they are informers of the former Sigurimi. The shouts from the podium are harmful; they are shrill and vile. Our motto is that honest and incorruptible communists, as well as democrats, should be in the same trench, in a relationship bound by [unclear text]—a modern clock should be built in Burrel. We have arguments in support of this. 1. Mat, in relation to Dibra, Bulqiza, Mirdita and Laç, has the most favourable geographical position. 2. Communication with Tirana is close and convenient, which means faster access. 3. Traditionally, residents of the Bulqiza district, parts of Dibra and the surrounding areas of Mirdita, as well as Laç and Kruja, have always used the hospital in Burrel and Mat’s medical services. This is documented in the archives. 4. Compared with neighbouring districts, Mat has a relatively larger population. Secondly, the speaker said, the prefecture’s centre should be in Burrel. This would be a blow to the dark Socialist forces of the La-… and Milloshi type, who persecuted democrats and tortured the region, yet now, with Enver Hoxha’s works [text unclear], have become mouthpieces and nostalgics for the time of the red monarchy, to the point of madness. At the end, Mr. Hysen Kuka said that this meeting with the intellectuals had been fruitful, which meant it had achieved the purpose for which it had been convened. DYLEJMAN KARAJ …we despise the communists, wherever they come from, they are thieves from the former State Security. Their [unclear] on the demo platforms: [unclear] are malicious and deep-red. Our motto is that an honest, uncorrupted communist and a democrat alike should be in the same trench; first and foremost, they are brothers born of one mother, Albania. Addressing the intellectuals…

The English association “Light for Albania” has so far distributed around 2,500 packages of clothing and food in the mountain villages of Korçë, supplied food and clothing to most nurseries and kindergartens and, most recently, brought two trucks loaded with equipment and medicines for the hospital in Korçë. Mr. Stenley Plat says that in the future the “Light for Albania” association plans to build a factory in Albania to manufacture optical glasses, and will also supply the Korçë hospital with 300 beds and other equipment, medical devices and medicines. It will also continue providing food and clothing to the most vulnerable population. RD CORRESPONDENT, KORÇË

. According to well-informed sources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has submitted to the government a draft decision on the people entitled to be issued service passports. There is no place in it for journalists. And this is not normal. What is wrong with issuing journalists such passports? Does our Ministry of Foreign Affairs know that every journalist has an international affairs beat, and that for this reason they need to travel abroad freely and with dignity on official business? We also believe that well-known Albanian traders, who make sacrifices and heroic efforts to obtain a visa to travel abroad, are worth [the same consideration]—

…issued such passports. In this way they will serve the country and society better. Journalists need, and will need even more in the future, to travel abroad—not only to report on visits by our officials, but also to cooperate with their colleagues, exchange information, meet our refugees abroad and report on their lives and the problems that concern them. The time has come for events of this kind with an international character, or events involving our national interests—such as the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina—to be covered by our journalists with live reports from the front. Perhaps this does not matter to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but we must free ourselves from outdated ways of thinking in which journalists were not given the place they deserve. It may indeed be important for a deputy minister to be issued a service passport, but this is just as important, if not more so, for a journalist. We believe that our democratic government will consider the discussion of this draft law responsibly. F. CAVULLI

Gramoz Ruçi swears both ways… The first time he swore in Parliament on March 31 that «… Sali Berisha would not become president», and when Berisha became president on April 8, 1992, G. Ruçi declared from the parliamentary rostrum that «the door is [unclear], but it was…» [unclear] I would never do it again, I would only kill myself. A year later G. Ruçi himself swears that «from now on he is a deputy of his own faction» (as if all the Socialists belonged to his faction); he has nothing to do with the dollars of Ha-dhën Sejdise… But what if the opposite is proven? What will Ruçi do? A candidate for general, Ruçi makes oath after oath in a dictatorial style, which in the end turn into parliamentary barracks. It is no wonder they say … [illegible text] … Truly, G. Ruçi’s promises, … [unclear] and statements would be the envy even of the dead… Truly, in the experiment… …[unclear], within just one month, and on independence, while encouraging the young people; in an opposition party, ADA, lists of [unclear], the area’s leadership, the programme, etc. had been drawn up, thus carrying out «ADA’s [unclear]» long before the documents were submitted to the Ministry of Justice. Along with the «moderates», the newspaper «Koha jonë» also lost its independence, whose [unclear] took a different course; the newly formed ADA… …sued for libel by the student director Gj- Progni, [they] take their mother’s path, Gjeki! This is what Ceka did when he resigned in December 1991, and Pashko did the same when he was declared «independent» in July–August of this year. This is what the sons of the former Bloc members and the deputies of the Çarçani government did, and M. Haxhiall wanted to do the same! Who is next in line to leave as a «dissident»? And when will the justice system act against those accused by the PS, since both sides switched their electorate very easily, and the communist-Enverist electorate of the PK, after the PK was outlawed, was taken over by the PS! Shortly afterwards, in an interview, Milloshi says that «the PK always tells the truth»; therefore, the PS took its members, which consequently means that the PS never tells the truth! …corruption, libel, or falsification of documents? In a brief interview, the Enverist leader H. Milloshi, the leading comrade of the Enverists, accuses the PS, saying that the Socialists had asked the PK to lower its propaganda profile in Pezë (Tirana), because PS members were joining the PK. Milloshi also says that the Socialists wanted to outlaw me because they were afraid I would take their electorate. With this, H. Milloshi implies that the PK ... …Pashko, not to give up politics. Like Pashko, Milloshi also declares that he will devote himself to studying books, but unlike Pashko, who will focus on economics and political analysis, and unlike Ramzi, who will write memoirs, H. Milloshi will study communist literature! He is fortunate, because there is plenty of material! Declaring that he will remain a committed communist, H. Milloshi prefers to join the ranks of the PK, PUK [unclear] party. Hydajet Beqiri PUK in coalition with the PS on July 20… …this in honor of the coalition, the presence of its third ally, communist leader H. Milloshi, as a guarantee for the complete construction of communism in Albania O O O N. Tozaj, in the interview alongside H. Milloshi in the periodical «Intervista», accuses «ZP», «ZR», «Dri-tën», «24 orë», «K», «jonë», etc., of being a press like that of the PPSH era. In fact, he even accuses himself, as an advanced promoter of the newspaper «KJ», when he says that this press reaches the point of being disgusting. At first, the impression is given that «RD» is also included in these accusations, but later Mr. Tozaj exempts «RD» when he says: «Criticism of the party by its members or sympathizers is not accepted in the party newspaper.» «RD» is the only party newspaper that has made progress in this respect; it has consistently published fair criticism of government ministers, senior PD leaders, and the parliamentary group! G. Pashko, A. Imami, F. Çeka... have also written in «RD» …the main ones and the mistaken actions, whenever they have been presented as tactical criticism. KRASNIQI …having created a multitude of accusations, first the internationalists from the PS and the newspapers «24 orë», «ZP», which make it necessary to bring down the anti-communists from power on March 22. O O O Albania Demokratike (Albania) has asked ADA to act «through» initiatives of «ADA»-s shqiptar… …Frrrok Çupi accused of slander in the press against V. Osmani, since he does not present these lies before the court, he emigrates abroad. Only a short time ago, the maneuver of (Çupi is…