“THE DISSIDENTS OF THE CENTURY.” The self-proclaimed dissidents of the century, the motionists, tried to win their independence at this remaining end of the century, in anticipation of a high historical award, for which declarations, bouquets, and busts would not suffice; the QNK (the former “E. Hoxha” Museum) also had to be turned into the QKM (Club of Deceivers) of the “Democratic Alliance.” But—are they dissidents? Each one individually, or all together, continually say that they are former victims of persecution, pursued and maltreated by the communist regime. Starting from this profoundly provocative “fact,” we are compelled to say that, on the contrary, their contribution to the politics of fictitious socialism and to the longevity of E. Hoxha’s communism was substantial, or at least not insignificant; this contribution may perhaps be a sign of their servile and exceedingly obsequious nature. G. Pashko: the economist of Enverian Marxist-Leninist centralism, a “little blocman” of the dictatorship of Josif P.; N. Ceka, the archaeologist assigned to the staff for disloyalty toward Astrit Q.; A. Imami, the actor who could not walk, at least not on children’s roller skates, deeply enamoured of the art of socialist realism and of the ten bloc-member clans; A. Demi, the dreadful communist instructor of discipline during students’ military training or political-information classes; T. Keko, an unlucky journalist who spent his whole life composing nothing but anniversary features, impressions of congresses, poems and stories, in which the unquestionable positive hero was Enver Hoxha; R. Peshkëpia, accused by G. P. of treachery within the security organs against his close comrades; F. Çupi, the journalist of Ramizist patriotism, closely involved in corruption from the years of the one-party system, a son-in-law of the pyramid’s top mini-dictators; N. Lesi, the former youth secretary who gathered all the vileness in the world in order to pin it on the DP immediately after its creation; P. Teta, a senior military officer (a copy of P. Murra) who boasted about a double-barrelled shotgun his father had given to E. Hoxha. N. Tozaj, known more by his surname at the heights of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and in the dark corridors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and many other “dissidents” of ego, jealousy, ambition, envy, servility and demagoguery. And, to bring the motionist dissidence to a close, let us mention their spiritual leader, P. Zogaj, with the poem that is the “Democratic Alliance’s” anthem, “Ke-në për Enverin,” published one year after the dictator’s death, in 1986, in the magazine “Nëntori.” [the article continues in the lower section]

— FROM PRESIDENT BERISHA’S MEETING WITH A GROUP OF JURISTS, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION FOR DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION — The day before yesterday, President Berisha received and held a conversation with a group of jurists who are members of the Commission for drafting the Constitution. At this meeting, President Berisha emphasized, commended and highly praised the work and perseverance of the members of this commission in drafting the Constitution, which will enshrine and guarantee in Albania the rule of law, all the rights and freedoms of the individual set out in the Helsinki documents, free enterprise, and state institutions. “The rapid and major developments that have taken place in Albania over these past two years,” President Berisha continued, “make the main constitutional provisions approved two years ago seem outdated. Indeed, there are things in them that no longer hold. Bearing these problems in mind, at the beginning of September I sent a special message to the People’s Assembly regarding the resumption of work on the Constitution of the Republic of Albania. The material you have presented, mainly on the basic principles of our Constitution, is, I believe, of great value. Personally, I consider your legitimate concern about the separation and mutual oversight of the powers justified. Your observations on the shortcomings apparent in the functioning of the powers likewise seem justified to me, as do many of your views and ideas concerning parliament, the government, the constitutional court and the presidency. I believe that many of these ideas will find a place in the new Constitution. “Regarding one issue you raise in the material, my opinion differs from yours. Personally, I have been and remain in favor of a parliamentary republic. I defended this view when I was a member of parliament, and I have not changed it now that I am no longer a member of parliament but President of the Republic. On this occasion, I want to stress that I am well aware that a parliamentary republic has disadvantages as well as advantages compared with a presidential one, and it cannot be established that the former is more democratic than the latter, or vice versa. But I favor a parliamentary republic for several reasons, which I will set out below and which are directly connected to, and specific to, our country. “First, Albania has for 75 years—in addition to the many centuries of Ottoman rule—not been mentioned here—been a country ruled by one man: at one time, one man brought in the king, and at another, the first secretary. I will not analyze this long history, but its negative psychological effects on people have been profound. I think we should give Albanians a short period of time for the idea of a country ruled by one man to fade from their minds. Later, if they wish, others can bring it back, but by then the old traces will have disappeared from the individual’s mind and from the national psyche as a whole. - Second, I think what the country lacks most, and what it needs most urgently, is a parliamentary tradition. It is good for this tradition, essential to every democratic country, to develop; and it develops more rapidly within a parliamentary republic than within a presidential republic. - Third,” the President continued, “given the circumstances our country is going through, specifically the post-communist period, I personally believe that parliament should be the most powerful institution of the Republic. It should also be the temple of democracy in Albania. “In a parliamentary republic, I think the other state institutions—the government, the courts and the President—also have sufficient scope, but I believe that the final say should belong to parliament. This right of parliament derives, I would say, not only from the way it is elected, the commitment of its members and their political and intellectual level, but especially from its pluralism, which, regardless of the high temperatures that arise in some sessions, is, I believe, the greatest guarantee of democracy and the rule of law in Albania.” PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY

With the terror of the unexpected, we saw the mo- and extremist of politics in Albania making dangerous statements, such as “the blank cheque” or “The departure of A-

— LONG-TERM LOAN WORTH 42 MILLION SHILLINGS — An agreement was signed in Vienna between the Government of the Republic of Austria and the Government of the Republic of Albania to provide our country with a long-term loan on favorable terms, worth 42 million shillings. On behalf of the Austrian government, the agreement was signed by the Minister of Finance, etc. On behalf of the Albanian government, it was signed by Mr Ardian Fullani. Senior officials of the Austrian Federal Chancellery and Ministry of Finance, etc., also attended the signing ceremony. Also present were the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Albania to Austria, Mr Albert Alikaj, as well as other officials of the Albanian Embassy in Vienna. The loan in question, with a term of 10 years, will be used mainly to unblock our country’s balance of payments, as Austria’s contribution alongside that of a number of other countries. This agreement enters into force immediately upon its signing.

. The agency of the “Adria Air Way” airline of the Republic of Slovenia was inaugurated. Representatives of the company, Slovenian journalists and representatives of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Albania, etc., had come for the occasion. The Mayor of Tirana, Sali Kelmendi, was also present. At the ceremony, the company’s president, Janezh Kocijancic, and the Director of Civil Aviation of Albania, Përparim Zuna, delivered greetings.

With the unrepentant horror of the “moderates,” the gentlemen of the “Democratic Alliance” became targets of political paradoxes only during the period of pluralism; thus, P. Zogaj declares, as an ultimatum and staking his honesty on it, that he never wrote poems for Enver Hoxha, forgetting that Prec, just four years before pluralism, published the poem above! Yet this same man once says, “I am a staunch anti-communist,” without remembering that only a month earlier he had written that “communists understand one another better than they do other people”!! This same Prec declares that he is an anti-communist, while doing everything possible to declare that he is honored to vote for R. Alia on March 31, 1991!! Thus Neritan Ceka, who declared that he had withdrawn into private life, is now leaving no stone unturned to be elected the new president of the “Democratic Alliance”!! Ceka himself, who swears by the honesty of his white hair, writes elsewhere that white hair is no proof of honesty, and that those whose hair has no dye should leave politics to make way for the young; then he persists until he manages to form the new party, the “Democratic Alliance.” Arben Imami, who declared on his honor that he had no connection whatsoever with G. Pashko and would not join any other grouping, neither with Pashko nor with anyone else, forms the new party with Pashko just 20 days later! During the past months, G. Pashko did in Albania (all the declarations in the DP and at least the declarations in the DP and supposedly …) what his father Josif Pashko had done 45 years earlier with the group of innocent deputies. He entered the euphoric and extremist vocabulary of politics in Albania with dangerous statements such as “the white horse” or “A. H.’s departure, the loser, is like I. K.’s departure.” Pashko, who declares himself a democrat, threatened Skrapar, divided the South and the North, and refuted the nonsense of “Reuters.” The history of Albanian pluralism is, and remains, an accusation of the “motionists” for their demagoguery and deceitful adventurism. You may be allowed anything, but only two things are forbidden: first, what you promised as popular democrats, what you won in the name of democracy and then ignored beneath the chains of an endless career, crossing over to the opposing camp; second, our innocent, democratic, anti-communist people gave you their votes on March 22 as DP deputies, as friends of S. Berisha and of the DP program, which was promoted as a program for true democracy, whereas you became anti-democrats and “independents.” No one ever voted for your “parliamentary independence”! These two public deceptions are the source of everything: the outbursts, the rants, the manipulations, the declarations, and also your opposition platform project. And, to mention one more name, someone who did everything possible to make a sensation in the DP press that year (Arben Demeti), let us point out one of his contradictions. In his speech at the Extraordinary Conference and in “Koha Jonë,” where he published the speech, Demeti says: “I am an intellectual, and for me it is shameful and unforgivable to use insults against others, in dialogue or in the press.” Strangely, in that very article about intellectualism, Demeti uses the following insults against newspapers, DP leaders, several deputies and the President of the Republic himself: “a contingent of garbage from amateur journalism”; about work and writing, and about people, “an obedient tool,” “a blind pistol,” “an unscrupulous scribbler,” “such a thoroughly discredited figure,” … “shame on him”; “his letter has become leather,” … “he eats shame with his bread,” “he has been exposed,” “a worn-out card,” … “arrogant and overbearing,” “extremists and madmen, imbeciles and sycophants …” Well, this is Arben Demeti’s intellectual culture. Are there greater, more degrading, more extremist insults than these, coming from Demeti, who, like the other motionists, talks day and night about a free press without insults, but an intellectual one? Let the reader—and Demeti himself, who has so much experience organizing parties (PP, PD, PAD, …)—judge this. THE ANTI-STUDENT DEMOCRATS On leaving the DP, most of the motionists swore in the name of the students to their “honesty,” recalled memories or published self-defences in the students’ name. The word “student” was used in their hands like a balloon passed from hand to hand, waiting for one of those hands to finally burst it. Experience has shown that the political teachers of pluralist clans have acted harshly in the “Student City,” making thousands of innocent people victims. That is how the PS acted with the Eurosocialists, that is how Pashko acted with his supporters, and that is how all the motionists acted with their admirers. With the start of the new school year, the ADA (Democratic Alliance) is paving the way for a new opportunity: possible intervention against the DP and the democratic government. Secret meetings with students began. Some students and former students who had failed in politics were recruited. Every day the “Çupi” Club gathered and handed out … (Continued on page 4).

The Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary in Tirana, Mr. István Verence Poka, hosted a reception last night at the “Da-zest” Hotel (this [?]) on the occasion of the Revolution of the year and the proclamation of the republic. Those invited to and present at the reception included the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, the Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, members of the government, representatives of political parties, journalists, etc. Representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Tirana also attended. The reception took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Apart from the tendency to internationalize the “Meta Affair,” for a lost cause and out of the spite of a petulant child, the PS and “ZP,” when confronted with facts that demystify the feat of the 23-year-old deputy, resort to the other, ever-ready version: equating Meta’s unlawful conduct with the peaceful spirit and human hardships of the people of Poliçan. “ZP” does this with such anxiety and nervousness that it gives the impression that, if it loses this case, that newspaper’s position as a lawyer will be undermined—or, rather, devalued—and its social-communist clientele will shut down its offices forever as an act of revenge and profound sadness. The DP and “Rilindja Demokratike” have never said that the people of Poliçan are “arsonists,” “Enverists” or “destabilizers.” But that has not prevented us from explaining to the public that it was precisely Messrs. Meta, Pëllumbi, etc., who rushed to politicize the economic issues of the workers of the combustible plant. “RD” has never said that the ordinary people of Poliçan live amid abundance, as “ZP” claimed for 45 years; nor has it said that the demands of the workers of the plant in question are unjust. But the government’s reasoning, faced with countless financial difficulties, does not conceal the destabilizing purpose, tending toward terror and genocide, created by the organizers of the events in Poliçan; nor does it reject the negative tendency to turn that miserable town into a hotbed of anti-democracy. And I know of no greater fault or crime in this world than manipulating people who have gone on strike for their children’s bread for your own political purposes. For this, Mr. Meta must explain himself, as must all those who lit that fire with the flare of the respected people of Skrapar. Yesterday he threw a hundred more? In the arms of this fury, the organizer? In o? [partly illegible] … as has been seen (ATSH) Those simple, democratic people, whom communism isolated in immeasurable misery, are our brothers, and together we patiently share our common hardships. This humane view of those people does not prevent us from telling them that it is precisely those who built a fairytale life on their blood and sweat—those who played with your lives and honor and their own future for 50 years—who manipulate their hardships and misery and present them as a protest against the democratic government. That is, the social-communists and their representatives in Poliçan. We respect Poliçan as we do every other region of Albania. When the author of these lines used the word “province” in one of his writings, he did not do so to insult anyone. “Province” was used in the meaning of the word, as a geographically distant area. On this occasion, I would remind Mr. L. M. Rama (who uses this word with a negative emotional connotation) that I consider it an honor to come from a “province,” the far-flung region of Tropoja. I would also remind you that it is neither a misfortune nor a disgrace to be born in a province. The misfortune is to have a provincial soul like yours, provincial ideas like yours, provincial political attitudes like yours, and the thinking of a provincial communist like you. Consequently, being a capital-city resident does not, in this case, bring you any great honor. Let us stay with the field under discussion, namely social policy, human rights, democratic principles and the future of the country: In any case, it must be reiterated that the “përdalliset” have never, for a moment, insulted, nor would they dare insult, the fate of the people of Poliçan or their demands for bread and well-being. But we cannot fail to say that Ilir Meta is not Poliçan, is not Skrapar, is not democratic socialism, nor is he the stone that sets the balance in the Albanian world. When “ZP” and the PS think and speak this way, they show political impatience and political power; they show a lack of … (Continued on page 3)

Memory comes down four of its own, seeks insistently and patiently, patience-stricken, a distant day, an early day, a shiver; bewilderment and dumbness; when we met for the first time... For the first time, how did we see each other? It is a day, a day, a day... The stars begin to sparkle in his eyes. I would kiss his forehead... But what is this? My hair softens, becomes fluff, nine thousand days and nights, nine thousand, today he placed a child upon his shoulders. Everywhere in books, wanderings and games, Enver Hoxha is with the little child. When did I meet him? How did I meet him? He has come together with memory, I don’t know when I came to know him: just as I don’t know when I came to know my mother!