Yesterday, 24 October, at the invitation of the American Information Agency, the chairman of the D.P.A., Mr. Eduard Selami, departed for the U.S. He will participate as an observer in the presidential elections. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE D.P.A.

Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi held a special meeting with the ambassador of the Italian Republic, Torquato Kardilli. At this meeting it was emphasized that relations between Albania and Italy are at a stage of comprehensive development and fruitful cooperation in the political, economic, cultural, social, health and other fields. Both sides are making efforts to put into practice concrete projects that will give a significant boost to our economy during this important period of transition. An agreement between the Bank of Albania and the Bank of Rome is expected to be signed in Tirana soon. This agreement will give impetus to economic and financial relations between Albania and Italy. (ATSH)

TIRANA, 24 October. – A meeting was held at the French Ministry of Justice between Albania’s Minister of Justice, Mr. Kudret Ceka, and the French Minister of Justice, Mr. Mishel Vozel. At this first meeting between the two countries’ ministers of justice, cooperation in the legal field between Albania and France was discussed. The Albanian minister, Mr. Kudret Ceka, briefed the French minister on the latest developments in Albania, the situation in the country, and the measures the government has taken within the framework of the ongoing reforms, particularly in the legal field, which forms the foundation for building a state governed by the rule of law. First, the Albanian minister conveyed to the French minister the greetings of the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha. Likewise, the French minister, Mr. (continued on page 4)

MEETINGS OF THE MAYOR This week, Mr. Sali Kelmendi held working meetings with various prominent figures, including the French ambassador, Mr. Zhak Faure, Kuwaiti businesspeople, representatives of the «Hoxhej» company, the grandson of Ismail Qemali, etc. THANK YOU I thank Mr. Sali Kelmendi, Mayor of Tirana, as well as the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, for the assistance they gave me in preparing the documentation needed to begin work on building the «Children’s Village». TO THE MAYOR Martin Halbeis, Assistant in the General Department of S.O.S. A REMINDER TO THE GOVERNMENT: The occupation of apartments belonging to refugees, as well as to those who left with proper state documents, has led to many court cases in the Tirana District Court. Faced with a legislative vacuum, the court is postponing cases or issuing rulings unacceptable to the public. It is said that a special order from the Council of Ministers is expected. When will it be issued? ★ ★ ★ As housing problems worsen, the Housing Office at the Municipality has issued temporary permits for basements so that residents in need have somewhere to spend the winter. However, even concerning the basements, the court is ruling in favor of those who had been entrusted with their care. Thus, it is accepted that someone may have a spacious apartment plus a basement, while someone else is given the right to spend the winter out in the open! A government order would resolve this issue.

On 22 October, the Presidency of the DP met at the Democratic Party headquarters to examine various issues concerning the progress of the reform. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Eduard Selami, chairman of the Democratic Party. Those attending included Mr. Sali Berisha, President of the Republic and member of the DP Governing Council; Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the People’s Assembly and member of the Presidency; Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, Prime Minister and member of the Presidency; Deputy Prime Minister Bashkim Kopliku; and other members of the Presidency and ministers of the democratic government. At the meeting, Mr. Selami raised several issues concerning the progress of the reform and its urgent problems, viewed in the context of the difficult situation we are going through. He stressed that some problems have been put on the path to resolution and are meeting the challenge, but we are still far from bringing Albania out of the danger zone and overcoming the crisis. Work must be better coordinated among the levels of government, such as parliament, the government, local government and the presidency. In this respect, it is necessary to understand that the DP itself must do more through its structures to activate debate and mutual consultations as a prerequisite for finding new solutions. Every elected official who won office on the DP platform and program must understand that they are not simply another elected representative, but someone called upon by the times to bring about profound changes in our history. From this perspective, it is essential that all levels of government accelerate their pace of work. The main presentation was made by Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, who pointed out that the government adheres to the DP program in its activities. In his remarks, Mr. Meksi emphasized the major difficulties concerning investment and food supplies. Investment is hampered by the absence of comprehensive, enabling legislation, but the government is making efforts even under the existing circumstances. So far, the talks held with Italy on capital investment in various fields have been the most successful, Mr. Meksi noted. There are positive changes in various production sectors. These can be seen in the oil and gas, chromium and chemical products industries, as well as textiles. Efforts are being made to ease unemployment and reduce the number of people who will go on assistance. Mr. Meksi stressed that importance has been attached to construction, where faster privatization is also hoped for, since interest in this sector is greater. In his report, Mr. Meksi pointed out that during the past four months the arrival of work, he added, about 3,200 tractors will be put into operation. He then discussed some achievements and problems in the food industry, the construction of new bread factories, and supplying flour, oil, rice, etc. to areas that will be cut off by winter. Mr. Kopliku raised the issue of heating for the population and the difficulties encountered in this area, stressing that funds must be found to make contracts for hard coal, secure firewood, etc. Mr. Tritan Shehu raised the issue of decentralizing health services, private clinics and pharmaceutical services. Mr. Vejsiu spoke about various issues in the development of education, particularly education for the Greek minority and the education of children of former prisoners and people persecuted for political reasons, an area in which, he stressed, good work has been done. In his remarks, Mr. Sali Berisha emphasized the issue of privatizing homes, which he described as a decisive step. He called for the entire potential of the Democratic Party to be mobilized to carry out privatization. If we do not do this, Mr. Berisha stressed, then the reform and Albania will fail. Everyone should measure their work by what they are doing for privatization. Honest people should be encouraged to become owners, and they should be granted credit, etc. Mr. Berisha proposed that DP deputies establish economic councils for privatization in the districts. After the victory of 22 March, Mr. Berisha pointed out, privatization is the most important link and must receive maximum attention. People must be mobilized to put pressure on the government too, if necessary, to decentralize and review the powers as well. Mr. Berisha insisted that the government do everything possible to supply the population. He supported moving some food products to world prices while also providing compensation for them. After the discussion, questions were raised about the progress of the reform in various fields, such as local government, the role of the Bank, measures taken by the government to support people with no income at all, enterprises facing financial paralysis, foreign investment, the law on land, etc. Mr. Meksi and Mr. Berisha discussed these matters. It was emphasized that we should not adhere rigidly to ready-made privatization schemes or pursue a protectionist policy. At its meeting, the DP Presidency also gave attention to the issues of the government submitting draft laws to the People’s Assembly, the term of office of courts and judges, and the staffing framework in connection with administrative reform, with the aim of attracting Albania’s genuine intellectual workforce in labor, knowledge and science, and changing cabinets that have been established in these fields. It was stressed that ability, not merely political activism, should be the basic criterion. Finally, the DP Presidency decided that, to address issues concerning the progress of the reform, a meeting of the DP National Council, the Parliamentary Group and government members would be convened on 20. 11. 92. BASHKIM TRENOVA

The private market for industrial goods (Continued on page 4) … oil, chromium and chemical products, arrival of food supplies has been minimal. Work is under way to ensure that, by November, all aid promised by the USA, Italy, etc.—such as butter, oil and meat—is delivered and distributed, especially to districts that are cut off by winter. Other government representatives also spoke at the meeting. Mr. Rexhep Uka stressed that the gross income of peasant households in 1992 is about 40 percent higher than last year. Mr. Uka also raised the issue of the NB enterprises and their rapid privatization. About 60–70 foreign companies, Mr. Uka noted, are ready to start work this autumn. On autumn planting and the situation of the DP Presidency also gave attention to the government’s submission of draft laws to the People’s Assembly, the terms of office of courts and judges, and staffing related to workforce in labor, knowledge and science and changing cabinets 20. 11. 92. BASHKIM TRENOVA

DISCUSSION REGARDING THE LIFTING OF DEPUTY Ilir Meta’S IMMUNITY Honorable Speaker, Honorable Presidency, Honorable fellow deputies, Today, we are discussing the lifting of Deputy Ilir Meta’s immunity, following the raising of this issue some time ago. For reasons beyond my control, this discussion was repeatedly postponed and, from the time this issue began to be exploited until now, created an almost cruel interval: the communist press, represented by the delirious newspaper «Zëri i Popullit», blew its horns and sirens ferociously; Cassandra-like harbingers of terror and propaganda, seeking to draw the Albanian democracy into Circe’s lair, into Circe’s general abyss, to leave them voiceless and without limbs. This is not the first time they have stifled. This is not the first time the discredited socialist parades of the communist criminal hierarchy, whose spiritual and physical [text unclear] are under investigation, and in particular the psychological [text unclear] of this clique, have screamed hysterically to conceal the scrutiny and smoke of slander, noise and accusations, their bacterial fumes: in this case they found a [text unclear] excuse: Ilir Meta, Ilir Meta is nothing but a chess piece on the PS political board, moved with the aim of [text unclear]: «Squeeze the lemon and then throw it away»! Ilir should not have allowed himself to be squeezed like a lemon by the lovers of Albanian communist crime, nor should he be squeezed like a lemon and thereby presented as a victim of the parliamentary Democrats. We do not take squeezed lemons in hand, much less take them from the swamps of the military putschists and shelter them in Parliament. Mr. Ilir Meta should appeal to his young age to cleanse his conscience by finding the strength to denounce the plotters of the violent uprising in Policant. Mr. Ilir must not forget that he is one of the few Socialist Party deputies elected directly by the electorate, because they trusted his youth and not the party he represented. He must understand that, in the end, the inferiority complex of the Socialist Party—which is moved by the familiar methods of «settling» justice and complete degradation—[text unclear]! should he be squeezed like a lemon by them. And more besides… The Byzantine tactics used to protect Deputy Ilir Meta from justice are part of this destructive strategy, through which the Socialist Party, as it once did in its celebrated past under the names Communist Party and Party of Labour, operates using familiar methods of settling scores. On one side, the call of the ancestors thunders in its ears; on the other, the crimes of the overthrown dictatorship. [Text unclear] writes about Albania in one of its tragedies: «They ground up and ate their own [text unclear] and fell asleep at once, while we, whom they killed, remained forever sleepless.» Likewise, the Socialist Party has only one way to cover up its crimes: to commit new crimes by eliminating those who expose them. That is why dozens and hundreds [text unclear] have disappeared from the [text unclear] storage rooms at the Faculty of Medicine, submerged in formalin, because they were executed and political prisoners left unburied, to create [text unclear] exceptions. Therefore, I once again call on Mr. Meta to appear before the court of justice himself and there reveal the true authors of the scenario behind this [text unclear] coup-type event, so that the crimes of the overthrown dictatorship [text unclear]. Only after this would I be convinced that Mr. Meta could represent a genuinely socialist line, even within his own party, which uses socialism as a mask. It is always late to denounce a crime, but if it is concealed, it remains like those left behind after the world wars, which [text unclear] have killed the future children of peace. Another issue I wish to emphasize is this: I forcefully call on this parliament to bring the Party of Labour of Albania to trial for crimes and genocide against the Albanian people and nation, just as the Soviet Communist Party is being brought to trial in Russia. The issue cannot be resolved by focusing on particular individuals such as Çarçani, Alia or Hoxha. A parliamentary commission should be established on this issue to put an end once and for all to Marxist-style schemes like Kherzhinski’s, such as the one in Polçan, which will haunt us all our lives. This must be done as urgently as possible to prevent the great neo-communist revanche, which steals and engages in corruption at night, tears apart democracy’s gentle sheep like a wolf, and then comes to parliament by day in a suit and tie, performing tearjerking melodramas without blushing at the people’s hardships. Without forgetting Seneca’s maxim that «nothing good comes from evil—that is, from communism», I also remind you of a saying by Voltaire: «Be sure that in this country accusers will always be right, unless we hurry to put them in their place.» Finally, I would say that, as deputies of a Democratic Parliament, we have a power in our hands: the power of justice. Let us give it to this weak Albania, which we could not make prosperous before, but which we must make clean and strong from this day forward! Thank you!