Regarding his visit to Saudi Arabia, at the meeting of the Democratic Party’s National Council, Mr. Berisha declared: The Albanian state, built on the principles of modern European democracy, pursues and will continue to pursue a sensible policy of openness toward the world. And in this respect it will have no prejudices. My visit to Saudi Arabia should also be viewed in this light. Before I left, I informed the parliamentary group that I would go to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Conference of Islamic Countries and to meet the king of that country. A year ago, our Parliament voted in favor of Albania becoming an observer member of this conference. So this year we have merely taken the second step: accepting full membership rights. Secular countries also participate in this conference. We are members of this organization, accepting all the conference’s documents that do not conflict with the Constitution of Albania.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY MET On 4.12.1992, at 12:00, a meeting of the National Council of the Democratic Party began its proceedings at the National History Museum in Tirana, taking up issues concerning the progress of economic reform and privatization. Members of the government, the DP parliamentary group, and the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, also attended the meeting. The meeting was opened by Mr. Eduart Selami, chairman of the DP, who stressed that an important issue in the progress of democratic processes today is the coordination of work at the levels of the Party, government, and parliament. This is a feature of contemporary democratic states and has nothing to do with the old model of a party-state. Coordination and the support that these three levels will provide to reform and democratic processes benefit the executive. Mr. Selami then cited facts that compromise democracy, such as certain cases of corruption. He made this point as a criticism of the Ministry of Justice. “People are demanding the establishment of social justice, and only honest people can achieve this. There is a great deal of speculation about ‘professionalism’ in this regard, especially in the field of justice. We support people who serve the administration of justice properly. Administrative reform has started in the right direction, but the main thing is to carry it through to the end, and this is a necessity. No party governs with people from another party. We want a modern administration. The administration inherited by our state was an administration of the 1980s–90s; it served not only the dictatorship but was also extremely mediocre. Indeed, it was the weakest administration of the communist dictatorship. We have often made mistakes in selecting personnel. We have kept many sycophants who do not live up to the people’s aspiration for a democratic administration. Reform is moving slowly. In industry, it is lagging behind. Assistance is growing with new groups, and this is causing undesirable problems. The emergence of bureaucracy in the progress of privatization and the lack of coordination between local and central government have become obstacles. I think the group of deputies has worked well over these eight months. We have made great progress in parliament and in the parliamentary group… [the printed text becomes garbled here and repeats passages from President Berisha’s statement about his trip to Saudi Arabia, Albania’s membership in the Conference of Islamic Countries, and the inherited administration]. “In these matters, it seems that reform is an absolute necessity for the complete victory of democracy.”

During the conversation they held the day before yesterday with Albania’s Prime Minister, Aleksandër Meksi, the British parliamentarians requested support from the Albanian government for the peace mission personnel who will operate in the situation along the Albanian-Yugoslav border. They not only asked for the most favorable conditions possible for the mission’s activities, but also for a guarantee from the Government of Albania that during this period it would do everything possible to avoid Serbian provocations, because this would benefit lasting peace in the region, the gentlemen parliamentarians stressed. Considering their interlocutors’ requests reasonable, Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi said that we all have obligations toward the peacekeeping mission personnel on the Albanian-Yugoslav border; therefore, the Albanian government has taken and will take measures to provide them with the best possible working conditions. Good working conditions. … Mr. Sali Zhulali, who, among other things, said that the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Army is linked to the official act of the government… (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 4)

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the creation of our National Army, yesterday morning the Ministry of Defence organized a ceremonial meeting at the Army Cultural Center. Senior officers, representatives of military units and detachments in the district, of the OUPL, and members and relatives of the families of the martyrs of the National Liberation War and other fighters took part. Also present were the chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori; Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi; the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Nik Gjeloshi; the Minister of Defence, Safet Zhulali; other members of the government; chairmen of parliamentary parties; as well as heads of diplomatic missions and military attachés from foreign countries accredited to the Republic of Albania. After the National Anthem was performed, Mr. Safet Zhulali addressed the meeting. Among other things, he that emerged from the historic Assembly of Vlora, which proclaimed Albania’s Independence. He went on to explain that 4 December 1912 was chosen as the date of the Army’s creation because, on 28 November, after 500 years of struggle for freedom, Albania’s independence was proclaimed and the first independent Albanian state was created; also because this date is free of all politicization and upholds historical justice, etc. Seen in this light, Mr. Zhulali said, changing the Army’s date from 10 July to 4 December does not deny the National Liberation War but honors it, because all those who took part in it with weapons against the occupier fought not for a party or for communism, but for the Homeland and the flag, for freedom and democracy. He then invited those present to honor with one minute of silence all Albanian fighters throughout the ages who gave their lives for freedom, the nation, and the flag. (Continued on page 4)

The Democratic Alternative organized a press conference on 30 November to clarify President S. Berisha’s visit to Saudi Arabia, framing it with the question: To which civilization does Albania belong, Western or Eastern Arab? The invitation came from the king of Saudi Arabia. In terms of personal courtesy, it is extremely difficult to refuse friends or acquaintances when they invite you to lunch or dinner, because there must be a strong reason to do so. From this point of view, Sali Berisha acted as an Albanian, and rightly so. On the political level, refusing a hand of friendship requires the courage to tell that friend that his politics are inferior to those of Western countries. But to summon that courage, you must truly know the limitations of this policy. After that, you would have to teach this friend how to conduct good politics. Yet that would mean taking it upon yourself to put the world right. Without meaning to, we have arrived at Enver Hoxha. But I emphasize: without meaning to. If this political contrivance comes from a narrow outlook, that may be because the aim of linking ourselves only with the West is perhaps foolish for us. Foolish, but 10–15 degrees more exaggerated. Fighting merely to pass the time is certainly not a bad thing, if one remembers what Enver Hoxha did—leaving us in the classroom and telling us that we were doing brilliantly. The question, then, is whether the idea of condemning the President’s visit came from the heads of the AD. What if it was an idea suggested by Western foreign powers? In that case the question is this: are Western countries jealous of our ties with Saudi Arabia? Political ambitions, like all national policies, are unavoidable. Do not believe politicians when they say they have no colonial or imperial ambitions; they have been transformed by history and have learned to praise others when someone else protects them. If that is the case, then glory to Sali Berisha! Nevertheless, science and philosophy have begun to judge politics. And not without reason. With national ambitions, the world does not have long to face the 15 global problems that threaten to make the Earth uninhabitable. The question then is: where is the world heading—to unity or to division on the basis of civilizations, religions, races, and nations? If the world still suffers from this division, that does not mean at all that today’s weakened walls should be reinforced. On the contrary, they must be courageously torn down by people, as happened with the Berlin Wall. If it is… The Wall. Sali Berisha, someone will say, but Islamism is binding us together and seeking to awaken its own influence. Yet all true religions exert influence in the same way. Praise be to God, who teaches us to love one another as brothers of a single giant nation. This giant state is waiting to be inaugurated with a stable wage. If this is true, then blessed be Sali Berisha’s visit! You may be right, says another reader, but someone among those who have helped us greatly, or are planning to help us greatly, may not approve of this friendship. Here I must state the main reason why I am writing these words. I want to show this foreign friend that above national ambitions stands humanity’s ambition for peace and understanding among all peoples. It is reasonable to believe that humankind is on the verge of overcoming its adolescence. Only a little time and one bold step are needed for it to understand why it was born: to prepare its own self-awareness, or a world community. These few things could be said to any foreign politician who may have suggested, or may in future suggest, ideas arising from national ambitions. But let us return to the AD’s idea and accept that it is original, not borrowed. The possibility that it might have been borrowed was raised only as a matter of political vigilance by our new parties in the face of possible displays of national ambitions. The truth is simple: Sali Berisha went to Saudi Arabia not to sign a secret treaty against the West. If anyone understands the matter so perversely, then that is not Sali Berisha’s fault, but the fault of those who see the world upside down. We cannot act against our own enterprise and our predicament during this difficult season. What, then, does the dissatisfaction of the gentlemen of the AD amount to? Nothing but a narrow political and philosophical outlook. If the AD’s position on someone comes across as open hostility toward the president, I insist that there is no hostility here. Open debate never gives rise to evil and hostility, as Enver Hoxha thought. Hostilities are prepared in dark basements. This is simply a failed action caused by impatience to appear on the scene. I regret this very much. A thoughtful action would have been, for example, for the AD to go to Bulqizë and sit down with the workers to investigate honestly whether it was reasonable for them to stop work for 6–7 weeks. When people see that a party has emerged that calls for wisdom from everyone, the necessary respect for that party will arise among them. We are waiting for genuine political actions before we can believe that a new party has been born.

Caricature about the PD; signature: R. Ruka ’92