- Positions: Director Agolli, poet, chairman, politics, Is. Ahmet Kasa, member of the PSSh and today of the PSSH. Former member of the Central Committee of the PSSh, today a member of the Central Committee of the PSSh. For decades a deputy in the People’s Assembly of the RPSh, today a deputy of the PSSh; former member of the L.SH.A., friend of the Hoxha family, drafter of biographies and indictments against the dictatorship and innocent artists; today a former politician in the hands of R. Alia and F. Nano, drafter of plans to overthrow the first democratic government in Albania. Former member of the Enverist clique «In Albi-» [partially illegible]...

For political effectiveness in Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, described as a special example of the S.E.B.A., England, France, Canada... designed and carried out by NATO, the EC, the KSB and the FNM... seems to the communist conservative D. Agolli like a dictatorship. And he seems to accuse the whole world, all humanity, the entire separation of the SH. They imitate their ideological patron Enver Hoxha in an effort to self-isolate and impose dictatorship. Agolli calls the administrative reform endangered after only 72 hours of the government of his communist chairman F. Nano. Agolli declares that nothing can be done without young people, forgetting to recall that the PS is a party worse off than an enterprise after the PLP; indeed, even the PUK and PE have more. The Youth does not have it and cannot allow itself to do without making the nostalgic people of the past. It has programs and is for «democracy», and however much failed veterans like Agolli try to deceive them, they do not accept a step backwards, because this... on the day Agolli publishes his article, [they] leave this world, accepting Agolli’s offers of rehabilitation. Accusing the PD of having fascist generals in its ranks (Dritëroi is also mentioned), Agolli seeks protection for the generals of communism. (Enver’s [unclear] is not alive; if he were, Agolli would invite him to lead the PS as the colonel-general he was.) Agolli’s madness reaches its peak when he says that «no matter how many people Sheqfet Peçi has killed, the PS must defend him». A terrorist, an illiterate, a ringleader and a dictator who bloodied Kokinëshi and the [unclear] of Albania finds an advocate in the PS and D. Agolli, on the grounds that he did not kill more than the Ballists. When a deputy denies the crimes of criminals, that makes him something else: an accomplice in murder, an accomplice of criminals. Perhaps this is an early return to the old ways, but nothing justifies D. Agolli’s dictatorial logic, according to which Albania should love M. [unclear] because he killed fewer Albanians than Enver—or the reverse!!! Agolli wants power; he wants power at any cost, by any means, behind any mask. He is willing to declare civil war, defend terrorists and dictators, wipe Albanians from their own hearts and make Albania commit suicide, sacrificing democracy and a future that looks brighter than the past, just so that the communists can take power in Albania. Frightened by the conservative massacre in Russia, stirred by Hoxha’s condemnation and by the discrimination against his high-ranking left-wing colleagues, paramilitaries under the dictatorship, Agolli seeks to discredit what Albanians have achieved in these few months of democracy. In doing so, Agolli, «the elegant one» in politics, seeks to defend the vows he made at the grave of the dictator Hoxha seven years ago. Agolli: «The answer is to close all his works with a cipher, but I shall satisfy his wish with four lines of his taken from “Elegy for Enver Hoxha”.» «What I say and what verses I cast onto paper! The lines certainly get mixed up Am I, perhaps, now with the party, And forget that I am a communist» AFRIM KRASNIQI A call for a coup and civil war from Enver Hoxha’s most distinguished [unclear] [sic]. - A belated pilgrim in the madness of the struggle for power - - Dritëro Agolli’s motto: the return of E. Hoxha’s communist system, using Albanian democracy - - D. Agolli publicly defending LANC and postwar criminals. - Our Parliament has been seized by a gang, D. Agolli’s gang. ... in an attempt at dictatorial reform, again alluding to an identical attack on the USA and Bill Clinton, who have been greatly discredited, attacked and denounced by Agolli and company, the communist conservatives. Whether intentionally or not, Agolli admits that the PS is the bearer of communism in Albania, which is why Albanians removed it from power after 50 years, with an almost unanimous vote. This is evident when Agolli, commenting on the removal of the old communist nomenklatura and the dictators’ busts, says that the PS was deprived of its source of nourishment. Precisely two years after the dictator’s bust was toppled, after the students launched their historic hunger strike, after the attempts by the conservative military leadership of the former PP to stage a coup. Agolli seeks revenge, seeks retribution. He seeks power, seeks the restoration of the past through terror and blood. The real purpose is to celebrate anniversaries. Agolli is well aware that his party will never adopt a reactionary position. This is true insofar as it suits him to distance himself from the past and to include the generation of D. Agolli—which represents the old conservative communist generation—in the leadership of the PS. Since he is far...

- Mr. Eduard Selami takes part - As part of the second anniversary of the establishment of the PD branch in Skrapar, a meeting with PD members and supporters from the district was held on Sunday, 14 February, at the Poliçan Cinema Theatre. Large numbers of citizens had come out to await the arrival of the Chairman of the Democratic Party. At the meeting, greetings were delivered by representatives of the PS, the Association of the Politically Persecuted, the independent trade unions, the PD Youth Forum, etc., marking the continuation of the branch’s work. The branch chairman, Mr. Demir Gramoz, spoke on its behalf. The PD chairman, Mr. Eduard Selami, also addressed the meeting. This was a symbolic day, he stressed, not only for the PD, but also for the Albanian people’s efforts to rebuild the PD, which is needed in a difficult process involving people and the country’s place in the future and in Skrapar. Afterwards, du- (Continued on page 4)

Despite the many positive changes in our situation lately, pessimism is trying to engulf a considerable section of the population. The government’s inability to solve all the problems at once, with a single stroke, is the cause of this pessimism. People who endured for 45 years cannot endure a few more months. You can understand the despair of ordinary people, for whom politics means an empty pocket and high prices, but an educated person, especially an intellectual, is seriously mistaken when he gives in to this pessimism. Let us reason this out a little. We all know, say and accept that we are going through a transitional period that is necessary and unavoidable. One cannot move easily from state communism to productive capitalism without a significant transitional period. In theory we all accept this, but not in practice. The impatient, instead of seeing the issue in perspective, view the difficult present as permanent. The balance, of course, does not add up. Then pessimism takes hold of them; they criticize and attack the government. It is the most suitable period for exploiting popular sentiments and orientations. And we should also bear in mind that when a few intellectuals, however highly educated, erupt in this way, many ordinary people follow them so as not to appear backward. Another group prefers to watch and wait. Things are happening on the Albanian scene that have never happened during these 50 years. Our government officials are making working visits to Europe and America, and, conversely, foreigners are coming to our country. There are numerous contacts with foreign governments, businesspeople, etc. We see agreements, contracts, company partnerships, loans, investments, trade agreements, etc., being signed every night on television. Are all these merely empty promises? Tourist trips? Hollow agreements? Signatures in the air? Certainly not. Europe and America are not making fun of a suffering people who have been wounded to the core. All these are seeds sown today to bear fruit tomorrow; they are aid reaching out to help a liberated people get back on its feet. They are work contracts so that our young people do not have to work as foreign servants. Not understanding this means that you do not want to understand it. Another problem troubling ordinary people is that those who previously held political power have now seized economic power. And whoever has the economy has power. But, on the other hand, there is democracy, with its parliament and the laws it passes. We lived for 50 years without a parliament, because it was nothing but a variety-show festival and staged performances twice a year. The laws passed by a democratic parliament are the cornerstones of democracy and do not shift even when governments change. These laws ensure that democracy does not turn back, but continues to develop and improve. This is how it is in the West. The democratic order, the judiciary and a healthy public opinion will ask those who hold economic power today: «Where did you get the money?» And they will be obliged to answer before the law. Public opinion will never be satisfied if the law is not enforced. But the laws of democracy are made to be applied, not to remain worthless scraps of paper as under communism. This is the front on which all the country’s positive forces must unite. We can be understanding about the difficulties of the moment, but uncompromising about enforcing the law to the very end. TERETA TASI

In a genuinely democratic and pluralist society, different parties compete, representing specific alternatives for the development of society. The social character of these parties is connected with their vision of development and with particular social strata or groups. Starting from a particular position, each party defines its own alternative, whose overall conception is broad. Today the parties declare that the Socialist Party, with the features of the dictatorship, is left-wing; the social democrats are positioned on the left, the Social Democrats represent the masses. The Democratic Alliance is in the center and represents the middle ground, while the Republican Party is on the right, and the Democratic Party is center-right, representing democrats. The National Front appears to be right-wing and democratic. In opposition to the ... [unclear]... The right-wing parties fight for a society in which private property flourishes, the market economy thrives, the rule of law is respected, the principle of equality before the law is respected, the right to private property and inheritance is upheld, the home and the confidentiality of correspondence are inviolable, and movement within and outside the state is free, etc. The right-wing parties believe that a free-trade system and the integration of every individual unit and its units are necessary for a strong economy. In other words, [unclear] rigid collectivization; private property flourishes, ensuring individuals’ welfare, rights, and individual and collective freedoms. The leftists, communists, socialists and social democrats fight to build a social-democratic society. The Socialist Party believes that all social development should be built on a socialist system. All this is connected with the position of its units in society. The right-wing parties fight for a society in which private property flourishes, the market economy thrives, the rule of law is respected, the principle of equality before the law is respected, the right to private property and inheritance is upheld, the home and the confidentiality of correspondence are inviolable, and movement within and outside the state is free, etc. The right-wing parties believe that a free-trade system and the integration of every individual unit and its units are necessary for a strong economy. In other words, the flourishing of private property on the basis of large-scale accumulation and capital, and the growth of individual wealth, lead to an increase in the prosperity and wealth of the whole society. Regarding the concept of the state, right-wingers preserve the concept of power as an empty place. This means that no class, no social stratum and no political party, whatever it may be, has the right to say, “The state is me.” The leftists use this when they come to power, declaring that the state has been left to them and that they will defend it with their blood, that they won it with or without the people’s will and will forever hold it sacred. This is what distorts them in comparison with the initial stage. Right-wingers do not claim title to the state as a means of individual owner- [continues on page 3]