The wild, discontinuous language unleashed with passion at yesterday’s meeting with activists of the Socialist Democratic Forum by Messrs. Milo and Gjinushi caused considerable irritation and nervousness among the dismissed former head of FRESH, Pilo Kerri, and several other lower-ranking figures of this party. Like the Moretti-Sacco duo, the PSD leaders acted as if, before the eyes of all Albanians, they were carrying out an act that, however modest, was heroic in the failure of the country’s democratic development. They not only unleashed a barrage of insults and slurs against the Democratic Party and its leadership, but went so far as to proclaim its bankruptcy. After the shameful failure of the protest they organized and the catastrophic failure of the attempt to throw dust in the eyes of public opinion with the stork of the anti-government coalition, PSD is thus revealing its true face. Nevertheless, beyond the political sarcasm that this adventure, as ridiculous as it is miserable, may arouse in Albanian public opinion, it demonstrates several bitter truths that were seen yesterday and that we believe should be even clearer to Albanians. Yesterday at the meeting with activists of the Socialist Democratic Forum, with all the propagandistic trickery, it became clear that Gjinushi and Milo have now declared war not only on democratic elections and the pluralist parliament, but also on the free vote itself. Of all the attacks, slanders, fabrications and denunciations made yesterday by this duo, one thing was certain: the collapse of the last wall that still separates the moderate socialists from the far left. This duo has now demonstrated itself as the center of gravity of the far left in Albania. With the language used, with the tone, with the resentment accumulated by chronic losers and especially with the open warnings about an "escalation" of political actions and the activation of destructive forces, it was clear that PSD has definitively placed itself at the service of an adventurous and destabilizing line. Instead of reflecting on its deep electoral defeat and on the massive rejection that the Albanian electorate gave its policy, it is trying to survive through tension, slander, and dubious alliances. This attempt to recycle the old spirit of class confrontation, to revive the rhetoric of hatred, and to present as modern opposition what in essence is only a refuge for anti-democratic resentment, cannot deceive anyone. Albanians know very well who has obstructed reforms, who has encouraged boycott, who has fed chaos, and who today seeks revenge through extra-institutional means. In these circumstances, any rapprochement of Gjinushi with Milo and of Milo with Gjinushi is neither a political novelty nor a platform, but only a union of narrow personal interests, grounded in nostalgia for a failed past. It is a duo moving not toward a European left, but toward the Albanian far left, with all the consequences this may bring for the country’s political and institutional climate.

FROM AN ARTICLE BY A SENIOR OFFICIAL OF THE IPF, MS. MARY JOSE SEBALIA Albania’s new government, elected in a way that ended a 40-year era of brutal Marxism, had to take drastic economic measures to stop the country from going bankrupt. One of these measures was the privatization and liberalization of the economy. The data published by the author show that, although Albania started from an extremely low point, the pace of reform has been fast and the first results quite encouraging. According to the author, the decline in industrial and agricultural production, the lack of supplies, the destruction of infrastructure, and monetary chaos initially constituted an almost insurmountable challenge. Nevertheless, the establishment of fiscal discipline, the curbing of inflation, the liberalization of prices, and the opening to foreign aid created the basis for stabilizing the situation. She notes that in less than a year the first signs of economic revival became visible. The article also emphasizes that the reform program was accompanied by significant social costs, especially for the poor and the unemployed, but that the government managed to avoid a deeper catastrophe. The author underlines that political courage in making difficult decisions was decisive and that international support had special importance. In conclusion, the article presents Albania as a meaningful case of a country that, despite the heavy legacy of the past, was able to meet the economic challenge and lay the foundations of a market economy. According to her, the Albanian experience shows that even the poorest countries can move forward when determined reforms are combined with external support and a clear political direction.

and his own defeat AN ELEGY FOR PETRËN ARBNORI - (continued from page 8) For anyone who knows how to think with their own head and not according to the principles of an Albanian Machiavellianism with ethical values deformed nine centuries ago, the moral and political condemnation of this tragicomedy seems absolutely necessary. But one thing is difficult to accept: by what path and with what code is part of the political class still trying to address the electorate today, when it has still drawn no lesson from its own responsibilities? Arbnori, who probably has more moral legitimacy than anyone else to speak about freedom, prison, suffering, and resistance, is used here as a figure to wrap a political defeat in melancholy, even though it is not a tragedy but the natural consequence of democratic competition. To cry over your defeat as if it were a national catastrophe means not yet to understand what pluralism is and what the rotation of civic trust means. If someone has truly sacrificed in this country, that person deserves respect, not instrumentalization. If someone has suffered prisons and repression, they do not need to be turned into a rhetorical banner to justify the failure of a policy or the inability to face reality. No one denies Arbnori’s biography, but no one can accept that it be used as a shield against political criticism. Albanian political culture, if it wants to mature, must learn to separate personal pain from public responsibility. That is precisely the essence of this polemic: a free man has no one to complain to about his own defeat. Defeat in democracy is not exile, nor internment, nor prison. It is only defeat. And from defeat one learns, one does not mourn. (continued on page 8)

Speaking on the agenda of yesterday’s proceedings of the Assembly, the chairman of the National Unity Party, Idajet Beqiri. The general issue, in terms of the fulfillment of the program and the rule of law, is familiar to the PUK deputy. Democracy is one of the most important human meanings that has historically been won by the pluralist system. The path of the legal state passes through respect for institutions and parliamentary procedures. For precisely this reason, the speech delivered yesterday in the Assembly was presented as a call for political responsibility and for respect for the rules of the democratic game. It was stressed that pluralism cannot remain only a slogan, but must become the everyday practice of Albanian political life. There was also talk of the need for a more civilized climate of debate and of avoiding harsh language that risks poisoning public life. The chairman of the PUK emphasized that national interests must stand above narrow party interests and that the Assembly has the duty to set the first example of moderation, dialogue, and institutional respect. According to him, a democratic state cannot be built without mutual responsibility and without self-restraint from all political actors.

Meat cubes, cream? sausages, soup, puree. The food industry, the production farm of food products, "Sheri", has a quantity of goods for sale according to German standards. At the sales points of the PSD concession you can find goods of lower standard at these prices: ham (?) 50 fr 1 kg salami 40 fr 1 kg chicken breast 45 fr 1 kg These products are according to German standards and cost approximately 35% less. Address: the intersection of the Durrës road after the Agricultural University [?], at the last bend on the left side. Telephone 2472. The enterprise "Rilindja Demokratike" Advertisement All the above goods are of high quality and according to all European standards. Those interested can call the number 29069 or come to the building of "RD", every day from 10:00 to 12:00.