Mr. Pjeter Arbnori received the chairman of the association of former political persecutees- The Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, Former Political Prisoners and Persecutees, Mr. Kurt Kola, and other leaders of this association. The discussion addressed the economic and social situation of former political prisoners and persecutees and the contribution they make to the development of democratic processes and reform. “The approval of the status of former political prisoners and persecutees,” Mr. Arbnori said, “is extremely necessary, because it will establish, on a legal basis, the situation and rights of the category of people who suffered most and were most severely targeted by the communist totalitarian regime.” ATSH

Recently, the Government of Kosovo allocated 40,000 liters of oil to the Government Flood Commission as aid for the flooded areas. On this occasion, the Prime Minister's adviser, Mr. Zekri Palushi, describing this aid as a brotherly and noble gesture, conveyed to Mr. Mehmet Kraja the Albanian Government's thanks to the Government of Kosovo. ATSH

During the dictatorship, much was said about the “steel-fist” unity of the Albanian people around the PPSH. With this “argument,” the communist hierarchy tried to justify, before the world and the Albanians themselves, the absence of pluralism in Albania—its unworthiness! Ramiz Alia himself equated pluralism with Albania's division! But the course of events in Albania showed how much the dictatorship had united the Albanians, the very people who overthrew it. They showed that it was precisely the struggle to overthrow the red dictatorship that united Albanians even more, and that it was the dictatorship itself that had sown division and suspicion among them—in families, institutions and workplaces, in the streets, and even in their most intimate and human relationships. Ramiz Alia's successor on the throne of the PP(S), Comrade Fatos Nano, following in his predecessor's footsteps, continues to speak of the danger of dividing the Albanian people. Pluralism is no longer used as an “argument.” Comrade Nano now serves us as an “argument” the fight democracy is waging against forces, groups, or individuals mired in corruption. According to him, this fight also carries with it the division of the Albanians and Albania! Thus he equates corruption with the Albanians. Albanians are one of the most united peoples. This is because, despite the dictatorship's efforts to turn them into obedient robots and submissive slaves, they kept the illuminating flame of democracy burning within them; that is, they are democrats in spirit and thought. Albanians are among the peoples best known in the world for their tolerance of differing beliefs, both among themselves and more broadly. This again proves that they are true democrats and have no reason to be divided. The only ones preaching division among Albanians today are themselves divided. Moreover, division is the product of the sick imagination of Albanian pseudo-politicians and the unrestrained but frustrated desire of the Greater Serbs in Belgrade. How united the Albanian people are was also clearly demonstrated by the visit of Pope John Paul II to Albania. Alongside their Catholic brothers, believers of the Orthodox and Muslim faiths also came out to greet the Holy Father on Albanian soil. And, of course, the assessment would not be complete if it were made only on the grounds of the different faiths. Pope John Paul II blessed democracy in Albania, a people united under its flag and in faith in God. In an Albania ruled by an anti-democratic regime, the Holy Father would never have set foot. The people of Polican and Skrapar also showed how divided Albanians are: despite the temporary tensions created and artificially inflated for specific purposes, and despite the very great real difficulties, people ultimately respected and continue to respect their own beliefs and those of one another; they seek and agree on possible solutions rather than setting Albania ablaze. Today's preachers of division among Albanians are the same people who yesterday offered Albania civil war and fratricide, which they claimed were inevitable; the same people who brandished weapons in February 1991 at the United School; the same people who shed the blood of democracy's first shoots in Shkoder, Kavajë, Tirana and elsewhere; the same people who ordered fire to be opened on Albanians who toppled the symbol of the dictatorship, Enver's statue. One of them is Dr. K. Islami, whose article predicting division and fratricide Nano's “socialists” hastened to translate into English as well, to show the world as true the reality they have in their heads and would wish for, for many reasons. “Divide and rule” is an ancient motto adopted and skillfully applied by communist dictatorships wherever they have ruled—including by our dictator and his successors. But times have changed now. Nano and others, it seems, will never be able either to understand or accept this. That is why they continue their old tune from an old world, hoping that their majority will mean the future belongs to it again. The Communists do not give up! Fatos Nano, Ramiz Alia’s successor on the throne of the PP(S), following in the footsteps of his predecessor, now continues to speak of the danger of division among argument. Comrade Nano now presents as an argument the struggle that democracy is waging against forces, groups or individuals steeped in corruption. According to him, this struggle also brings with it the division of Albanians and Albania! He thus equates corruption and those who carry it out with the unity of Albania and the Albanians! Comrade Nano reasons this way on the basis of familiar Enverist and Marxist-Leninist mindsets, according to which Enver, the Party and the red mafia were Albania, the Albanian people, unity and everything else. The Albanian people have not been divided, nor can they be divided by pluralism. To assert the opposite of this reality means to feel nostalgia for dictatorship; it means to regard pluralism as a death sentence for Albania and the Albanians. The Albanian people cannot be divided by the fight against corruption either. Otherwise, we would be accepting corruption as a unifying force, as something good in the service of Albania and the Albanians; we would have to open our doors to it in every Albanian home and heart! We would then have to honor the corrupt as the best of Albanians! In fact, if one of the profound motives in the struggle against dictatorship was also the fight against division, then the fight against corruption, no less than anything else, follows the same course. It will consolidate democracy, and this will strengthen the national unity of the Albanians, regardless of their political convictions and preferences. The unity and brotherhood of Albanians is our most sacred possession. Only democracy, culture, education and democratic tolerance can ensure this. Corruption is the cancer of democracy. If it is not operated on, it risks spreading its metastases through its healthy body, and the consequences are clear in this case: the nation’s unity suffers the heaviest blow; only its enemies benefit. Albanians, the democratic forces of our people, are aware of this. That is why no one will be able to divide them.

Yesterday, too, the Albanian Parliament did not hold its session. This happened because, on Fatos Nano's orders, the conservative communists have blocked it. Thus, chief laborer Nano and others tainted by corruption are seeking to achieve their aim of creating a parliamentary crisis, in the vain hope of escaping justice. “RD” CORRESPONDENT

The very day after Mr. Blërim Cela's interpellation and the publication, for the country and the world, of facts about corruption involving the Marxist-Leninist leader of the PPSH, Fatos Nano, and some of his associates, “ZP” filled its pages with bombastic, alarming, doom-laden headlines and articles. According to it and those who order it and supply it with directives and instructions, holding Fatos Nano legally accountable could lead to a deadlock, could lead to a national catastrophe, could set Albanians against Albanians. But their calculations are seriously wrong. They rate their third Zeus many times higher than his true worth. At most, he is a wealthy nobody worth a three-digit figure. But they needlessly add a few zeros, which he neither really has nor can keep afterward. Apparently, in these mistaken calculations they are guided by Mayakovsky's lines, “When we say Lenin, we mean the party; when we say the party, we mean Lenin,” which for decades they adapted and used for their own Enver. Both Lenin and Enver would feel insulted by this and protest from the grave, as would Ramiz Alia, still alive in his tower of isolation. What are they, and what is Fatos Nano! In this way, three million honest Albanians are also insulted, including the decent rank and file of the PS, who certainly do not wish to become accomplices and defenders of a corrupt and quixotic politician. To help them, we suggest that Fatos Nano's loyal staff use the slogans: “When we say Fatos, we mean Servet, Bashkim, Kastrio, Gramos...” “Party—Fatos—the theory and practice of corruption, let us make them flourish on earth and in space!”

-Chief laborer Nano was given 1.5 hours of airtime on Albanian television. -Chief laborer Nano's attitude toward the incontrovertible facts was identical to the attitudes of his predecessors, Hoxha plus Alia. -Once again, ordinary PS members saw who Nano was—the man who wanted to lead the country into catastrophe. -The chief laborer Nano was given 1.5 hours of airtime on Albanian television. -Chief laborer Nano's attitude toward the incontrovertible facts was identical to the attitudes of his predecessors, Hoxha plus Alia. -Once again, ordinary PS members saw who Nano was—the man who wanted to lead the country into catastrophe. The curtain has risen. Three former prime ministers, one former president, former ministers and former PPSH and later PSSH deputies are now, according to the latest information, accused of financial corruption, abuse of office for personal gain, and violations of the law and the Constitution. What justice and honest people want from Nano today is neither more nor less than what they wanted from Çarçani: that he be arrested and held legally accountable. Third: To prove his collaboration with “Levante Co,” former Prime Minister Nano brought before the television cameras a document from the health authorities addressed to the Italian company, requesting payment of the debt. Where did Nano get the document, when only the archive of the issuing body and the recipients have it? Clearly the “recipient,” that is, “Levante Co,” did him this favor, although in reality the document says nothing! Nano says that only R. Alia was well-informed about Italian aid, even though he himself was deputy prime minister and then prime minister! Why shift responsibility from himself to his patron, Alia? Who changed the aid list? Who brought the Albanians, in the name of the EC, thousands of tons of lemonade, fruit juice, marmalade and shrimp, while Albanians had no bread to eat? Who selected “Levante Co,” when Sh. Korbeci says that this choice was unnecessary and the Italian government rejected it from the outset? As was clear from his press statement, R. Alia was determined, even in his extreme old age, to continue crushing internal and external enemies while avoiding the corruption accusations directly. The political logic speaks for itself. F. Nano was appointed prime minister by Alia and by the prosecutor's office, which was initially directed to ensure that the PPSH was served. During this period, the only investor to come to Albania was Hajdin Sejdia, who found good and loyal friends among our state authorities. The latter gave him the title of economic adviser in Albania, granted him extremely profitable trading opportunities, gave him selection powers, and finally appointed him Albania's plenipotentiary ambassador to Europe. At this wedding, Sejdia certainly knew how to come out the winner. He released banking capital for as long as he needed, then withdrew it, using it as a means of pressure on our government authorities. He plundered private initiatives, seized the few dollars circulating on the black market, controlled the exchange rate, controlled every investor who preferred to invest in Albania, and finally brought in “Levante Co.” At every official government dinner—and even at family dinners (Hoxha, Alia, Nano, etc.)—H. Sejdia appears as (Continued on page 4)

It was the inspiring songs “Come, gather here and there...”, “For the Motherland”, etc., that summoned the sons and daughters of this people to demonstrations, unafraid of the enemy’s bayonets, bullets, machine guns and tanks. Singing the songs of the past and those that were forged in the fire of the National Liberation War, they endured the hardships of freedom and made sublime sacrifices to liberate the country from the Nazi-fascist occupiers. For centuries our people have fought for their formation and existence as a nation, for freedom and national independence, democracy and social progress. These struggles have had their leaders, heroes and martyrs, whom the people have proudly placed on the altar of glory. They have been immortalized in songs and poems, monuments have been erected to them, many places bear their names, and quite a few of their deeds have become legends. We carry this splendid tradition forward from the deep history of our nation; the spark of the national hero Skënderbeu, the fighter of the Renaissance for the Albanian language and our freedom, for independence and the creation of the Albanian state, became a great example and inspiration that raised and united the youth and the whole people in the great antifascist National Liberation War. Singing the patriotic songs of the past, the youth and people of Kavaja and Shkodra, the students and people of Tirana and all of Albania rose up against the communist dictatorship, toppled Enver Hoxha’s mythical emperors and brought the democracy dreamed of in Albania. This long, centuries-old history, filled with the great struggles and sacrifices of an entire people, written by the barrels of rifles and the chests of tens of thousands of fallen, comes to mind and stands before us in all its grandeur, especially now, on the eve of May 5, a day that has by now taken its place in the consciousness of all Albanians as Martyrs’ Day. On this very day, 51 years ago, Qemal Stafa was killed, a 22-year-old young man who loved Albania and its freedom above all else. This fact, too, justifies honoring May 5, but that is not all. This (Continued on page 3)