(By Leszek Balcerowicz) (Leszek Balcerowicz is the author of Poland’s economic “shock therapy” program and a former deputy minister. He is now a visiting scholar at the World Bank in Washington. The following article was published in the 28 September 1993 issue of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Permission was obtained from the U.S. Information Agency for reprinting and translation. The title page should have named the author and stated: Reprinted with permission of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, (c) 1993 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.) The triumph of the former Communist Party and its allies in Poland’s parliamentary elections earlier this month has led some analysts to conclude that radical economic reform is too politically dangerous and to urge the governments of Eastern European countries to take a “softer” approach to their economic problems. This diagnosis is wrong, and its consequences are extremely dangerous for the countries concerned. Some successful economic reforms cause discontent. Such reforms turn hidden unemployment into open unemployment and bring shifts in the relative wages and prestige of many groups. New entrepreneurs, managers, lawyers, accounting staff, and so on are rising—and, as a result, some powerful groups, such as miners, are declining. Not everyone can make direct use of radically increased economic liberalization, and those who cannot often look enviously at the new groups. Nevertheless, it is a mistake to oppose radical economic reforms simply because they produce such side effects. Delaying socially difficult steps is even more costly and dangerous, as a look at Russia or Ukraine would show. Radical reforms, unlike a gradual approach, also generate economic momentum. Despite inherited hyperinflation and shortages, Poland has had positive growth since the end of 1991, and this year it will be the fastest-growing country in Europe. Poland’s decline in total consumption in 1990–91 was, to a considerable extent, among the smallest in Central and Eastern Europe, including countries that adopted a softer approach. Those who advise countries suffering from hyperinflation to follow a gradual path are in fact advising them to delay the solution. Another factor in the election results was that, while the mass media controlled under communism engaged in propaganda emphasizing successes, the free mass media focused heavily on the negative side. The purpose of the mass media is, of course, positive development. Nevertheless, many voters undoubtedly confused the greater visibility of all negative phenomena with their actual growth. Envy and the media’s focus on negative news tended to reduce the popularity of the reformist parties. However, the shift in the distribution of seats in parliament toward left-wing parties was also magnified by several specific factors of a non-economic nature. Without these factors, the election results might have been very different: - The nationalist and “right-wing” parties ran an aggressive campaign against the reforms and against the parties that had led them. In the process, they were rejected by the electorate, but they managed to weaken the position of the reformist parties, thereby strengthening the position of the leftists. - The left-wing parties opposed the anti-abortion legislation and other measures imposed by the Catholic Church. This won them votes at a time when such legislation was rejected by most Poles. - The new electoral law favored the larger parties. It was, in fact, a necessary positive change intended to reduce the extreme fragmentation of the party system. Nevertheless, the reformist parties made a serious mistake by going into the election alone. Under the new electoral law, this cost them many seats in parliament. By contrast, the post-Communist Democratic Left Alliance, a coalition, received less than 21 percent of the vote but 36 percent of the seats in parliament. In addition to these domestic factors, the West also played a part in the election results in Poland. Narrow protectionism, particularly in the European Community, weakened the reformists’ position by worsening the economic situation and creating… (Continued on page 4)

KUKËS. As part of its efforts to help residents with insufficient financial resources, the government has recently granted free assistance to the community of Bicaj in the district of Kukës: 920 quintals of wheat, worth 2 million lekë. The municipality has taken all the necessary measures to ensure that the wheat is distributed promptly for the benefit of residents and to prevent possible abuses. However, as the mayor of this municipality, Arif Rexhami, told ATSH, the employment office and the tax office issued irregular documents so that people who do not qualify could also receive this aid. This has led the municipal council to recheck all the documents submitted in order to prevent abuse. (ATSH)

Press conference with the deputy chairman of the Economic Committee in the German Bundestag, Mr. Peter Ro- Press conference with the deputy chairman of the Economic Committee in the German Bundestag, Mr. Peter Ro[c?]heihban, and the chairman of the PDSH, Mr. S. Gjinushi. Press conference with Mr. Peter Ro[c?]heihban, deputy chairman of the Economic Committee in the German Bundestag, and Mr. S. Gjinushi, chairman of the PDSH. On Friday at 12:00, in one of the halls of the Palace of Congresses, German Bundestag deputy Ro[c?]heihban and PDSH chairman S. Gjinushi held a press conference. In his opening remarks, Skënder Gjinushi said that he had organized the press conference to provide information about some conclusions of the IS Council, which had met in Lisbon. This international forum concluded that democracy remains a vital alternative and that its role is continually increasing. The Israeli Labour Party’s coming to power brought hope for peace and cooperation. The victories of the Labour Party in Greece and the French Socialists, as well as the social measures being undertaken by President Clinton in the United States, also demonstrate democracy’s irreplaceable role. In his remarks, German public figure Peter Ro[c?]heihban emphasized that peace between neighboring countries, as well as countries far apart, is the only path to humanity’s survival. In Albania, the democratic processes have proved stable and continuous, and it is precisely along this path that Albania should not be compared with the countries of the former Eastern Europe. An urgent task is Albania’s admission to all the forums of a united Europe, so that it can overcome those 53 terrible years of isolation and play its part by contributing to these joint forums. Cooperation between the PSD SH and the other political forces in this country has led the entire German parliament and all the major German parties to adopt a common position on the need to support democratic development in Albania and Albania’s admission to important international forums, and even on ensuring that the Kosovars enjoy the independence status taken from them by force by the Serbian regime. “We know very well,” Mr. Ro[c?]heihban continued, “that it is not true that a small party can carry out revolutionary work with a large party, but however difficult it may be to overcome, the transition is a long and difficult process.” MERO BAZE (ATSH): What model do you propose for resolving the Kosovo problem? PETER ROCHEINBAHN: For the German Social Democrats, German parliamentarians, and other public figures interested in a just solution to the Kosovo problem, it is important that the Kosovars’ demands be recognized and respected. We Germans know and respect them. We also know that the Kosovars’ long-term aim is… THE CREATION OF AN INDEPENDENT STATE. This is the long-term aim. We also know the intermediate steps that must be taken to achieve it, step by step. The first possible step: THE RESTORATION OF THE FORMER AUTONOMY, international recognition, and bringing the issue to the point where BLUE HELMETS ARE DEPLOYED IN KOSOVO. The second important step: to try to FIND POSSIBLE ALLIES (states, parties, organizations, associations, public figures) who will support Kosovo’s autonomy and INDEPENDENCE. ERION BRAQE (ZP): As far as we know, you have not met with opposition parties such as the PDSH, PD, PND…? PETER ROCHEINBAHN: Regarding your question about meeting with the PS or with the remnants? of the PK, I have no intention of doing anything of the kind. Personally, I have had a bitter experience; I have met with communists from other countries, and when I read about these meetings in the press, I have wondered whether it was me or someone else. In 1991 I met with P. Nano and several others who were with him. Two days later, my friends told me that I had embraced Fatos and had even celebrated the PS’s admission to the IS. Neither of those things happened. There were other questions at the press conference, which Mr. Rocheinbahn and Mr. Gjinushi answered. ÇERÇIZ LOLOÇI

On Friday afternoon, a meeting with the writer and distinguished figure of Albanian culture, Ismail Kadare, was held in the hall of the Writers’ and Artists’ Association in Tirana. The best-known figures in Albania’s 50-year-old literary and cultural scene took part in the meeting, along with journalists from the press. Also present were the French ambassador in Tirana, Zhak For, the chairman of the Albanian parliament, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, and representatives of the Ministry of Culture. The chairman of the LSHB, Bardhyl Londo, opened the meeting by welcoming our renowned writer and inviting those present to take part in a collegial discussion. In his remarks, Kadare said he was pleased to attend the meeting and, thanking the organizers, expressed his readiness to take part in the discussion. B. Londo, Dn. Shuterqi, A. Uçi, Q. Buçheli, D. Agolli, and P. Arbnori spoke at the meeting. They asked about Kadare’s literary plans, particularly his collected works, translations, and the post-dictatorship intelligentsia, among other things. In response to various questions, the distinguished writer Ismail Kadare spoke about the publication of his complete works in two languages by the “Fajar” publishing house, the relationship between the writer and the state, freedom of creation, and specific issues concerning literary work.

A sad photograph, published in the Italian newspapers a few months ago, showed an Arab fighter in Bosnia proudly holding the severed head of a Serbian soldier, with barbaric pride! Another photograph appeared these days in the black-and-white PAD newspaper: around N. Çeka’s stoic smile, more than 400 words of medieval dialectic were set out, words that seemed to say that even war could… a scene? Before? The first photograph is war; the second, politics. The first man is a soldier; the second, a president! Not wishing to respond to his idea-free article in kind, but horrified by what I have seen, I am trying to explain what is happening with Çeka’s people. First of all, the “Democratic Alliance” is a party. It is a mixed initiative brought together by the drafting of the statutes and the lack of power. It has no program. It says it has the one from December ’90—that is, the PD program. It says it is consistent, still in the PD’s position. But it also says that its main adversary is precisely the PD. It is not an alliance. The name “Alliance” does not suit them, because the 7–8 men who formed it can hardly ever find anyone else to support them, let alone another party. How can it be called an “alliance” when it calls the PD an “enemy” and threatens it with prison, while calling the PS ultra-leftist and feeling that it does not tell them what they want to hear about their…? It has no ideas. The party has never put forward any ideas. While its members, such as N. Çeka or Ifta Zogaj and Pashko, in private statements among their many idea-free ideas, sometimes offer an alternative, the three leaders representing the PAD—Çeka, Teta, and Imami—offer only one idea: a return to the 15th and 16th centuries. They talk only about prisons and totalitarianism! It has no sincerity. Because what it says today it denies tomorrow. Because it is afraid to tell the truth; it has names and…?; it has ambitions that smother reason; it has a past that will not even let it sleep peacefully. It has no morals. It leaves nothing unsaid about intellectuals leaving the PD. When “RD” published names such as Xhuvani, Andoni, Çela, Simani, Daci, Veizi, Podrimja, Laço, Bucpapa, Marku, Parasi, and others, and most recently the distinguished writer Kadare, the Alliance’s poet called them blind tools and who knows what else. It does not do politics. It had an opportunity to do politics when it voted against the human rights law, but by voting that way—unlike us Socialists—the PAD showed that it has no political sense. And finally, one of the most important points: the PAD has no members; that has enabled its 7–8 positions, the number a party might have, to be divided among themselves. But as individuals? They have their own self-explanatory past. In each other’s eyes, they are the greatest people in the world. The tragedy is that now, when they are all down and out (and without power), they have united only around this extremely serious phenomenon. A sad photograph, published in the Italian newspapers a few months ago, showed an Arab fighter in Bosnia proudly holding the severed head of a Serbian soldier, with barbaric pride! Another photograph appeared these days in the black-and-white PAD newspaper: around N. Çeka’s stoic smile, more than 400 words of medieval dialectic were set out, words that seemed to say that even war could… a scene? Before? The first photograph is war; the second, politics. The first man is a soldier; the second, a president! Not wishing to respond to his idea-free article in kind, but horrified by what I have seen, I am trying to explain what is happening with Çeka’s people. This is a choice; a middle way. It has no program, no power, and no ideas either—which means it supports “violators of its own program and statutes,” while they have branded all PD members as criminals, traitors, enemies, and dictators. You can see how much they can be trusted, and how trustworthy they are. It is a pity that the PD electorate has declined. It is a pity that, for a moment, it is declining again. But you, Mr. N. Çeka’s company, should you not at least feel morally sorry for people? Should it not pain you that the PD—which made you someone, the PD that triumphantly overthrew communism—has fallen so quickly? That is why I say that the careerism and nihilism that have taken hold of you have stripped you of morality and reason, and who knows what state you will end up in. Many accusations of corruption have been made. They say they are angels. And precisely at this time, it is not known which of these angels is afraid of their colleagues and friends, flees with thousands of dollars, and escapes to Italy. Yesterday there was one; now there are nine “angels”! But who is next? The PAD, meanwhile, has a president. He likes to say that he was not a communist, unlike Berisha. I, on the other hand, like to say that only non-communists were admitted to the State Security service. He likes to say that he never sang the praises of communism, whereas I would like to invite him again to bring along and share his stories about Enver and the PPSH, since they are so poor that nobody publishes them. He liked being president, while I like to point out that the only person who voted for him was R. Alia, who is now at home in his “triumphant socialism.” He likes to say he is an archaeologist, and I like to thank him for that, because it makes it easier for others to understand his medieval thoughts and speeches. He likes to say that Serbs and Greeks are patriotic while Albanians are anti-national, whereas I like to say that Çeka and his friends are just as patriotic as the Serbs and Greeks. He likes to say that Greek and Serbian politicians are kind and impartial, while I like to tell him that Albanian politicians are much kinder and more peaceful. He likes to write and say that… whereas I do not even like to hear or read him, because I live three or four centuries later—in the late 20th century. AFRIM KRASNIQI