Yesterday morning, President of the Republic Sali Berisha went to Mashtregor, Orosh, to the home of officer Nue Zef Kaza. President of the Republic Sali Berisha went yesterday morning to Mashtregor, Orosh, to the home of officer Nue Zef Kaza. — I came to express my deepest condolences, and those of the Albanian Armed Forces, for the great loss suffered by your family, Orosh and Mirditë as a result of the criminal killing of officer Nue Zef Kaza. Today is Police Day, the President continued. On this day, throughout the country, we honour Ndon and his comrades who fell in the line of duty defending human life, people’s security, the homeland and the country. Orosh and Mirditë have been, and remain for Albanians, the land of brave men and a synonym for freedom. I would have very much liked to come to the wedding of your dear son and our friend Nue Kaza, the President told his mother and relatives. He was one of the first December activists, a brave, courageous and honest student. With extraordinary dedication and courage, he fought for the overthrow of the dictatorship in Mirditë and throughout Albania. All of us who knew him remember him as a young man distinguished by the virtues you instilled in him, you as his mother and his father, who fell years ago in the line of duty in the mine with unmatched courage and bravery. He also honoured Mirditë for the ideal of freedom. He fought and worked so that Mirditë and all Albania would be freed from dictatorship, and it was for that same lofty ideal of freedom that he fell in the line of duty. For an officer, honour, duty and homeland are one and inseparable. They were so for your son Ndue Kaza, too. The President then presented Ndue Kaza’s mother with the decoration for an act of bravery, citing the courage and determination shown in carrying out his duty. His mother thanked the President and, with the fortitude of a highlander, said: It is true, my son was among the first; he fought to overthrow the dictatorship in Orosh. She then recalled election day, 22 March, when Ndou had asked her whom she would vote for, and his mother had replied that she would vote for him. As the President departed, those present thanked him for sharing the Kaza family’s grief.

— Nano seeks his salvation through bloodshed, through ominous revenge. — Nano’s “comrades in arms” are taking action to save him from the punishment he deserves. — Democracy will not allow itself to be trampled by criminals. “ZP” published something about the Nano–Zeneli meeting. Zeneli said something nasty, treating this meeting in melodramatic tones. He implied that he still had much more to say. In truth, he will never say these things, because he cannot say them. He cannot testify that Nano, from prison, is ordering the defence of crime and corruption; that he is ordering the PS leadership group—Ruçi, Brokaj, Dokle and Vladi, implicated in crimes—to destabilise the country, set Albanians against Albanians and wash Tirana’s pavements with blood, just as they did at the dawn of democracy. Isolated in his cell, waiting and sensing that justice will have its say and deliver its decision with unshakable resolve, Nano seeks salvation from the aforementioned command staff, from his “comrades in arms”, sullied just like him and just as willing as he is to tighten the noose, so that together they can escape punishment for the crimes they have committed. Ruçi is well known, the former Minister of the Interior, under whose conscience weigh the victims of 2 April in Shkodër and so many other crimes committed by that sinister arm of State Security. He sought and still seeks counterrevolution, to deal an unprecedented blow to the peaceful democratic revolution in Albania and once again bring the hell of the red dictatorship back to our country. Nano is ordering ominous revenge which, if allowed, will cost Albania not only precious human lives but entire generations lost; it will bring Albania prisons and concentration camps, extreme poverty, complete isolation from the democratic world, and its surrender to neighbouring chauvinists. Democracy will not allow itself to be torn apart by criminals; it cannot allow new victims to satisfy their monstrous, egotistical appetites. Zeneli does not say much because crime cannot operate in the open, in plain sight. But there is no need for him to say more. What Nano has ordered and what sinister plans he intends the people under his direction to carry out is clear from what is visible on the page. Democracy cannot allow itself to be trampled by criminals; it cannot allow new victims to be created clear from what is visible on the page. …Nothing more and nothing less: the PS wants the laws overturned. At a time when it speaks of a state governed by the rule of law, how can it claim that Fatos Nano should be released through rallies and petitions? Can such a thing be normal and lawful?! There are competent authorities that impose or lift detention. The court is the legal body that determines the guilt or innocence of the arrested person. If Fatos Nano is innocent, let it declare him innocent. Let us wait for the court’s decision. That would be a proper legal course of action, but freeing a prisoner through petitions and rallies is anarchy, which must not be allowed—not by the police, nor by any other body. And, finally, we should remember that crime and deception always go together. The Nanoist command staff is trying to speculate and deceive when it talks about a “peaceful” rally. Just how peaceful their rally can be is shown by the one in July last year, where people called for democrats’ skulls to be cracked and for them to be dragged along the ground. The statement made by PS leaders at their meeting with President Berisha also shows just how “peaceful” their rally could be: they demanded Fatos Nano’s release, declaring that if this did not happen, “the situation would get out of control”. The command staff …“where is everything?” deception always go together. …closed ranks, in order to save themselves together from known, the former Minister of the Interior, whose conscience bears the victims of April 2 in Shkodër and so many other crimes by that ominous weapon of State Security. He sought and still seeks his salvation only by settling accounts with democracy and the law. Brokaj is known for the speculation, embezzlement, or abuses committed while he was Minister of Health. Dokle is known, nicknamed Dokleçi by those Albanians, for his anti-Albanian services. Pellumb Vladi is known for his conduct and actions as a thuggish rabble-rouser, who has continually provoked the forces of law and order and the law in order to create turbulent, destabilizing situations. These senior officers of the crime headquarters led by Nano, yesterday and today, are being ordered by him to provoke threats once again. These unreformed Enverists, nostalgic for the dictatorship, are instructed by Nano to bring people out into the streets so that … They reveal the terms of the request made by the other “socialists”: “it will be organized”; the request in the petition signed by more than 700,000 Albanian voters—for the arrest measure to be lifted and the chairman of the PSSH to be tried while at liberty—will once again be publicly expressed. …democrats’ skulls are to be split open and they are to be dragged along the ground. Just how “paid” their rally may be is also demonstrated by the statement the PS leaders made at their meeting with President Berisha, where they demanded the release of Fatos Nano, adding out of control”! What they mean by “the situation getting out of control” is quite clear. But Mr. Berisha’s response is also clear: the situation has been, and will remain, under control. All the blind adventurers who place crime above Albania and the Albanians, above its fate and that of an entire people—which has embarked, with unwavering confidence, on its new, free life and is ready to build it at the deserved cost to every regressive force and anyone who seeks to turn it back from its path and from its will, lawfully expressed on March 22, 1992—must bear this clear warning from Albanian democracy firmly in mind. …to allow the being its intrusive supervisor. that have given the realistic opposition its proper position in the struggle to advance its political alternatives. The governing majority was interested, and remains interested, in the opposition’s considered political views, its constructive spirit, suggestions, innovative alternative ideas, and proposals that offer appropriate solutions to pressing social, political, and economic problems. Certainly, it cannot be denied that rational opinion has not been absent from the pages of the Albanian opposition press, but unfortunately it can be said without hesitation that those leading the Albanian opposition today have proved very … they demanded the release of Fatos Nano, adding clear warning from Albanian democracy firmly in mind. …have sought to speak objectively about the political relationship established after the free elections of March 22, but with party fanaticism, arrogance, and repeated, open blackmail, they give their political structures the features of a political class unable to conduct party activity outside the basic structures of power. Through its political struggle, the directives, guidance, instructions, and alternatives put forward by the opposition’s leadership have not been valid criticisms intended to improve the governing standards of the new democratic state; rather, they have been its severe test, designed to convince the people that today’s Albania cannot move forward without the opposition’s direct participation in the political leadership of the country. Every opposition conducts its political struggle in order to establish new relations in … …political opposition; on the other hand, it has also failed to offer political prescriptions for overcoming it, forgetting, as should be evident, that one cannot become a capable society a theoretical political crisis for a prolonged period shows nothing other than the inability of the opposition’s political leadership to preserve and revive the old political schemes for dividing political power. For political crises to arise, certain essential elements must objectively appear; without them, and in their absence, the country’s entire political and state mechanism cannot function normally. Since reliable economic indicators point to a new level in the structures … (Continued on page 2)

It is a sign of admirable political maturity and culture on the part of the PD that, in its current position in power, it has never officially regarded the opposition as a calamity and an insurmountable obstacle to implementing its electoral programme. Through its political practice, the PD has objectively valued the opposition as a serious political alternative, without whose existence the overall value of Albanian democracy and the established political balance could turn into the premises for dangerous historical shifts. For Albanian democracy as a whole, the opposition cannot be represented by a group of conservative leaders or by sly “moderates”; constructive opposition always means all the people—the capable cadres and specialists, the upright youth and the respected veterans—who are seriously interested and engaged in the uninterrupted progress and further consolidation of democratic victories. It is this clear vision of the opposition and its important role that allows a democratic state to assess the opposition’s political activity properly, without being an irritating overseer. It is the democratic structures of the rule-of-law state themselves that have given the opposition a realistic, proper position from which to fight for the political realisation of its alternatives, so as to lend Albanian democracy not only its well-intentioned, constructive thinking, but also its direct, creative activity during the delicate transition. Time has shown that the PD, being a political force freed from the traits of a dictatorial state party, has never felt inferior in the face of the various alternatives objectively put forward by the opposition; on the contrary, it has given it broad democratic ground on which to carry out its political activity unhindered. In contrast to the opposition’s political nobility, the conservative leaders of the PS have not had the proper willingness to recognise the political successes of the democratic coalition as the fruit of comprehensive effort and serious commitment at every level of government leadership. The conservative leaders of the opposition rose to prominence through a fierce democratic struggle and great sacrifices. After 22 March, the leaders directing the Albanian opposition have shown signs of disregarding the true governing legitimacy of the Government. They have refused objectively to accept the new political balance established after the free elections of 22 March; instead, with party fanaticism, arrogance, disdain and open intimidation, they have rejected the political successes of the governing majority. The political direction of the country by the Government is entirely normal and natural in a pluralist democratic state. It should not be forgotten that political struggle in a pluralist system takes place within specified time frames, and the legal deadline for new elections cannot be brought forward at the behest of subjective desires or passions. Early elections in a number of Eastern countries cannot serve as an example to follow or be mechanically imitated, because economic development and political maturity in those countries are at a more advanced stage, and because none of them has had an open national wound such as the Albanian question. Any early election in Albania would not properly serve the complicated problem of the Albanian question. On the other hand, for new elections to be held in Albania, a political crisis must first emerge. A political crisis cannot be said to exist in any country where economic stability and the consolidation of political power are already properly controlled and administered according to established democratic norms and laws. For its part, the opposition’s political command staff has set about prescribing political remedies for overcoming it, apparently forgetting that it cannot become the magic regulator of an imaginary crisis. The tendency to serve Albanian society a theoretical political crisis over an extended period shows nothing other than the opposition’s political command staff’s inability to find any solution to its political crisis.

“ZP”: “What did you feel when you met Fatos?” B.Z.: “It’s hard to describe… hard because longing mingles with a kind of bewilderment.” These phrases have not been taken from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but from the anonymous “Fatos and Bashkim”. An expression of love and longing this intense might seem somewhat strange, but S. Zeneli explains below that it was a “bewilderment” of this kind. Because I met not only Fatos, but also the Chairman. “I don’t know why this expression reminds you of certain plays written by mediocrities about the ‘commander’ (or, in this case, the ‘chairman’) and performed by amateur troupes from remote districts.” The mediocre drama about “communists who do not surrender” continues below: “And Nano was in a … physical, moral and psychological condition… it is hard to find a character so strong.” Besides this, according to B. Zeneli, Nano was “in good spirits”, “optimistic” and “very calm”. So Nano has apparently adjusted to life in his cell, physically in excellent shape and, yes, in good spirits. It is not clear why his followers, complaining, are trying to disturb their chairman’s peace by taking him away from the place that suits him best. In fact, B. Zeneli explains below that the chairman is missing a few things. The “chairman” misses the Party, misses the revolutionary masses, and even misses Kaz’kafkethyesi, the little redskin who ran away and left him alone in the cell. He does not need a TV, because Albanian television does not broadcast anything decent—only thieves and criminals being put in the dock. So it would be better not to put a TV in his cell, in case all these injustices and violations of human rights inflicted on criminals spoil the chairman’s mood. As for the teleph… CHAIRMAN OF P. ADUD... [?] SHIT MUND... AGAINST CORRUPTION FATOS NANO CHAIRMAN OF P. ADUD... [?] …“democrat,” as if they could force the Earth to rotate in the opposite direction, moving them by removing them from the place that suits them best. In fact, B.Zeneli explains below that the chairman is also missing a few things. The “chairman” is missing the Party, he is missing the revolutionary measures, and he is also missing Kaz’kafkethyesi, the little redskin who ran off and left him alone in his cell. He doesn’t need a TV, because Albanian TV doesn’t dock. So it’s better not to put a TV in the cell, otherwise all these injustices and violations of human rights against criminals would spoil the chairman’s mood. As for the telephone, it is essential, because it can be used to give instructions—for example, how to prevent Albania from joining the Council of Europe, how to stop NATO from intervening in the former Yugoslavia, how to fight for the re-creation of socialist-type agricultural cooperatives (renewed), how to bring about early elections, after which they will be dragged along the ground … EDI PALOKA

The Central Elections Commission and the Elections Secretariat attached to the Council of Ministers, following several articles in the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” questioning the results of the 22 March 1992 elections and, indirectly, their own work, consider any insinuation of inaccuracy or falsification of the 22 March 1992 elections to be unfounded. “The precise instructions and the supervision exercised by the Central Commission before and during the voting process ensured satisfactory order, as is also confirmed by the fact that the electoral contestants and local and foreign observers submitted no objections or complaints about the election process or its documentation,” states a joint declaration by the Council of Ministers. “It is true that more ballot papers were printed than the calculated number of registered voters. However, this difference was known both to the apparatus of the Council of Ministers and to the Central Elections Commission. This fact was also reported to the Mandates Commission of the People’s Assembly,” the declaration explains. The Elections Commission was appointed pursuant to the Elections Law No. 7556, dated 4.2.1992. Since the law charged the Council of Ministers with providing the material and financial resources for the elections, the Elections Secretariat was established at the Council of Ministers. The Elections Commission and the Elections Secretariat ensured that everything necessary for the vote was provided. The Elections Secretariat reported on this issue several times to the Central Elections Commission, and, regarding particular matters, the Council of Ministers and even the then Prime Minister, Vilson Ahmeti, were consulted. According to documented and archived information, the ballot papers used in the 22 March 1992 elections were printed at the Military Printing House in Tirana. “The production and distribution of materials, including ballot papers in quantities exceeding the number of registered voters, was carried out for several reasons related to the difficulties of the time, primarily the lack of transport and communications, inaccuracies or omissions in the electoral registers, and the requirements of the second round,” the declaration explains. To prevent falsification of the election documentation, the Central Commission and the Elections Secretariat state that several measures were taken: the ballot papers were printed with a secret mark, the paper used was of high quality, the candidates’ names were typed by computer, and the ballot papers were signed and stamped on election day in the presence of the polling-station committee, etc. Each electoral district and polling station had a seal bearing a special serial number. All these procedures were accompanied by specific instructions from the Central Commission, which stipulated that all election activities be carried out in the presence of the election committees and documented in minutes. The Central Commission supervised the Council of Ministers’ apparatus in applying the rules for documenting all material supplies, as well as the measures taken to prevent the misuse or falsification of election documentation. For this purpose, a working group was appointed within the Commission; it closely monitored the entire process of procuring and using the material supplies and reported to the Commission from time to time. Under the Elections Law and the instructions issued by the Central Elections Commission, the ballot box was checked and sealed with wax before voting began and again at its conclusion, in the presence of the committee; at the end of voting, the relevant minutes were drawn up. These minutes were sent to the district election commission, with another copy sent to the Central Elections Commission. If the minutes contained objections concerning the ballot papers or the election procedure, the objection was examined by the election commissions, which were required to decide on the counting of the votes. As the declaration states, “The announcement of the Central Commission … (Continued on page 4)

Demonstrators carrying banners against corruption.