On 9 May, the first multiracial Parliament in South Africa convened. Mandela, a symbol of a people’s suffering and of resistance to the racial discrimination that ruled South Africa, was unanimously elected and sworn in as President of South Africa. Many people believe that he deserves the greatest credit for this epoch-making change in this part of the African continent. Imprisoned for decades in British prisons because of his convictions and his fight against apartheid, Nelson Mandela was the man whom more than anyone else people expected to become the new President after the multiracial elections. Nevertheless, former white President De Klerk also deserves considerable credit for authorizing the multiracial elections. At the opening of Parliament, Mandela was accompanied by De Klerk himself, who will hold the post of deputy prime minister in the new government. As is known, the latest election campaign in South Africa unfolded amid considerable social tensions. The African National Congress, Mandela’s party, found itself caught between opposition from the Inkatha Party of the Zulus and attacks by white right-wing extremists. The Zulus are African tribes known for their aggressiveness and fighting spirit. The conflict between these opposing sides over the past four years caused almost 14,000 deaths. The leader of the Zulu party, Mangasuthu Buthelezi, opposed holding elections at this time, and there were many conflicts before an understanding on this issue was reached. However, after Nelson Mandela’s unanimous election as President, Buthelezi embraced him, marking an important moment for this country, which now, more than ever, needs peace, especially when several African countries have been engulfed by long-running wars that have not come to an end. South Africa’s leaders managed to find the right formula for achieving peace and stability in the country. Immediately after his victory, Mandela, as had been discussed, invited the leaders of the other two parties, De Klerk and Buthelezi, to take part in the coalition that will govern the country. De Klerk has appointed six ministers to the new government, including Foreign Minister Pik Botha. Mandela, meanwhile, has appointed the other ministers and declared that he will not exclude from government even the parties that received a small percentage of the vote and will be represented in the South African Parliament, where black people are the majority. In this way, one of the countries where violence and discrimination ruled for years is now embarking on the path of democratic development. An Albanian delegation led by Minister Safet Zhulali was in South Africa these days to celebrate Mandela’s election victory.

-Time has placed the democratic government before the logical absurdity of having to “answer” for the widespread destruction caused by those who today protest against unemployment. -It is no coincidence that the SP is “protesting” over the events in Kukës precisely when dialogue is being established. Unemployment is not the first concern of those people, among whom are also the displaced. Therefore, the statement by the so-called leadership of the SP about the events in Kukës is telling. It has now become their way of working to accuse the democratic government of failing to put right in two years what they, the former communists who today lead the SP, destroyed over 50 years. They similarly accuse the democratic government of not putting the enterprises back to work, even though all of them had been shut down by 1990; their shamelessness goes so far that they “protest” even for the rights of former political prisoners (although this does not stop them from publicly using the most degrading images of them). We all know how the problem of the families of Kukës came about. When the Fierza hydroelectric power station (or “the Party’s Light”) was built, all the families living in the basin that would be covered by the lake were displaced and settled in other areas, in shacks. At the time, some families did not want to leave and protested, but the Party moved them too, using the same “voluntary” method it used to establish the cooperatives. They were told that the shacks they were put in would be temporary and “peryremt” [?]; they were given this assurance 10 years ago, while the displaced people are still living there today. The DP and the democratic government, in their struggle to uproot communism, did not see this merely as rooting out criminal ideas, but first and foremost as work that had to be done to eliminate all the economic and social consequences brought about by the destructive regime. It was the DP that demanded and freed all political prisoners, and it has undertaken to lessen their pain and wounds as much as possible. It was the DP that made it possible for property seized by communism to be returned to its legitimate owners, within the bounds of what is realistically possible and in accordance with its program to make all Albanians property owners. And, in general, it was the DP that took responsibility for all the consequences, including those affecting the displaced. That is why it is the height of shamelessness when precisely the people responsible for these injustices rise up and protest. The SP leadership issues a statement asking why the vital problems of the displaced were not resolved within these “2–3 years.” But why did they not solve these problems in 10 years, since, after all, they caused them and even promised to resolve them? Regarding the use of violence, the SP leadership knows very well how the incident happened. If a group of people were to occupy the SP building, would the SP leaders demand that the law be enforced? Where were these SP leaders (then PPSH leaders) when, through violence, the displaced were driven out of their homes without any compensation or reimbursement? Even the most naive person can understand how “concerned” they are about solving the problem. They are only interested in stirring up people’s discontent. It is no coincidence that those who spoke most loudly among the “strikers” were old “servants” of the PP. It is no coincidence that the SP-run municipality becomes the “host” of the strikers, and finally, it is no coincidence that the SP leadership issues a statement and protests precisely when dialogue between the strikers and the government is nearing a solution. The SP statement, not without reason, insists precisely on demands that are practically impossible to meet. It is not difficult to understand why this is being done. The SP leaders are now trying to bring out into the open what they plotted behind the scenes, and they fear that the establishment of dialogue will bring it to an end. “Let dialogue be established,” the statement demands. How can you demand something that has already been achieved? It is no use, gentlemen socialists; you will not come to power through such fabrications, so it would be better not to light a cigarette when you are inside a powder keg yourselves.

From President Berisha’s visit to Romania After the visit to Hungary, the Albanian delegation led by President Berisha arrived in Romania. Yesterday morning, the official welcoming ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace, after which President Berisha and President Iliescu held a one-on-one meeting. At 10:00, the two delegations held official talks. President Iliescu thanked President Berisha for the visit and described it as very important for cooperation between the two countries in all fields. He gave an overview of the situation in Romania as well as of the reforms undertaken on the path toward a market economy. Iliescu emphasized that, alongside political cooperation, it was time to strengthen and raise the level of economic cooperation, which is beneficial and in the mutual dictatorships. For his part, President Berisha informed President Iliescu about the progress of reforms in Albania. “Despite the unfavorable geopolitical situation, the results of the reform are positive,” Mr. Berisha emphasized. Regarding the situation in the Balkans, President Berisha made it clear once again that the main issue is the Albanian question. “Albania is not in favor of changing borders by force, but seeks democratic space for the Albanians, and the freedoms and rights to which they are entitled under the Helsinki Charter. Since the Albanians are seeking the implementation of the CSCE principles, the international community and the region must engage seriously in resolving their problem. “The idea that Kosovo is Serbia’s problem is one-sided and will provoke conflict,” Berisha emphasized, continuing: “All the peoples of the Balkans have their national problems, but no one seeks to resolve them through war, as Serbia does. Unless it abandons this idea of a Greater Serbia, it will plunge the entire region into war. Milošević’s refusal to engage in dialogue with the 2 million Albanians of Kosovo is absurd. We support dialogue in the presence of a third party, and in this context we value the efforts of the British Minister Hogg, who recently held talks in Belgrade and Kosovo. I am convinced that an acceptable solution can be found, but in this situation Kosovo is like a time bomb that could lead to a conflict involving not only the Albanians,” Mr. Berisha concluded. Afterwards, President Berisha had a warm meeting at the Albanian Embassy with representatives of the Cultural Union of Albanians in Romania. At a meeting with journalists, among other things, President Berisha spoke about relations with Greece and emphasized that, in order to continue the dialogue, “we intend to propose another meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries in Tirana. We consider the Zurich meeting positive, since it expresses the two sides’ willingness to improve relations. We hope that this willingness and this disposition will bear fruit.” Yesterday President Berisha concluded his visit to Romania.

(Prime Minister Meksi comments on the events in Kukës) In an interview with RTVSH, Prime Minister Meksi explained the democratic government’s position on the problem of the displaced in the district of Kukës. “The government did not become aware of this problem only now, because of the strike; since October, a commission has been working on it and has submitted its report on the families who need to be relocated,” Meksi said. The families have been divided into groups: families who owned land in the flooded area; families connected to people who once worked in the mines and are now unemployed; and families who received only a small amount of land. Prime Minister Meksi explained that in mid-April the documents were reviewed together with the Ministry of Agriculture and distributed to the directors for final verification of the lists of names, as well as for determining the land to which the families will be relocated. Meksi emphasized that it was the democratic government and the DP that considered resolving this problem essential at a time when nobody had protested, even though the previous regime had taken no measures. Speaking about the hunger strike, the Prime Minister emphasized that in a way the strike might have helped bring forward some deadlines for resolving the problem, but care had to be taken to do so according to the rules, so that the outcome would not go only to whoever was entitled to it. “On the other hand, it must be said that strikes cannot be conducted by occupying government buildings or blocking roads. There are specific ways in which they must be carried out.” Meksi argued that anyone can go on a hunger strike and, under threat of death, demand things that are just, but also things that are unjust; in this respect, strikes cannot be used as instruments of blackmail. The Prime Minister also explained that they had been in favor of dialogue from the very beginning and had asked the strikers to go to the Prime Minister’s Office. “This is not the first time that problems of this kind have arisen, and we have always tried to solve them.” Speaking on this, Meksi stressed that other areas, such as Pogradec and Korça, have the same problem and are being considered. The measures the government will take are: relocating those who have no land and using funds earmarked for the northeastern areas on projects intended for them.

On the Nano-Alia meeting

“From one l uge to another l uge, the bottom of the pot comes out while”. “You go for wool and come back shorn.” (Proverbs from the folk tradition of Mat) We do not know what great trouble is driving Mr. Baleta to unburden his file in his recent articles. Perhaps his final, irrepressible instinct is prompting him to confess before God, to wash away his sins? This hypothesis seems unlikely, given that a fervent former communist, secretary of the basic organization of the Party of Labour at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had the works of Comrade Enver as his lord and master. Let us recall the analysis Comrade Abdi gave of the book “Imperialism and the Revolutions” in the journal “Popular Justice” toward the end of 1990; because of a delay in publication, it appeared in early 1991, when Mr. Baleta was emerging at the forefront of the democratic processes. He considered this work the most comprehensive analysis ever made of the rotten bourgeois-revisionist system and imperialism, the final stage of capitalism. We do not think he recalled it out of fear or under compulsion, because his illustrious leader had long since died. So what inspired him to take up his pen and sing Enver’s praises at a time when even his closest associates were mentioning him less and less? Did he want to prove his lifelong loyalty to the cause he had honored, which was still powerful and could hand out a bone or two? Or was it an order from his bosses to appear in public and tell people that Baleta does not easily betray his ideals and that he had once pledged his loyalty to the party? Only Mr. Baleta’s pen can shed light on these suppositions. And it is strange that he has not touched on this subject until now in his numerous writings, published in almost every newspaper, while he has not forgotten to serve the public worthless and trivial information, such as what he reported about a former foreign student—naturally, at the request of a State Security operative, as he himself admits. It is not hard to understand that in all his recent writings Mr. Baleta is rewriting his own biography. Willingly and out of sheer stubbornness, he is opening his own file. With daring worthy of Alashev, he is publicly confessing that he was an honest and conscious communist, a proper communist who faithfully applied the laws of the dictatorship, generously ruining the lives of dozens of innocent people who disliked the dictatorship represented by Comrade Abdi; that he was a diplomat who defended the interests of his homeland by advertising it as a flourishing garden on the Adriatic, with the purest democracy; that he answered the calls and requests of State Security operatives by giving them information (a task Mr. Baleta would gladly perform even today, without his hand trembling, as he himself claims); that he was a witness at the trial of Nesti Nase, and so on and so forth. Our former career diplomat’s entire multifaceted activity…

AN ORDER IS ISSUED TO CHANGE NANO AND ALIA’S CELLS -Will I write to Nano from cell 49? One of the “arguments” used by lawyer Tirana to disprove the truth of the claim that Nano and Alia met in the cells of Tirana prison was his denial that their cells were almost directly opposite each other. Although this fact was not so important as to make lawyer Tirana take the trouble to refute it, it seems that in this way he was trying to create the impression that the main fact—the meeting itself—was also untrue. And how strange that lawyer Tirana should know what Nano’s and Alia’s cells were like, since regulations do not allow him to go to the cells—or did he take part in the meeting too? In any case, according to well-informed sources, it was only on 4 May that an order was issued to change the cells of Nano and Alia, which had been almost directly opposite each other in the former women’s prison. It is not yet known who was moved from the cell, Nano or Alia, but this can easily be checked through “ZP.” If Nano continues to write the number 49 on his letters, then it is understood that Alia’s cell was changed, while Nano continues to remain in the former women’s prison. In the message of congratulations with a social-democratic vision that Nano sent to the chairman of the SP of Hungary, Tirana prison was given as the address, but, as usual, no cell number was written. Therefore, to find out whose cell was changed, we must wait for the next letter from the “isolated” inmate in the women’s prison, the unchallengeable chairman of the SP, F. Nano.

Where will I remain in your being? N. Q., even if he comes here! REGARDLESS OF MR. DONLE, I CAME TO POGRADEC I HAVE TO GET READY TO DROWN—WHAT CAN YOU DO? WE SOCIALISTS HAVE CLOSED THE MATTER... OH, OH, THE WATER IS VERY COLD WAIT, SHALL I EXPLAIN IT TO YOU? MY LIFE ISN’T OVER, BUT THIS IS A POLITICAL TRAP FOR ME TO SWIM... NOT... THE OPPOSITION. Ramiz [?]