Press conference by PDSH chairman Eduard Selami, Secretary-General Tritan Shehu, and deputy chairmen Ali Spahia and Tomorr Dosti ALBION ORHANASI Yesterday’s press conference by the leaders of the PDSH focused on the proceedings of the DP National Council, where the referendum of 6 November, the reasons for its results, and ways to overcome the new political situation created after 6 November were analyzed. Mr. Selami expressed the view that the causes were twofold: primarily those relating to the Constitution, and secondarily those relating to our governance over the past three years. Likewise, the way to overcome them is twofold, first focusing on our efforts to find a consensus. As was also said at the National Council, corruption extends to various levels, and our measures will involve strengthening the legal aspect while also taking direct measures against corruption. In this regard, the National Council asked and urged all governing bodies of the DP to make the greatest possible commitment to fighting corruption. XHEVDET SHEHU (“Voice of America”): - Mr. Eduard! You again emphasized that you will adhere to the position that the Constitution should be approved by popular referendum. How do you think the obstacles to getting there will be overcome? From the reports in this commission, I had the impression that a green light is appearing on the horizon from the political forces. There is a shared view on this and further discussion; without going too far into the matter, I think that at this point a shared view and a consensus can be reached for this commission to be formed and begin work on drafting Albania’s new Constitution. BESNIK SHAQIRI (“Alternativa SD”): Question: Alliances were also discussed at your National Council. How was your position toward the PDSH and its demands assessed, and what is being considered to correct them, if you think they should be corrected? What does Mr. Dashamir Shehu’s speech at the third national conference mean? Mr. Eduard, as party chairman, is it his own opinion or an opinion he has put forward on behalf of the party? Will you seek changes in the government? If so, through a parliamentary no-confidence vote or how? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: - [text continues beyond the image boundary] represented the DP’s position? - There has been much criticism of Television, which has failed to depoliticize itself. Do you agree with that, and what do you think, using your authority, should be done about this issue? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: – We will respect the party structures and the state structures. As is known, when parties win, they have a monopoly over their governance, over the people, and over the policies a state pursues, so we will respect that. Of course, the highest authority in the DP is the DP National Council. That was its recommendation, but this will continue to be discussed in the DP chairmanship and with the DP parliamentary group. We have an exceptionally strict organization within our structures and will respect it. ANDIBETA, “Koha jonë” – Given that there is speculation on this point, can you tell us how much money the DP spent during the referendum campaign? Do you have any objection or criticism of the campaign conducted by President Berisha? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: – There is an issue between the DP and the government concerning campaign funds, because the government did not consider this an electoral campaign. The DP Secretary-General has dealt with this issue; as for the second question, I have no objection. I think it was a successful electoral campaign, regardless of the result. MR. TRITAN SHEHU: – The government, after considerable pressure, it must be said, from all the parties together, approved an additional allocation of funds, though not as much as had been requested, and distributed the money in proportion to what they were entitled to under the law. Accordingly, we used the funds due to us in that proportion. Pressure was exerted not only by the DP but by all Albanian political forces on the government to increase subsidies to the parties during this period. I consider the parties’ request to the government for increased subsidies to have been justified. HAMBID JUPE, “ZP”: – Mr. Selami, as one understands it, five parliamentary parties are asking for the Constitution to be approved first in parliament, and then it could be put to… (Continued on page 2) a solution for the approval of the Albanian Council, and secondly, at the same time, 6 November was a message the people gave us about this government, without denying its positive achievements. It was a message that we should improve and change, improving our work to increase the efficiency of governance both at the central level and at the local level. An important point that emerged from the National Council was the fight against corruption, which we consider one of the concerns people rightly have today, and we share their concerns. We believe, Selami said, that there is speculation and corruption, but we will now continue to fight corruption forcefully. The National Council came out against early elections and in favor of establishing a joint parliamentary committee, with the aim of drafting the constitutional text as soon as possible. He continued that we support the suggestion and view that the first Constitution should be approved by referendum, without bypassing parliament, which will decide on the referendum. We are open to the possibility that parliament may ratify it after the referendum. The National Council once again emphasized our concern that Albania should have a Constitution as soon as possible. The proceedings then continued with questions and answers: QUESTION: – BRISEIDA MEMA (AFN). Mr. Selami, at what level do you believe corruption is directed, and what measures do you think you will take against it? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: – Us, up to the referendum? The first efforts to establish the commission for drafting the Constitution seem to have failed. The necessary and essential compromise or consensus to set up this commission was not reached. How do you judge the position of the forces that lined up against the Constitution and continue to insist on their position at this moment? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: – First, we believe that obstacles will be overcome through dialogue with the other political forces. We hope these are problems that will be resolved only through dialogue among the various political forces. As for the issue of the first constitutional commission, on which consensus was once reached, it emerged from the first meeting of the political forces invited to the round table by President Berisha. Four political forces supported the establishment of a constitutional commission; later, the leadership of the parliamentary group, which also includes members of various parliamentary groups, decided that a commission should be established, but subsequently withdrew from this consensus. I believe it is too early to make a declaration. These are issues that take time. They cannot be resolved immediately. MR. TRITAN SHEHU: – Yesterday, a round table was held with the political forces represented in parliament as parliamentary groups or independent MPs, concerning the Constitution and the ways of adopting it. Despite differences of opinion on many points, regarding the issue of creating a parliamentary committee through to the referendum? issue? MR. EDUARD SELAMI: – Yes, it is true that the National Council suggested and decided that alliances should be broadened, and that for a second referendum we, as a party, should have more allies before going to a referendum. Everyone shared the same view that alliances should be broadened both to our right and to our left. We are speaking strictly within the framework of our party, as a center-right party; it is understood that on this point we do not align with the Social Democrats. We have been in coalition before; we have had problems, and it is quite normal that we will have them again, but we still support dialogue with the Social Democrats and with the other parties to our right. Regarding the second question, I think there have been interpretations of the content of Mr. Shehi’s statement, who is authorized to speak on behalf of the DP and on my behalf as its Chairman. I do not think there was anything wrong with it. As far as I know, there were subsequent interpretations which Mr. Shehu, in my contacts with him, has rejected, and I do not think they reflected his views. They were simply interpretations that were far from what we heard in his greeting at the national conference of the PSD. Regarding TV, I think that such an impression was created, but let me say once again that we, as a political force and as the DP, did not spend more time with the other political forces. They were registered there; I think it was not right to say that we, as the DP, spent more time. There was…

THE FLAG IS RAISED AND THE TORCH OF FREEDOM IS LIT Yesterday in Tirana DYLEJMAN KARAJ Yesterday’s events in the Capital, marking the 50th anniversary of its liberation from the Nazi-fascist foreign occupiers, began with the ceremony of raising the Flag in “Skenderbej” Square at 9 a.m. Those who came to the square, near the monument to our national hero Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeu, to take part in the festive ceremony included Pjeter Arbnori, Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly; Aleksander Meksi, Prime Minister of the Republic; Rexhep Karpaci, Prefect of Tirana; Sali Kelmendi, Mayor of the city of Tirana; veterans; members of the families of those who fell in the liberation of the Capital in November 1944; school pupils; citizens of Tirana, and others. The Flag was raised to the sounds of our National Anthem by two senior military officers. Then two young people dressed in national costumes lit the Torch of Freedom in “Skenderbej” Square and carried it from there to the National Martyrs’ Cemetery. TRIBUTES AND WREATHS OF FLOWERS AT THE GRAVES OF THOSE WHO FELL FOR FREEDOM Yesterday, 17 November, on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Capital, at 10 a.m. people came to the Martyrs of the Homeland Cemetery to pay their respects and lay wreaths of fresh flowers. They included Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi, Prefect of Tirana Rexhep Karpaci, Mayor Sali Kelmendi, Chief of the General Staff of the Army Major General Sheme Kosova, Secretary of the Tirana branch of the DP Shaban Memia, and others. Tributes to those who fell for freedom were also paid by many war veterans, members of the martyrs’ families, citizens of Tirana, young men and women, and others. The two young people dressed in traditional Tirana costumes lit the Torch placed beside the Mother Albania monument. Later, wreaths of flowers were laid beside the Mother Albania monument on behalf of the government, the Tirana Prefecture, the Municipality, the Ministry of Defence, and the veterans of the antifascist war. Yesterday, senior state officials also visited the families of the martyrs. GRAND FESTIVE CONCERT IN “SKENDERBEJ” SQUARE The afternoon of 17 November 1994, the day [continues on page 2] (Continued on page 2)

- MEETING WITH THE CHAIRMEN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS - A delegation of the National People’s Assembly of the People’s Republic of China, led by the vice-chairman of the Assembly, Bu He, is making a three-day visit to our country. Yesterday morning, the Chinese delegation held meetings at the Presidium of the People’s Assembly with the chairmen of the parliamentary groups. [text continues beyond the image boundary]

YESTERDAY IN THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY Yesterday, on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Tirana, our capital, the Assembly [text continues beyond the image boundary]

Republic of China, led by the vice-chairman of this country. Yesterday morning, the Chinese delegation met of the parliamentary groups of the DP, PS and PSD, Messrs Spahia, Dokle and Gjinushi. In his remarks, Mr. Spahia, after praising China’s economic development, stressed that during the transition our country is undergoing from a centralized economy to a market economy, exchanges of visits such as these will serve cooperation between the two countries, both in the economic sphere and in the exchange of parliamentary experience. For his part, Mr. Bu He expressed the desire for further exchanges of parliamentary experience, especially in the legal field. Greeks make up only 3% of Albania’s population - Confirmed by the US Central Intelligence Agency - The facts from the US Central Intelligence Agency affirm that the Greek minority in Albania constitutes 8% of the population. In this year’s publication, the latest book, compiled in the section on Albania, states that ethnic Greeks make up only 3% of the country’s population.

In the fever of a bad political game, where paradoxes and grotesquerie do not diminish the perverse thirst for the lost armchairs, the Socialist leadership appears once again… DUKAGJIN HATA In the fever of a bad political game, where paradoxes and grotesquerie do not diminish the perverse thirst for the lost armchairs, the Socialist leadership appears once again, reshaped by the parameters of crisis and disappointment, at crossroads of inherited weaknesses from which it seems neither able nor willing to emerge. The current political situation gives them reason to reflect on their destabilizing, immoral and even criminal strategy at the expense of the people and the nation, who nevertheless want to break away from the delirious past of collective misfortune to which the henchmen of the criminal regime had led them. It makes the unreformed nostalgics feel inferior and resentful to such a degree that they hurl anathemas at the sovereign people and grow angry because the people are not “angry”! The victory of “NO” on 6 November brought the union of these owls to the surface, along with dusty archives of “revolutionary” violence and the most compromising messages, which reek of Enverism and seek at all costs to incite civil war in Albania. The people’s indifference—and even that of honest Socialists—to these messages from hell makes the communist opposition leaders so nervous that they do not know what position to take: they curse the people for not obeying their quixotic calls to “rebel”; they curse the consensus that, strategically, they ought to have approved but could not accept (?) or? These gentlemen, who cannot come to terms with anything progressive, who pathologically mourn because of their complexes of hatred and… (Continued on page 2)

Yesterday, on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Tirana, our capital, the People’s Assembly approved the draft law “On the status of the veteran of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers.” our capital, the People’s Assembly approved the draft law “On the status of the veteran of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers.” This status may be granted to Albanian citizens as well as foreigners who fought from 7 April 1939 through Albania’s Liberation Day. The draft law sets out the rights enjoyed by veterans, as well as by those who were interned in Nazi-Fascist concentration camps inside and outside the country, and by Albanian citizens who actively took part in the fight against Nazism and Fascism in other countries. During the discussions and debates, many members of parliament called for the issue of veterans’ status not to be politicized or interpreted according to party interests, but for the supreme sacrifices and suffering of those who fought against the occupier for freedom and democracy to be duly recognized and held in high regard; they aspired to a happy and prosperous life for future generations as well. During his remarks, MP Uran Butka once again expressed concern that the dictator Enver Hoxha still bears the highest distinction, “Hero of the People,” as do Shefqet Peçi and others. Regarding this, Mr. Pjeter Arbnori stated that this parliament cannot make decisions about matters decided by the Presidium of the former People’s Assembly. After several debates, Mr. Tomor Mallasi said that every group of MPs has the right to take the initiative and make the relevant proposal on this issue. Finally, after the draft law had been discussed and voted on in principle and article by article, it was decided by an absolute majority of votes that the War against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers,” which meets European standards, should enter into force immediately. Also during yesterday’s plenary session of the People’s Assembly, MPs heard a report on the one-year activity of the State Audit, presented by Mr. Blerim Çela. The facts cited by Mr. Çela point to the commitment of the Democratic Government and specialized oversight bodies to combating violations of the law and corrupt individuals. At the end, Mr. Çela requested that the State Audit be granted decision-making powers to increase the effectiveness of its work in the documented fight against corruption.

a solution for the approval of the Albanian Council, and secondly, at the same time, 6 November was a message the people gave us about this government, without denying its positive achievements.

PAGE 2 - ZEP HUMOR PAGE 3 - METHOD OF PAYMENT FOR HOUSING FINANCED BY THE NATIONAL HOUSING AGENCY PAGE 4 - SUMMARY OF THE STATE AUDIT’S ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1.6.1993 TO 30.9.1994, PRESENTED BY CHAIRMAN BLERIM ÇELA PAGE 5 - EXCERPTS FROM THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE PATRIOT AND FIGHTER SULEJMAN VUÇITËRNI PAGE 6 - EXPRESSIVE PERFECTION INCREASES THE ETHICAL AND AESTHETIC VALUES OF DRAMA PAGE 7 - ADVERTISEMENTS PAGE 8 - I AM VERY TIRED... - I AM PROUD TO REPRESENT ALBANIAN FOOTBALL IN THE NATIONAL TEAM