SADEDIN BALLA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (Pp. 3–4)

DR. ESHREF YMЁRI ON THE OCCASION OF THE 160TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS PUBLICATION When “Father Goriot” was published (Page 6)

The Special Committee of the Security Council of the United Nations Organization, taking into consideration the grave situation in the energy sector in our country, decided to authorize the transit of electricity to Albania through the territory of Serbia and Montenegro. Starting on 23 December, Albania is permitted to receive in this way 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every day for a period of one month, official sources at the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Albanian Telegraphic Agency. The Mission of Albania to the United Nations in New York, in a report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Serreqi, notes that the Security Council Committee requires the Albanian government to report on electricity losses during transit through Serbia and Montenegro, specifying the amount of electricity released by the exporting country and the amount that has arrived in Albania. Under this decision, at the end of the one-month period Albania must report to the aforementioned Committee the balance of this operation, as well as the countries from which it will import electricity. As has been reported, Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi wrote on Wednesday to the Special Committee of the United Nations Security Council in New York and to the office of the General Coordinator for Sanctions in Brussels, requesting that Albania be allowed to receive electricity through the territory of Serbia and Montenegro, which remains under the UN embargo regime. (ATSH)

DP leader Selami meets with members of Section 46 SOKOL BALLA Yesterday, DP chairman Selami held a conversation with members of the DP’s 46th section in Tirana,

of electric power throughout the year The European Commission has allocated an aid package of 450,000 ECU for Albania, diplomatic sources at the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed ATSH. The package for Albania is one of seven new humanitarian aid packages approved by the European Commission through its humanitarian office. The amount allocated to our country will be used as follows: one part, mainly to provide medical equipment and basic medicines for the Peshkopi hospital, and the other part for sanitary laboratory equipment to prevent epidemic diseases in the country, chiefly cholera. (ATSH)

Meeting of the Student Youth Union with university rectors and deans At the request of the Student Youth Union, a meeting was held on Wednesday in one of the premises of the University of Tirana campus, attended by representatives of the Student Youth Union and university rectors and deans. The meeting addressed several concerns of the students, and the Student Youth Union requested an increase in the number of new admissions to higher education institutions. The basic principle is competitive examination, but, they added, not infrequently additional places have been granted without an examination. In this regard, there has been speculation involving former political persecuted persons, who are entitled to benefits under the law. For their part, the rectors and and campus, a meeting was held, students regarding the conduct of teaching at these universities and other problems affecting it. The students’ union raised issues such as the need for academic staff to observe discipline at work and to be placed under stricter work requirements, and for rectors and deans to raise their expectations of lecturers regarding both the quality of lectures and the seriousness with which the teaching process is conducted. A troubling problem that makes it harder for students to acquire knowledge and develop a serious sense of scientific responsibility is the lack of textbooks and their unaffordable price for students. They asked rectors and the government to make efforts to address this. The meeting also raised concerns about heating, water, electricity, the lack of windowpanes, and unsuitable premises; all of these factors negatively affect students’ ability to master the curricula. The Union also raised the issue entitled to benefits under the law. The rectors and the representative of the Ministry of Education took note of the requests, which were considered justified. However, their implementation did not depend on them alone, but mainly on the government and the Ministry of Education, which allocate the budget and funds. Issues such as textbooks and their prices depend on this, as do windowpanes, heating, etc. In a conversation on this issue, the Director of Higher Education, Dr. Ilia Prifti, explained that we have insufficient funds to meet this request, because two-thirds of the Ministry of Education’s budget goes to salaries and scholarships, and only one-third to other items, including the subsidy that covers the difference between the cost and the price of books, which is 3%. As can be seen, it is up to the government to give the Student Youth Union’s requests due consideration and provide the most optimal solution possible within its financial means.

SOKOL BALLA Yesterday, PD chairman Selami held a discussion with members of Tirana’s 46th PD section, exchanging views and gathering ideas about the political situation in the country, the grassroots’ opinion of the changes made and those to come, and learning about the concerns of Tirana residents and the work of the party’s grassroots structures. The meeting of this section, one of the most prominent in Tirana, was opened by its chairman, Fanuk Çami. At the beginning of his speech, the PD leader stressed that the things that had been done badly or not done well must be identified, and that changes in the government and state structures must reflect the need to solve the problems that the PD promised the people it would solve. Many of the people we appointed and delegated to local government, Selami continued, turned their backs on the Democratic Party and its program, thereby restricting the scope for fulfilling its promises. The PD must have and strengthen its own structures, as must the parties, but it is the party in power. Our delegates in government must demonstrate this and not turn their backs on people’s hardships. As a government, Selami continued, we are indebted to Tirana. The capital’s technical problems, such as water, electricity, accelerating privatization, etc., must be solved, while taking proper account of the new situation and the appropriate links. Although, as the PD, we sharply criticized the government, we gave it a unanimous vote of confidence. But in addition to the government’s mistakes, we also have our own mistakes as a party, Selami said, which were reflected in the referendum: a lack of organization, the blocking of section activities, and the severing of links between the center and the grassroots. On corruption, Selami said that the situation in which a public-opinion climate of suspicion is spreading must come to an end, and that the genuinely corrupt must finally be distinguished and punished. The Democrats of Section 46 then spoke and put questions to their leader. Because of a lack of organization and ideas for their work, section meetings have sometimes turned into petty-interest disputes. Avenir Kika, a member of the Tirana branch executive, proposed organizing the sections according to the model of the party’s central structure. The problem of the higher-level bodies’ detachment from the people was raised. As an example, it was noted that their MP, after receiving their votes in March ’92, had not held another meeting with them. Participants raised the problems of price speculation and bribes paid to judges or doctors. Holding offenders accountable is not dictatorship. Once again, as at the meetings in Korçë, Berat, and Durrës, the failure of joint enterprises to function was raised as a serious concern. This time the “victim” was the shoe factory in Tirana. The alarm over energy had grown, along with its dangerous consequences, although the situation had reportedly begun to stabilize. Selami intervened, saying that the Tirana branch’s opinion on the municipality would be sought once again; according to him, obvious mistakes had been made there and bad aspects of government had emerged, such as corruption, incompetence, and nepotism. Rezar Rusi raised the problem of the non-functioning of sections organized at the grassroots according to profession, such as those for doctors, culture, engineers, etc.; besides their weakness, they had created a parallel barrier that hindered the work of sections organized by geographical area. Mishel Jani, a teacher, said that excessive tolerance toward bad elements had enabled them to sabotage education reform. Merita Tomorri said the PD must vigorously intensify its work to fulfill the promises made for Tirana and beyond: water, electricity, and cleaning the territory. In his remarks, Ilir Aliaj asked whether the State Audit would extend its oversight all the way to the Prime Minister’s Office. At the conclusion of the meeting, Selami stressed the importance of putting the PD’s work in order, right down to the sections. We must do our utmost, he said, so that in 1996 there will be no turning back.

At the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, we learn that intensive work is under way to bring all the electricity-generation capacity available in our country to full efficiency. Meanwhile, Albert Laska at KESH tells us that, in addition to the hydroelectric power plants, which are operating at very minimal capacity, the thermal power plants in Fier, Ballsh, and Korçë are operating at full capacity, producing, respectively, 100 thousand kW/hour in Fier, 9 thousand kW/hour in Ballsh, and 1 thousand kW/hour in Korçë. Speaking about KESH’s work to stabilize the situation, Mr. Laska also expressed optimism about the opportunities that imports offer for stabilizing it. He said that just yesterday 100 thousand kW of electricity had been imported from Greece, and that imports from other countries are also expected.

Yesterday we visited 22 bread-selling outlets in the capital, and at all of them we got the same answer: “The bread supply has finally stabilized.” At all bread-selling outlets in Tirana, a regular rhythm of bread deliveries has been established, according to the demands of the shopkeepers themselves, officials at the Trade Section of Tirana Municipality told us. At none of the outlets we visited did we find people in line; in fact, some shopkeepers complained that they did not know what to do with the bread left over from the previous day’s delivery. So the bread market has now stabilized.

“We want to emerge as a new party that seeks to bring a new political morality into Albanian political life” Conversation with Mr. Teodor Laço, former deputy chairman of the PSD and one of the initiators of the Reformed Social Democratic Party DUKA GJIN HATA The widening rift within the PSD, which, despite Gjinushi and his followers’ efforts, could not be concealed or resolved, led a group of intellectuals in the old party’s leadership, including Laço and Sllarova, to take the initiative in forming the Reformed Social Democratic Party, after experiences of political puppetry and of leadership under the communist leadership. As is known, the conclave that announced the split following the referendum brought together PSD members and intellectuals from various branches of the party. “Laço’s discontent began earlier,” when the leadership of this party, for the sake of political and electoral circumstances—or perhaps for other, higher aims—abandoned the anti-communist platform to which well-known intellectuals had been committed. Laço felt excluded from the party, where for more than three years he had contributed to Albanian social democracy; despite the speculations made and continued in its name by the nostalgic members, there remains a political segment that must be brought together in a genuinely pro-European center-left, a center-left that the Reformed Social Democratic Party seeks to represent. QUESTION—Mr. Laço, what can you tell us about the confirmation a few days ago, and the media reports, about the formation of the Reformed SDSH Party? ANSWER—At first, the idea that we could create a new social-democratic party arose when we saw that the space within the PSD was continually closing. Since the PSD was not a party that allowed room for diversity of opinion and debate, it was becoming increasingly closed. Let me give just one example: if you heard Gjinushi’s statement yesterday, he said that there are a couple of people who have left the party and want to create a “We want to emerge as a new party that seeks to bring a new political morality into Albanian political life” (Continued on page 2)

Tirana — Current affairs —Statement by the Mayor, Mr. Sali Kelmendi— Tirana — Current affairs Public services in the Municipality’s focus —Statement by the Mayor, Mr. Sali Kelmendi— A series of measures to normalize the situation that has arisen. Faced with the lack of electricity, Tirana Municipality took a series of measures to normalize the situation as quickly as possible. The first priority among the Municipality’s measures was to improve the capital’s bread supply. It should be said that for some time we, as the Municipality, have considered maintaining a technological reserve, which is cared for and managed differently from the private sector. The private sector, too, has now expanded considerably and has significant bread-production capacity. In this situation, the state sector has also provided the main support. Thus, we brought the five state bakeries we have up to full capacity. At Factory No. 1, the number of employees, which was 150 a year ago, is now around 450–500. Its activities have expanded and, as a result, the machinery and secondary equipment have been made ready and adapted to current needs. Factory No. 7, the electric bakery in the Student City, also operated at full capacity. These measures helped ease the bread-supply situation in the initial period and balanced the relationship between private and state production. Today in Tirana we have several types of bakeries: wood-fired, oil-fired, and electric ones with capacities as low as 7–8 kWh, as well as powerful bakeries of 60–70 kWh, of which there are 25 in all. In planning the construction of private bakeries in the capital, we have also considered having them operate using alternative fuels. This has been a factor that helped us alleviate the situation in recent days. The wood-fired bakeries operated, as did those using oil, which required only 7–8 kW of electricity; the problem was with the 25 electric bakeries, out of the 100 private bakeries in the capital. That was the first step. The day before yesterday and yesterday bread was distributed, but it should… (Continued on page 2)

While respecting our 50 fellow members of parliament who signed the pledges for the release of Fatos Nano, the Parliamentary Group of the Albanian Democratic Party is of the opinion that the pledge serves neither the independence of the justice authorities nor the fight against corruption. We support intensifying the fight against corruption and opposing every precedent that does not serve the fight against corruption but would instead legalize it. The PDSH Parliamentary Group is against any kind of pressure on the justice authorities. Tirana, 23.12.1994

On the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of Albania Pursuant to Article 28, point 19, of Law 7491, dated 29.4.1991, “On the main constitutional provisions,” and Article 44 of Law 7559, dated 22.4.1992, “On the Bank of Albania,” upon the proposal of the Governing Council of the Bank of Albania, I decree: ARTICLE 1 Mr. Kristaq Luniku is appointed Governor of the Bank of Albania. ARTICLE 2 This decree enters into force immediately. Tirana, 23.12.1994 Decree No. 996 President of the Republic Sali Berisha