They admit it themselves

Agap Prosit is being asked for motherhood! The number of thieves in ZP is growing The Knights of Continuity

Message from the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, addressed to all Orthodox believers on the occasion of Easter . Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, To Orthodox believers wherever they may be, in Albania or abroad, I extend from my heart tonight my wishes for “Happy Easter, and many happy returns.” Easter Day is the day of great hope, of unwavering faith in God. With its message, this day invites all people to love and respect one another more. It calls for peace, harmony and brotherhood among people. Today, all Albanians, regardless of their faith, will celebrate and rejoice in this day together with their Orthodox brothers and sisters. Likewise, tonight, all together, we will honor before the nation and God the illustrious deeds of the Orthodox Albanian clergymen who laid down their lives and shed their blood as the foundations of the Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and who were sacrificed by a veritable inquisition in order to be sanctified and become our national treasures. The entire Albanian nation and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church tonight honor the Great Noli, who founded this church and transformed it into an eternal sanctuary of harmony, understanding, tolerance and brotherhood with other faiths, and into a true hearth of Albanian identity. I believe that the Albanian Autocephalous Church will fulfill this high mission to the very end. Once again, I take this opportunity to wish you with all my heart: HAPPY EASTER, AND MANY HAPPY RETURNS! GLORY TO GOD! May this be a feast of peace and love among people.” “RD”

Report by our correspondent, Petraq Kita Korçë is a city which, even during the darkest years of the communist dictatorship—the years when churches and mosques, all the holy places of worship, were destroyed and burned, and when thousands of respected clerics were massacred, imprisoned and interned—continued to respect religion. Its Albanian inhabitants celebrated religious rites and planted a flower where a church had been removed, beneath the cross, praying to God for a better life... Today everyone enjoys the freedom to believe in the religion they choose. Today we have put fear behind us. The church keeps its doors open at all times. So does the mosque. So does every holy place of worship. If Enver Hoxha destroyed two of Korçë’s most beautiful places of worship, the Church of Saint George and especially the Holy Metropolis, it is today’s democracy that gives this city, with its ancient patriotic traditions, the right to build in its heart, beside the statue of the National Warrior, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the Balkans: the New Cathedral, the Resurrection, whose construction is progressing rapidly. (Continued on page 2)

Commenting on the roughly one-page article published yesterday in the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit,” which seeks to call into question the statement by the President of the Republic at the meeting of the Tirana Democratic Women’s League, that investment in Albania over the last three years amounted to around 2 billion dollars, or was greater than investment over the last 20 years or the last four five-year periods taken together, the President’s Spokesperson stated that this article constitutes the usual distortion and ill will characteristic of this newspaper. To refute the President’s statement, the article’s authors refer to the material distributed by the President of the Republic on 22 March at his meeting with journalists, which stated that foreign investment amounted to 518 million dollars. To equate the category “foreign investment” with “investment overall” means, either through ignorance or deliberately, to equate a part with the whole. This distortion and equation cannot be due to ignorance, the Spokesperson for the President of the Republic stressed, since the material distributed to journalists emphasizes that it does not include the vast majority of investments made in Albania—specifically, investment in the small private sector, which is also the dominant sector in the economy, and in villas in Albanian cities. Some 2,400 such villas have been built in Shkodër and Tirana alone. 3. Investments in the construction of 7,600 new apartments and a further 4,000 currently under construction, not counting those built by private firms and enterprises for their own account. 4. Investments in the purchase and installation of 1.6 million household appliances: televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, sewing machines, electric stoves and ovens, heaters, radio-cassette players, satellite dishes, which together amount to three times more household appliances than were installed in Albanian homes during the 47 years of socialism. 5. Investments in thousands of apartments to improve sanitary and hygienic conditions. 6. Investments made over these three years to purchase 127,000 private vehicles—cars, trucks, buses, tractors and combine harvesters—which have filled Albania’s roads and fields. 7. Investments in the construction of 670 new bakeries throughout Albania, which now produce all kinds of bread, as well as investments in the restructuring of 620 existing bakeries. 8. Investments in the construction of 52 soft-drink production lines of all kinds. Today, in Tirana alone, around 7,300 kiosks and other private businesses are operating, including 250 medium-sized, small and large restaurants, as well as 11 hotels, some of which are three-star establishments. The Spokesperson for the President of the Republic informs the public that the figure of 2 billion in investments does not include private investments made by Albanian and foreign citizens in the building-materials industry and construction firms, of which there are 2,300 in Albania. This figure also excludes the considerable investments made in establishing hundreds of fuel distribution outlets, vehicle services, wood-processing lines and rural greenhouses, as well as several other diverse categories. The President’s Spokesperson concludes that the figures and facts clearly and conclusively prove that the total value of investment in Albania over these three years exceeds 2 billion dollars. This fact is also demonstrated by the transformed reality of Albania, which is the result of the work, energy, talent, effort and sweat of Albanian citizens and their free initiative; the result of the profound political, economic and legislative reforms implemented in Albania over these three years; and the result of generous assistance and great international solidarity.

SH.CANI, SP deputy: “Those who were involved in this matter can best testify to what the full truth was. It is hard to believe that ‘ZP’ itself would not have wanted to transfer this money. It is hard to see this as anything but a paradox. The only thing left is that these were not made out to a company but to an individual, or who knows, to be used for the personal needs of x or y...” EDI PALOKA The scandal over the disappearance of 400 thousand dollars returns to a somewhat “forgotten” point: the 150 thousand dollars sent to Canada with Dokle’s signature and the contract “with a Dukle” with the Canadians. Shk... Shkelqimi Cani says there is a contract (I “haven’t seen any contract,” Cani says), which would have penalty clauses for failure to fulfill it on time. But so far the only truth is that the contract has remained a mere shadow, while Dokle’s signature for sending 150 thousand dollars to Canada is real. Caught between... “It would be paradoxical if ‘ZP’ itself had not wanted to transfer this money.” That is true, but who stopped “ZP” from transferring it? Today, it is only that the orders came from the SP leadership, for it to be used first for other purposes, as Cani also says, “for the personal needs of x or y.” Who are...

dollars sent to Canada with Dokle’s signature and the phantom contract. It is Shkelqim Cani, an SP deputy, who in an interview with “KJ” almost knocks his parliamentary group leader out. Commenting on Dokle’s words in the televised debate that they, the Namiks, are ready to bring the printing press now, Cani says: “I’m glad that Namiku says he will carry it out. But I’m afraid of Namiku’s desire... From what I know of the relationships between business partners, it’s hard...” Cani also touches on another point that has remained completely unexplained until now: the phantom contract that Dokle mentions but does not present anywhere. In short, Cani says what “RD” also mentioned when the scandal broke: if there is a contract (I “haven’t seen one anywhere,” Cani says), it statements, open contradictions and the facts that have emerged so far about why the printing press did not arrive, Cani, as a specialist, is compelled to reach the logical conclusion that this is an accusation against Dokle and also against the SP leadership: believe that ‘ZP’ itself would not have wanted to take out this money, if it were a paradox. The only thing is that these were not made out the personal needs of x or y...” Cani could not have expressed himself more clearly. “ZP” from transferring it? It is now established that the orders came from the SP leadership for the money to be used needs of x or y.” You can find out who x and y are in yesterday’s issue of “RD.” Cani does not mention the name of Hardial Benc, former chairman of the Communist Party of Canada, but the allusion is clear when he says that the money may not have gone to a company “but to an individual.” In this sense, at Fondera. Ali, convinced that even a few days later he would no longer be able to act with the millions of the Fund, as had been the case until then, was pushed the day before yesterday onto an intermediary route to settle an obligation with Benc? Could this have been Dokle’s mission in Canada? The justice system must solve this “mystery” too.

SAMI MILLOSHI 1—The philosophy of lack of substance The truth is, Mr. Jupja is the most complete in defending and creatively developing the philosophy of the SP. (That is, if it can be called a philosophy.) Jupja develops the philosophy of the SP’s lack of foundations. He imagines a letter called PP. Everything is dead, Jupja declares, “There is life here. It is the SP.” Jupja is elected to the leadership for his cheering. 2—The philosophy of the open-eyed electoral dream Jupja is perhaps the journalist who has repeated the question “What do you think about early elections?” more than anyone else. For three years in a row at the Presidency, he reportedly asked the same question in different formulations. The dream that Servet Pellumbi saw on March 23, 1992, was a revelation. Jupja’s dream alludes to it too. Open-eyed dreams. 3—The philosophy of domains, or Enver is dead... Jupja plainly does not offer any new idea. He repeats the philosophical delusions of his own leadership when they say during their travels, “The SP is not the party of Jugal, but of the entire people.” No one is concerned with the geography of the SP; Jupja engages in tautology according to the mentality of Enverist domains and totalogic popularity. Jupja forgets that he is pointlessly pouring gasoline on a fire that democracy has put out. Jupja forgets that his gasoline can is decorated with the cynical smile of anti-Albanian people who implement the dark treaties of Çubrilloviç and his associates. Enver is dead. There are no domains. There is Albania, Mr. Jupe. 4—The philosophy of not knowing oneself Jupja certainly knows Socrates’ saying: “Know thyself.” But he is indifferent to it. Jupja sees other “thieves,” but forgets to say why his newspaper is printed using 1920s technology, as his leader Dokle explained on TV. 5—The philosophy of the crisis of distrust Do you remember? “ZP” called the government that emerged from the March 22 elections the Political Bureau. Jupja and his associates issued the call for distrust. Do you remember how happy ZP was when they once spread the lie that the European Community would not grant financial aid to Albania? Jupja and his associates ordered it to keep the crisis of distrust alive. Now Jupa is attacking securities, to continue the psychological terror and destroy confidence. But Jupa’s means are voices in the wilderness. The plate of shrill voices has been filled. Jupa’s plate is full too. But he does not believe. Because they are ordered not to believe. 6—The philosophy of penal policy Jupja surely knows that nowadays no one is put in prison for saying an ugly word, as people were imprisoned in the Enverist era. He also knows that courts are not examined by the Political Bureau. But Jupja seems to forget that not everyone is equal before the law. According to Jupja’s mentality, if an SP leader is accused, say, of theft, he must be treated “carefully” because he is a leader. Jupja thinks that since the SP is the successor to the PP, the “penal policy” of acquittal should continue too—the policy that in Enver’s time favored the caste around him. Enver is dead! His speeches and instructions are no more. There are laws, Mr. Jupe. Whoever does not obey them... And the jail is still there. 7—The philosophy of sophisms Jupja has perhaps aroused some jealousy in Pellumbi, whose sophisms suit him because he comes from the battles of the revolutionary struggle. Jupja is underestimating the members of his leadership, some of whom have even admitted that “we were an opposition without proposing alternatives.” “people.”

- The President of the Republic is not lying. It is your desire, gentlemen, to deny everything - The more than 2 billion dollars invested over these three years are real, not a dream - To declare that investment in small businesses is negligible is to deny that more than 120,000 cars, more than 10,000 villas and modern houses built, and tens of thousands of shops, bars, kiosks and warehouses belong to Albanians - Don’t you want their mass expropriation, gentlemen!? The term investment in the economy means cash and capital in the form of buildings, machinery, transport vehicles and other forms, which enter a country when they were not there before. If someone builds a kiosk, a warehouse or a villa, these are considered investments, money and capital introduced into the country, because they were not there previously. Kiosks and warehouses facilitate the circulation of money in the market; villas help businesspeople and other citizens in their economic or social activities. If more than 100 cars and vans cross Albanian customs every day, this influx is considered investment, because new or used vehicles arriving in the country will help Albanian businesspeople and other citizens in their activities. Any asset that operates without being entirely consumed within a production or service cycle, over one year, and that was not previously in a country, is considered an investment in that country. This is a general and well-known law of economics. Capital that produces, provides services, or supports production and services in a country is considered investment. As such, it is multifaceted and comes from many different sources: from the money of our emigrants; from foreign loans or non-repayable aid; from money in the state budget, collected through taxes (in part); from capital that comes not as money but from our economic emigrants abroad—cars, vans, work vehicles, etc.—as well as from construction in the country, and so on. Our country has a future precisely because a radical transformation has taken place over the past three years: private investment, from the money and capital of our own or foreign businesspeople, has taken first place among investments in Albania. And private capital continually “begets” money, with ever greater intensity. (Continued on page 2) of the Republic, since the material distributed to journalists emphasizes that the vast majority of investments made in Albania are not included there, specifically the investments sector in the Albanian economy. Thus, the investments cited by the newspaper “Zeri i Popullit” represent less than a third of the investments made in Albania, the spokesperson continues. The following were not included in that investment figure: 1. Investments made over the past 3 years in the construction of more than 20 thousand homes, villas, clubs, restaurants, cafés and shops by builders in the Albanian countryside. 2. Investments made in the construction of around 10 thousand homes... 3. Investments made today produce bread of all kinds, as well as investments made to restructure 620 existing bakeries. 8. Investments made kinds. 9. Investments made to establish and equip 205 dairies, 200 sausage-production lines, 4 large flour-production facilities, and 25 enterprises and production lines for soap, oil, pasta, sauce and other products. 10. Investments made in the construction and equipping of hundreds and thousands of kiosks, shops, clubs, cafés, restaurants, hotels and motels throughout Albanian cities. The talent, effort and hard work over these three years, as well as of generous assistance and great international solidarity. As for the vocabulary used today by the newspaper “Zeri i Popullit,” according to the President’s spokesperson, this is simply their daily investment in the fields of disappointment, disinformation and nihilism. It belongs to the fund known in journalism as the fund of political thuggery, from which we hope the Albanian press, regardless of party affiliation, will free itself as soon as possible. Tirana, April 22, 1995

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The marked feast of Easter, “Christ is risen,” gives us the pleasure of wishing Albanian Orthodox believers wherever they may be: “A happy and joyful Easter!” DEMOCRATIC PARTY