Around 3,000 miners from all over Albania will qualify for 60% of the early-retirement pension

LEKA TOTO, Member of the Presidency of the Albanian Democratic Party, MP ...Ultimately, literally, crime will be impossible to think of, because there will be no words with which to express it. The revolution will be complete when our new language is perfect. G. Orwell, 1984 I have the impression that contemporary Albanian political thought is quite confused. People, nourished and perhaps somewhat bewildered by being freer than ever before in their history, waver, stirred by narrow personal interests and unbridled ambitions that do not take positive competition in the service of the nation and the individual as their guiding principle. We must not forget Sartre’s saying: “Man is very responsible if he is very free! Evil is something he chooses.” Our press today and the speeches delivered at various gatherings must be viewed critically. One of the greatest dangers of the new times, which must be avoided, is confusing words with facts; fetishizing words prevents us from understanding reality. Words must be considered alongside the deeds and the full character of the person who utters them. In this respect, “RD,” with a leading group of distinguished minds such as Mihal Frasheri and others, functions through its most competent instruments, for the reason that, as a distinguished American sociologist says in such cases, it lacked organization. By exploiting the patriotic struggle, and the poverty and ignorance of our long-suffering people, the Communists deceived them and succeeded in taking control of that struggle, aided also by international political circumstances. Today, fifty years later, we find ourselves facing the same political forces, with no essential changes. To put it in Albanian terms, a person’s thoughts should dwell in the house where that person lives; otherwise, something is wrong there. What I have said above helps us understand that here we are not dealing with right and left in the true European sense. Fortunately, conditions today have changed in favor of genuine democratic forces. Here, the state of fundamental human rights and the market economy, with their respective institutions in practical operation, is being built. Today Albania is entering the Council of Europe, is a partner in NATO, and has Europe’s and America’s sound material and intellectual support for successfully implementing reforms during this period of transition. Today, with a realistic foreign policy, Albania is a point of reference for stability in the Balkans, which serves the national cause well. Among ourselves, we should not look at what divides us, but at what unites us, because fortunately that is what matters most. This martyred people will not forgive us if we deceive them. On the national level, the Mukje Conference revealed their true traitorous faces, and nowhere more clearly than there did the nationalist right and the Communist left emerge as two forces with different principles for structuring society, both fighting the occupier. The end of the Second World War always brings to mind the final volume of Churchill’s memoirs, “Triumph and Tragedy.” The liberation of the country was truly both a triumph and a tragedy for our people—a dreadful tragedy on a monstrous scale. We are all witnesses to what happened up to the final day of Communist rule in Albania: a long, half-century occupation. I used the word “occupation” to show my compatriots how the world remembers this ugly crime and draws lessons from it so that it will never happen again; and, at the same time, how it is repeated in every part of the history of an abandoned people. Last night, a fellow sufferer of mine told me anxiously and indignantly: “I don’t understand how people who committed crimes against this people can seek revenge, instead of being tormented by a guilty conscience and remorse.” I answered him with the words of an ancient sage: “Tirana turns crime into virtue, and the pangs of conscience and remorse cannot exist without punishment.” Then I added: There is also the other part in our own heads. In this case, to prevent the past from being repeated, what happened must be clearly and truthfully brought to light. Unfortunately, poor articles are being published today; people write about things on which they never expressed a genuine opinion or drew on their experience. Kierkegaard rightly wrote: “I have decided to read only the writings of people who have been executed or have in some way risked their lives.” I made this very brief retrospective to recall that … … must be considered alongside the full deeds and character of the person who utters them. In this regard, “RD” is doing good work by clearly and truthfully showing what was promised in the PD program and comparing it with what was actually accomplished. Nevertheless, despite all the efforts of many people who have suffered greatly at the hands of people with ill intentions, the outlines of the two major political forces have begun to emerge clearly! The right and the left. Thus, our society today seems to be polarized, but not well crystallized in the European sense of the word. The positions occupied today by Albania’s political forces are, of course, no accident of our times; they are the consequence of a long and difficult past, of a history shaped by genocide against Albanians, class warfare, and national tradition. As is well known, a people’s past merges with its present and is projected together into its future. Therefore, the duty of every citizen who respects their own mind and has the goodwill to elevate the nation and each of its members is to expand the dimension of freedom, increase prosperity, and live a more dignified life of mind and body. This can be achieved by understanding the past well, casting aside everything in it that stands in the way, and putting oneself in the place of those people who fought and were massacred, were disillusioned and implicated in crimes, and of those who suffered all these things at that fateful moment in our history. It cannot be achieved without making one’s choices freely and fairly. In this short article I cannot conduct an in-depth analysis; to be frank, I am not prepared for such a major undertaking, which requires erudition and sharp, impartial knowledge. Nevertheless, I must look back briefly at several pivotal moments in our people’s war against Nazifascism, in order to clarify the purpose of this article, which seeks to address the same problem of making choices under the more favorable circumstances our country faces today. From its creation by our Slavic friends, the PKSH began to break the unity of our people in the struggle against the occupier. The Albanian nationalists, among whom was almost the entire genuine intelligentsia of the nation, who understood well what Bolshevism tasted like and what calamity it would bring upon our people, tried to … Our society does not need the eradication of the opposition, which would mean death, but the eradication of destructive practices and the regulation of all practices according to the principles of justice and humanism. That way, people will feel that goodness is surviving. … when we remember the past, it should try to acknowledge its own mistakes as well. The victory of the united anti-communist forces in the next elections will undoubtedly enhance our country’s standing in the European family, help us resolve the national question, consolidate and improve the institutions of the rule of law, and preserve the country’s stability—the imperative of our time—by awakening people’s awareness of what is in their own best interest. goodness is surviving. Every place has its secret, from which we carry an immortal image in our soul: a bond between the soul and the body, and between the body and pain. Our survival to this day, with a tragic history like that of few other peoples, bears witness to the eternity of this sacred bond.

In the realms of Ruçi’s political thought, etc. These dreams of the Ruçibarometer really make you burst out laughing. Look at the concept the head of the PS has of an MP. Let us quote something, of course word for word, from the Ruçibarometer’s results. “...Party identification or loyalty versus rational choice: how will an Albanian voter behave when faced with the ballot box? Will the voter vote for the party they sympathize with, based on identifying that person’s character with the party, or will they make a rational choice, acting in politics as they do in everyday life, in the consumer-goods market, when they buy a product according to its degree of usefulness or economic benefit, and not simply according to its color or brand?” (ZP, 16 May 1995, page 2) Nowhere in the world can one find a socialist like this, let alone this kind of Party leadership, which equates an MP with an onion and a leek, with salami and ham, with a chamber pot and toilet paper... That is the logic of the Ruçibarometer. Unfortunately, it has also been endorsed by Professor Pellumbi, who surely must know the value of such issues. But apparently Pellumbi can do nothing about it either, as he descends to Ruçi’s and the Ruçibarometer’s level.

MENTOR SHEHU Although the PS leadership is putting on a façade of euphoria, imagining a certain “victory” in the ’96 elections, it is being eaten away inside by doubts and uncertainty about its own electorate. This is for many reasons. What leads us to believe that the electorate is seriously wavering is the trust these voters have in the PS leadership. The reason for conducting this poll inside the PS, despite its being promoted as general, is that there are several strong concerns the PS must clarify so that it can focus the sharp edge of its campaign precisely on its weak points. The reasons are: 1. Eurobarometer, with its results, apart from presenting the actual Albanian opinion regarding (Continued on page 3)

- Youth as a promoter of reform and democratic processes - FRPD activists, Elbasan. The Secretary General of the PD, Prof. Dr. Tritan Shehu, attended The meeting of the Democratic Party’s youth forum in Elbasan was held in a spirit of complete understanding between generations within the Albanian party. Whoever does not want Europe can embrace Marx. Europe’s gate does not open with different keys. This was the essence of

The public has now become acquainted with the individuals charged in the affair involving the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state budget through the Solidarity Fund, in the scandal

The meeting of the Democratic Party’s youth forum in Elbasan was held in a spirit of complete understanding within the Democratic Party. was held in a spirit of complete understanding within the Democratic Party. Various speakers stressed that it is precisely the Democratic Party that has not deviated at all from the ideals of December ’90. The Democratic Party’s program is being implemented very well. The aspiration of Albanian youth is Europe. The key to entering Europe is in the hands of all Albanians. Whoever does not want Europe may embrace Marxism. also the essence of the discussions among members of the Elbasan youth forum. Amid the enthusiasm of the young Democrats, the leader of the PD, Tritan Shehu, took the floor. Mr. Shehu then stressed that the role of the youth in carrying out the PD program is indispensable. The integration of Albanians. Whoever does not want Europe may embrace Marxism. of Albanians into Europe, Shehu continued, corresponds to your aspirations, to the dreams of Albanian youth, and to the positive achievements of the Democratic Party’s program. Mr. Tritan Shehu described the socialist leadership’s recent positions as destructive. The head of the Socialist Party, Mr. Shehu, said they are against the democratic state, against you, and also against the interests of eurosocialist youth.

Mr. Kola, the gun you mentioned to your allies from the platform at your last meeting is simply an alibi you are trying to create. But first, it is time to remind you and adventurers like you that Albanian democracy, regardless of Kurtee Kastriote, will continue for hundreds of years. Secondly, we must recall that these calls come only from the shadows of night. We respect your suffering in prison, but we cannot help expressing our deep suspicion that the orders for such calls, as well as for the former State Security resident in France, Kastriot Islami, came from the same office of crime. The fact that they opened the way for you and turned you into promoters of Albanian democracy also speaks to this, thirdly—you thought you could erase from people’s minds your August statements in support of your socialist allies. In your statement, Mr. Kola, apart from the honorable aims you have set yourself, you confirm our conviction that you are merely a chameleon, a wretched opportunist who changes with the circumstances. But the wretchedness does not lie with you, because in general everyone knows who you are, but with someone who is hidden by you. - You have been tolerant, magnanimous and democratic in spirit toward political prisoners and former political defendants…

in the year’s financial scandal. But the matter is much deeper, and it will undoubtedly bring other defendants before justice. The latest person arrested, Lutfi Dautllari, is one of the offspring of the political bureau, but others as well—his colleagues and superiors—are the real authors of the scheme that robbed the state budget of millions of dollars. Those who carried out the scheme must be treated as executors of the instructions and orders of the bosses who now lead the PS. As the scandal unfolds in its full dimensions, it will reveal to the public the socialist leadership’s corruption in its true proportions. The matter of the 400 thousand dollars for the so-called printing house is only the tip of the iceberg of socialist corruption at the head of the PS. Albanian justice is proving this.

—Albania is gradually gaining the image of a reliable and cooperative country— In London, a few days ago, the agreement in principle was signed to resolve the external debt that was hindering the development of the Albanian economy. An obstacle was removed: Albania’s external debt, completely blocked for nearly four years, ceased to be the Achilles’ heel of the Albanian economy and the country’s image. Every foreign investor would comment, in addition to the already well-known advantages of investing capital in Albania, on the weak points: the difficult situation in the Balkans, with the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and a country with a considerable external debt that had yet to be resolved. It is just like wanting to cooperate with someone who, they say, borrows money and does not … (Continued on page 3)