Yesterday, the PS leadership appeared before the public with a statement full of slander and deception, accusations and threats, which ended with an open call for civil war. . The leadership of the PS appeared before the public yesterday with a statement full of slander and deception, accusations and threats, a statement that ended with an open call for civil war. Those who keep freedom of speech alive with blood now speak of an attack by the government on the free press, merely because a group of people who, in the country’s most difficult moments, stole as much as they could are being brought before justice. The PS leadership “protests” that pressure is being put on them. G. Ruçi “complains” about the tension in the situation. No, gentlemen, it is Albanians who should protest that justice is being delayed. The families of those who were killed and burned alive during the years when the state was governed by you should protest. Those who were forced to cling to ships’ ropes to escape the communist hell should protest. All Albanians should protest over what was stolen from them, over the aid that disappeared. Albanians should protest because the perpetrators of these crimes continue to walk free and seriously threaten democracy—the democracy of the Albanian people. The statement by the head of the PS comes to the defense of those who, when Albanians were suffering even for their daily bread, used hundreds of thousands of stolen dollars for trips abroad and dirty dealings. This is not the first time the PS leadership has defended corruption; by now, it is their political line. But these shameless people even dare to accuse justice and the government because they are fighting corruption. Facing a deep crisis within themselves over fundamental problems concerning the PS program, and incapable of offering Albanians any alternative other than the gang of thieves and Marxist remnants, the PS leaders have decided to lead Albanians once again toward fratricide. As worthy sons of E. Hoxha, they use every means to achieve this goal. History has shown that they know no other way to seize and hold power than violence. The 50 years of Hoxha’s regime showed this, as did the elections of March ’91. The statement makes an ugly allegation about threats and oaths by the President that he will increase violence against the PS. This low-down lie, which nobody can believe, is made for one purpose only: to stir up artificial tensions among Albanians. It is no coincidence that, at the end, there is an open call to war addressed to those whom the PS leaders call their electorate. If Ruçi and his associates think they can regain power by rousing the unrepentant nostalgics or the patriotic security-service criminals, they should think carefully, because this people has already endured a great deal. The PD is a party with clear democratic visions; Democrats will under no circumstances allow the criminals of the dictatorship to dare to drag democracy back toward violence. “Every democratic state must respond in accordance with democratic law to those who seek to destroy it, and you can be sure, gentlemen of the PS, that Albanians who suffered under your criminal regime will know how to protect the democracy they won through pain.”

It is announced that the meeting of the National Council of the PDSH will take place on Tuesday, 23 May 1995, at 11:00, at the Palace of Congresses, Tirana. It is announced that a meeting of the National Council of the PDSH will be held on Tuesday, 23 May 1995, at 11:00, at the Palace of Congresses, Tirana. The main agenda items will be: 1. Organizational issues in the election campaign of the PD and its structures! 2. Issues concerning the improvement of propaganda work in the PDSH.

Korça is aware of the role of the Albanian intelligentsia The social pact proposed by the socialist leadership is a farce and a deception Present were Prime Minister Meksi, the PD Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Shehu, ministers Cikuli and Brojka, members of parliament, etc. The PD gathering in Korçë — Korça is aware of the role of the Albanian intelligentsia — The social pact proposed by the socialist leadership is a farce and a deception — Present were Prime Minister Meksi, the PD Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Shehu, ministers Cikuli and Brojka, members of parliament, etc. Yesterday, at 17:00, the PD branch gathering for the Korçë district held its session in the “A.Z.Cajupi” cinema hall in the city of Korçë. Also taking part in the gathering were Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi, PDSH Secretary-General Tritan Shehu, Health Minister Maksim Cikuli, Industry Minister Brojka, members of parliament Genc Ruli, Bari Bregu and Petrika Minga, as well as Korçë Prefect Perin Kiri and Mayor Gjergji Gjinko. The opening address was delivered by Mr. Isuf Salicaj, chairman of the PD branch in Korçë, who gave a brief overview of the work of this branch. Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi then took the floor. After expressing his pleasure at taking part in the gathering of the PD branch in Korçë, a city with cultural and patriotic traditions, he praised the role of the people of Korçë in the democratic processes for Albania’s development. “I want to say,” the Prime Minister emphasized, “that the Korçë district has ... for the democratic government, which, as is known, has had above all a meager budget and, naturally, no shortage of problems. I believe this is thanks more to the city itself, its citizens and the Democrats of Korçë than to any merit of ours. We have always listened to the requests voiced to us by your officials and party leaders, and have tried to resolve them as well and as promptly as possible. Three and a half years have passed since the victory of 22 March,” the Prime Minister went on, “which brought the fall of communism and opened the way to democracy and union with Europe. Great changes have taken place during this time, but one thing has clearly been done less: publicizing these achievements, and this is not the fault of all of us. There is now a risk that many things that until yesterday were constants of the communist regime, everyday phenomena, may have been forgotten. I think an important duty now falls, first and foremost, on party leaders at the center and in ... to publicize the ideas of democracy and the implementation of the Democratic Party’s program, because the government program is the PD’s own electoral program. I would say that the greatest achievement is precisely the country’s democratic transformation. Everyone knows what measures were taken in the government’s first months, such as abolishing the 80 percent, hidden unemployment, which were eating away catastrophically at the Albanian economy and its revenues, creating an extraordinary budget deficit. It was the liberalization of prices that, on the one hand, paved the way for strengthening agriculture in Albania, because Albanian farmers could now produce at prices they considered reasonable, that is, move closer to foreign-market prices more quickly than we reasonably wanted. And it was precisely agriculture that, over these three years, recorded the highest growth rates, with increases of 15, 11 and 8 percent from one year to the next—certainly no small achievement. We have ...” The source repeats and contains garbled passages; the translation preserves the available text and its ellipses.

On the “Alia-Nano-Dokle-Ruçi-Benc” scandal You can’t cover up the scandal with fig leaves DUKAGJIN HATA The scandal involving 400 thousand dollars is clouding the judgment of the PS Presidium and the ZP Presidium. They have sounded the alarm. In an act that has taken hold of them in every cell, they are trying to make a noise and politicize a large-scale ordinary theft involving all those who thought the sea had turned to yogurt and grabbed the spoons left in their hands by Ramiz Alia. The PS Presidium congratulates ZP on its “honest and manly fight against corruption.” So the PS Presidium congratulates Xhixha, Gellçi and the others who have grown fat on the printing house’s dollars. The PS Presidium has decided to reinforce ZP with a dozen members of parliament, because journalists no longer want to write for a newspaper run by Xhixha and Dokle, who have given it the foul stench of corruption. But what are the poor MPs supposed to do first? Take part in parliament, or obey Thoma Gellçi’s orders to support them in defending the wretch? In any case, ZP is expected to become even more interesting. Director Agolli will continue the story of Zylo, from which he will earn hefty royalties; Xhevat Lloshi will publish translations about the English Labour Party. Baçi will return to the tufts and the “arezave,” Mojkom Zeqo will sell the Bukaresa and Dores for the ... terrain, and Halil Lalaj will handle the press review at one o’clock at night. All the work of Pellumbi, Dokle, the soldiers and the MPs will be devoted to ZP. From now on, it is their purpose and fig leaf, to cover the latest scandal, left behind as a legacy by Ramiz Alia together with some Marxist thugs from Canada. The PS Presidium wants to turn the thieves of the 400-thousand-dollar affair into heroes, but the era of phantom heroes is over. Let the “heroes” account for the dollars they turned into oil, flour, tractors and villas. Let them explain why they send Bogdane to Toronto and why they fear justice. Then they can hang around their necks the medals Pellumbi awards them. The honest membership of the PS can see that a gang of thieves pretending to defend the interests of the underprivileged has sunk into a mire from which it will not be able to emerge. The hand of justice will tell the mafiosi to stop, who ...

After a television debate: Gjynushi terrorized by Agap Gjynushi, in yesterday’s TV debate, began his speech terrified of Agap Prosi. RD has “stripped bare” Agap Prosi, alias Gjynushi, before its readers. The Gjynushi–Agap links are well known. The saying “better a terrible end than a terror without end” has been proven true. That is all as far as Gjynushi’s view of the “game” of the files is concerned. Yesterday, continuing his positions (he is the second to call for early elections, after Pellumbi), Gjynushi declared that “parliament does not resolve certain issues, so it has exhausted itself; consequently, the sooner there are new elections, the better.” The same refrain, the same phrase, a different clown serving the former system. And immediately after this, Gjynushi intervenes, “concerned” about the Constitution, proposing that it be approved by Parliament! He has no respect for this Parliament and sees a new Parliament as the solution, yet he wants the Constitution approved by this Parliament?! Either Parliament is capable, and Gjynushi is needlessly attacking it, or it is not—and the demand to bring the Constitution before Parliament serves the former purpose, that is, creating a parliamentary crisis. Yesterday the social-communist Gjynushi was thoroughly exposed. Yesterday, Gjynushi, Vukaj and Dokle did not acknowledge the truths concerning the Constitution. They did not acknowledge that “constitutional laws do not allow a constitutional and legislative vacuum; they fully guarantee a parliamentary system, the separation of powers, human freedoms and rights, and the independence of the courts.” The paragraph above is a quotation from reports by the EC commissions. They did not explain why PS and PAD deputies voted against the major document, the Law on Freedoms and Human Rights; they did not explain why they abandoned Parliament for four months when the draft Constitution was presented in June ’93; they did not explain why they called the President’s proposal for a Constituent Assembly a constitutional coup; they did not explain why they fear the people or why they do not want a referendum; they did not explain who ordered them to withdraw their consensus on the new constitutional commission, or why they chose an unconstitutional path, contrary to Article 44 of the Constitutional Provisions, to draft proposals based on Marxism. Yesterday Gjynushi, Dokle and Vukaj explained nothing; they merely repeated the outdated slogan of early elections, once again showing that their only interests are the seats they have lost. who, after expressing his pleasure at taking part in the meeting of the branch of Rrezik, [said] that many things which until yesterday had been constants of the communist regime were being changed every day, and some of them might be forgotten. I think an important duty falls first and foremost on the party leaders at the center and in the districts, and on all Democrats, to work harder for this Partyament which sees the new Parliament as the solution, and asks for the Constitution to be is needlessly attacking it, or it is not, and are the seats they have lost. Dokle winks at Gjynushi Not even the somewhat less perceptive TV viewers missed the scene when Dokle winked at Gjynushi after his speech. There are two versions of this café-worthy gesture: a) The speech by the chairman of the PDSH parliamentary group, Mr. Ali Spahia, was frequently interrupted by Gjynushi, who asked the program’s host to cut Dokle off. Gjynushi was asking for time for Dokle. In this version, Dokle expressed his gratitude with a clownish gesture. b) The wink may also have been a signal that the debate plan discussed before the program by Dokle, Gjynushi and Vukaj was being carried out. The [unclear] had seen Agap enter the PS headquarters two hours before the program. Yesterday Dokle astonished television viewers with his profound knowledge of French. Until yesterday, Dokle was known for his level of Spanish (learned at meetings of the Marxist-Leninist groups, at the expense of solidarity funds). Although no one managed to make sense of what Dokle wrote and what he “translated,” what mattered was that he read a paragraph in French. Well done; let him take up English too, since he needs it for conversations with Kananana. As for his reference to the Venice Commission, Dokle forgot to mention something. In April ’93, the Charter of Freedoms and Human Rights was drafted in cooperation with the Venice Commission. Dokle and his comrades in PS and PAD voted against it. In other words, they also voted against the Venice Commission. Dokle asked the State Audit to investigate corruption, but forgot that... he is accused of being one of the principal people responsible for the misuse of 400 thousand dollars. A. ORHANASI

According to inside sources at ZP, the current staff of journalists has not welcomed the arrival of the deputies. This puts them in an inferior position, which they have not accepted—especially one of the deputy editors-in-chief. Editor-in-chief Gelçi has also expressed no enthusiasm for this performance. It seems he has taken the view that the deputies’ arrival at the newspaper is connected with Gelçi’s forced departure. Meanwhile, informed sources at “ZP” report that one of the deputies did not respond to the newspaper executives’ request to write a feature about the remote area of Fani. He said, “I’ll repeat the feature I wrote 20 years ago.” It is learned that Comrades Sofokli Lazi, Pipi Mitrojori, Hamdi Sallaku, etc., have also expressed their willingness to work voluntarily at the “ZP” newspaper. Given the situation it is in, assistance from journalist Dokle has not been considered advisable. It is said that these days, the old guards Lazri and Mitrojorogi will publish letters and memoirs in the pages of “ZP,” along with Ramiz Alia, advice on foreign policy, and instructions on self-financed economic activity.

From 11 to 14 May, Albanian officials for NATO information and communications, in cooperation with Human System Europe, organized a seminar in Budapest with representatives of non-governmental organizations from Central and Eastern European countries that have joined the Partnership for Peace. Albania was represented by Mehmet Elezi, director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies, and Filip Rrumbullaku, coordinator of the Albanian Atlantic Association. During this seminar, whose main subject was the organization and management of conferences, participants discussed such issues as planning, methods, logistical support for activities organized by various research centers and Atlantic associations, their role in public opinion, etc. There were detailed discussions, especially on several important matters, such as financial difficulties and ways of finding sponsors, influence through the media and the role of public relations, and the exchange of information among non-governmental organizations in Central and Eastern European countries, etc. The participants from Albania also met their colleagues and NATO Press and Information officials: S. Gerard Scheer, Christine Medycky, Nicholas S. Fiorenza, and the international-experience advisers on organization and management, Bob-Amdih Ward and Zsolt Dombovari. RD CORRESPONDENT

Why the socialist leadership does not want calm Ruçi’s propaganda trap Meeting of the anti-communist associations of the Korçë, Shkoder and Fier districts

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