On Tuesday, 23.5.1995, at 11:00, a meeting of the National Council of PDSH will be held at the Palace of Congresses, Tirana. The main items on the agenda will be: 1. Organizational issues in the election campaign in PD and its structures! 2. Issues concerning the improvement of propaganda work in PDSH.

They are trying to deny their recent past as thoroughgoing nihilists and now put on the costume of pro-reformers. But Albanians do not forget that, of the 307 laws, decrees and amendments approved by the People’s Assembly, the PS, inspired by its delirious leadership, voted against 296. Now they are trying to hide this. Dokle says on TV that the PS voted against only 22 laws, contradicting Pellumbi, who says there were only 6 such cases in Durres. Hajdaraga gives a higher figure: 39. But the truth is that it was 296. SAMI MILLOSHI Now that the PS ship has sprung a leak, its helmsmen are hurrying, each trying to win the status of savior. The one in Tepelene is shouting like a “hero” for unity. Meanwhile Pellumbi, Dokle, and even Ruçi are rushing to proclaim that during these three years they have been angels of democracy and have burned with a desire for constructive action. But these late attempts to retouch themselves are far too belated. These touch-ups cannot hide the chaos they themselves have entered as leaders, nor the chaos into which they have plunged their so-called Socialist Party. Their chaos is first and foremost a chaos of identity. They themselves do not know what they represent or whom they defend. They used to shout that they defended the interests of the underprivileged classes, but when they saw that nobody bought that line, since they came from the villas of dictatorship’s privilege, they sank into corruption by manipulating funds left to them by Ramiz Alia. So they added the figure 39. But the truth is that it is 296. Hajdaraga and his cronies sometimes call themselves mere Eurosocialists and at other times vaguely suggest that the blood of the internationals runs in their veins. Their chaos is the chaos of contradictions between a leadership up in the air and a party base that is a conglomerate of entirely different convictions and interests. The chaos in the PS is, finally, the chaos of those who do not want Reform and who have worked to hold it back, to boycott it with the red voting card, with newspapers, with slander at home and abroad, even in the most authoritative European institutions. They are ashamed of nothing. Statesmen and prominent political figures such as Van Den Broek, Tomas Kleslti, Hercog and others come and speak encouragingly about Reform in Albania, while the PS leadership’s faces darken and they become proverbial for their cynicism about the “unripe apple.” And strangely, when the apple ripens, these unparalleled nihilists rush to claim that it ripened under their sun. But Albanians do not forget that all they offered this Apple was illness and qualities drawn from their own psycho-political pathology. These wretched knights forget that they are the most shameless when they refuse to acknowledge that they also voted against the law on fundamental human rights and freedoms, that they voted against the distribution of securities, etc., etc. They are the very ones who oppose Albania’s integration into Europe and want the time of Albania’s political and economic bunkerization to return; they are the very ones who seek to bring back onto the stage the diplomacy of the spivs and lackeys of the Alia, Malile and Lazri type. But their time has passed. The printing house, which is crying out for Canada, etc., etc.? Did PS Dokle and Pellumbi not declare that “the 400 thousand dollars are ours and we used them for oil, paper, tractors...”? But no, Dokle and Pellumbi swore that the money had not been touched. The journalists of “ZP” fight for “democracy” and “progress.” Below, the one who made 8 million dollars disappear expresses his solidarity with the “small-time” disappearers of 400 thousand dollars. Just as a thief, without being asked, says, “I haven’t stolen anything,” Nano too addresses the small-time disappearers: “Solidarity among us is a partnership of lackeys and corrupt people...” In fact, no one could find more fitting words to describe the solidarity between Nano, who made 8 million dollars disappear, and those who made 400 thousand dollars disappear. Solidarity among thieves. (Continued on page 2) ...clearly represent this kind the middle classes; curiously, when the Mulberry ripens, these people are the first to rush to prove that it supposedly all they offered this Mulberry was illness, and that they come from the pathology of neo-communism; the suit that fit so wonderfully on the body of the leader whom R. Alia, not by chance, left at the head of the PS. They are trying to deny their recent past as utter nihilists and now put on the reformer’s suit. inspired by its delusional this. Pellumbi says in Durres that the PS voted against only 6 laws, and contradicts Dokle, who is “more accurate” when he says that 22 laws were voted against. Hajdaraga gives an even higher figure; ...of justice. But what troubles us is much deeper. And naturally painful. Let us quote a few passages from the article: “In his memoirs, former President Jimmy Carter explains how, on pressing foreign-policy issues, he regularly consulted Richard Nixon, his political opponent, who had been dismissed from the presidency People like Reiz Malile are a national treasure...”

—If the PS leaders were convinced that the money belonged to “ZP,” why did they writhe and lie about the source and destination of the Fund, why did they say the money was untouched in the bank, why did they send E.Bogdani to Canada, why...? —According to their logic, in December ’90, with a signature from R.Alija, “ZP” could have received not only 400 thousand dollars but anything it wanted, and that would have been right. On the “Alia-Nano-Dokle-Ruçi-Benc” scandal Desperate writhings —If the PS leaders were convinced that the money belonged to “ZP,” why did they writhe and lie about the source and destination of the Fund, why did they say the money was untouched in the bank, why did they send E.Bogdani to Canada, why...? —According to their logic, in December ’90, with a signature from R.Alia, “ZP” could have received not only 400 thousand dollars but anything it wanted, and that would have been right. EDI PALOKA “The 400 thousand dollars belonged to ‘ZP,’ so ‘ZP’ could do whatever it wanted with them.” This is the latest version of the “defense” offered by PS leaders and “ZP” managers regarding the 400-thousand-dollar scandal. It is certainly the most desperate and absurd version, which is undermined by the admissions of the accused and PS leaders themselves, without even getting into the facts about the source of the 400 thousand dollars and how they were transferred to “ZP.” A few questions would be enough to expose this “version” too. If the money belonged to “ZP” and the PS leaders were convinced that they had the right to do whatever they wanted with it, then why, for months, did they resort to a tangle of lies: that the money was untouched in the Bank, that they were waiting for the government to give them permission to retrieve the printing press, which had been left behind and was waiting in Canada, etc., etc.? Why didn’t Dokle and Pellumbi declare from the start: that the money had not been touched. If Dokle was convinced that there was no problem with the origin of that money, then why did he writhe on the TV screen, lying both about the source of the Solidarity Fund’s money and about its destination? If this matter is so clear, then why did Dokle send Edmond Bogdani, the former director of the “ZP” printing house, to Canada as soon as the scandal broke? Why did Dokle’s “friends” on the PS executive immediately wash their hands of the 400 thousand dollars, not to mention the case of Sh. Cani, who made a direct accusation against Dokle (a few days ago, Dokle sent Sh. Cani out of his office in tears)? Why have the dishonest people in their own party turned their arrows from Dokle, when it was he who, with his initial testimony, managed to send Perparim Xhixha into isolation? Why is information being sent from the “ZP” editorial office to “RD” (and not only to “RD”) identifying one person and another as guilty? All these questions have only one answer: the scandal exploded in Dokle and his associates’ hands like a bomb, and they were unable to come up with even one halfway decent lie to cover it up. The latest version, as I mentioned above, is the most pitiful one, which the PS leaders have grabbed in desperation like a drowning person clutching at a straw. According to this logic, R.Alia, in the final days of his regime, could do whatever he wanted with the national wealth; thus R.Alia could have signed an order for “ZP” to receive not only 400 thousand dollars but factories, land and anything else it wanted, without the slightest concern, since according to the PS leaders’ logic this would be right today. In reality, Alia and the PS leaders carried out precisely this strategy in 1990–91. Just as they gave “ZP” the 400 thousand dollars, they also distributed shops and other properties to communist leaders and activists. But these facts, too, will soon be brought before the courts, and the guilty will find themselves in the dock. Those who squandered the money and the thieves cannot escape—not through letters from their associates, who have stolen just as they have, nor through their “expressions of solidarity.” They first stood in solidarity with the PS’s destructive policy, and now they are standing in solidarity with its corruption; this is outright political aggression. do whatever it wanted with them.” Another topic—the article continues below the edge of the image.

— The man who made 8 million disappear expresses solidarity with those who made 400 thousand disappear For some time, people had been saying that the former PP prime minister and former PS chairman, F. Nano, was not in a very good state of mental health. Some of his statements in the press convinced many people that these claims were true, but now the former prime minister does not give up... after sending two couriers, he has sent another message to “ZP.” To understand Nano’s mental state and the absurdity of his statement, it is enough to read the first lines, where he addresses the journalists of “ZP” with the words: “You have ... in your civilized struggle for democracy and national progress.” The journalists of “ZP” fighting for “democracy” and “progress.” Below, the man the “small-time” disappearers of 400 thousand dollars. Just like a thief who, addresses the small-time disappearers: “Solidarity among us is not who made 400 thousand dollars disappear. Solidarity among thieves.

Turning my attention to an article published on May 18 on the third page of “Zeri te popullit,” entitled “Lessons from a Conversation,” I was reminded, not by chance, of another article in this newspaper, published many months earlier, which was dedicated to Behar Shtylla on the occasion of his death. That article described Shtylla as an outstanding diplomat and extolled his political qualities in the field of diplomacy, rather than, for example, as a person or as a parent. We do not wish to dwell on the late Shtylla. But what struck us was the magnification of his diplomatic career. He was foreign minister under the dictator Hoxha or an ambassador sent by him to the capitals most important to the Albanian state’s policy at the time. So to glorify his diplomacy means glorifying the diplomacy of the dictator Hoxha, expressing nostalgia for his foreign policy. What that policy was—a policy of complete self-isolation, of declaring the whole world an enemy and showing hostility to everyone—is well known. Nevertheless, we did not want to put too much faith in that article. A group of friends and I thought that, whatever the circumstances, it would be difficult for nostalgia for the dictatorship to be expressed so openly and officially in the largest newspaper of the Albanian opposition, which claims to have been renewed and to have adopted a clear European profile. Taking our cue from “bon sens,” we thought the article above must have been more a matter of sentimentality for a dead man (the dead are never insulted, at least not officially; indeed, they are always sent off to the next world with kind words). In the end, we thought, the publication of those assessments must have been the result of pressure from old, fanatical communists, many of whom, with their unchanged views, unfortunately continue to be active in today’s opposition, in the Socialist Party. That article would have been forgotten had the same nostalgic words not appeared again in several later tributes in the opposition press, and especially had the article dated May 18, mentioned above, not been published. This article offers several thoughts on the televised debate about foreign policy, which had been dismissed from the post of president as responsible for the Watergate scandal. Our president does not consider it appropriate to follow such a practice, to call in and consult people who have devoted their lives to foreign policy, such as the respected diplomat Reiz Malile, etc. People like Reiz Malile are a national treasure. In the paragraph quoted above, which constitutes the entire substance of the article, several messages are conveyed. If taken seriously, those messages would be fatal. etc. People like Reiz Malile are a national treasure. -ZP declares former generals of Enver Hoxha’s diplomacy a national treasure. The first message: representatives

-The accusation of misusing state funds has nothing to do with freedom of the press Yesterday the newspaper ZP devoted an entire page to statements by several media outlets concerning the opening of a criminal case against the editor-in-chief of this newspaper. It is regrettable that whenever the justice authorities get to work investigating a case, there are newspapers that raise an outcry and give it a political slant, just as happened with Nano! The same thing is happening in this case. Pressure is being brought to bear on the justice authorities to prevent them from pursuing the case to its conclusion! The justice system’s investigation into the scandal involving 400 thousand dollars is being portrayed as an infringement of freedom of the press! Which of the ZP journalists is being accused of writing this or that? “ZP” is full of slander and lies from beginning to end, and yet so far no one has been convicted of abusing freedom of the press. The accusation being made today is one of corruption! The accusation and the investigations are intended to shed light on the 400-thousand-dollar scandal and pursue the matter to its conclusion. No one has the right to break the law, not even journalists. Everyone is equal before the law.

Friday’s “ZP” informs its readers that it has decided to strengthen the newspaper with “new” volunteer activists such as Dritero Agolli, Xhevail Lloshi, Ibrahim Baci, Moikom Zeqo and Halil Lala. This decision, taken at an extraordinary meeting of the PS Presidency and the “ZP” leadership, openly and clearly expresses what the PS leadership itself, despite trying to conceal its political position on this ordinary theft of 400 thousand dollars intended for the purchase of the printing house, is essentially convinced of: that the current and former managers of “ZP” are deeply implicated in this theft. Moreover, there is no doubt that the politicization of this ordinary theft, which the PS and “ZP” have decided to undertake, is also intended to conceal its Slavic-great-power crimes. This has been astonishingly preoccupied with them lately because of the rebellion of young people in this party, who are insistently demanding the removal of Marxism from

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— From President Berisha’s visit yesterday to the district of Fier The more developed and stronger the country is. Even the new value-added tax law, which was approved in Parliament yesterday, favors this direction. You who managed so well at the beginning and brilliantly solved the marketing problems will also know how to manage hundreds of millions in the future. Whoever wants to benefit from free initiative must give in order to receive,” Berisha says, and leaves wishing them success. A few moments later, also at the workshop producing shopfronts, aluminum doors and windows, shutters and kiosks. The owners are a couple of teachers. “We left two jobs in education,” they say, “and found ourselves in construction. The technology is Italian; 10 people have been employed, and Saturdays and Sundays are paid at double rates. The market is guaranteed. At first, rather than making a profit, our aim is to consolidate,” they say. The workers are paid 15 thousand lekë a month. “Small enterprises are safe and successful,” says Berisha. “They have advantages because they foster education and business skills, and increase responsibility for work and production. We have favored them and will continue to favor them in the future. It may seem that they do not create jobs, but the opposite is true: they employ more people. The obsession with gigantic enterprises proved misguided. After opening up and overcoming isolation, private free initiative is one of the most important realities and has many advantages.” The projects on the cognac production line, owned by Fedra Kondakçiu. “Our cognac,” Berisha says, “has represented Albania with dignity at international trade fairs.” “Our cognac, too,” says Mrs. Kondakçiu, “was very well received at the Berlin trade fair. We produce the cognac essence ourselves, since we own the patent and the old technology for the renowned Korçë cognac. We have employed 10 people, while my husband and I take part with management responsibilities and foreign investment. We cooperate with the Bank under the ASAK program.” Berisha, praising this business, says that competition in production is one of the most important factors determining the direction, and continues: “Most of Albania’s trade exchanges are with the Western market, and

p. 4 Did you know? Ed Vud, Bob Dilan, Raul Bova, Erik Klepton ... p. 5 The week’s sports page Ueab, Hidnik, The history of the UEFA Cup p. 6 Games, super-crosswords, smile The PS leadership, provocateur of political tensions The self-deceived: it is a pleasure Kalaja: We do not agree with the left-wing MPs In search of lost glory Why curse Blerim Çele and SHKSH The corrupt will “accuse” others of corruption Deception—the headline of the PS and ZP Albanians and the rule of law will know how to answer the leadership of violence that calls for civil war