The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe It decided: Albania’s application for full membership will be voted on in June From Paris yesterday, Mr. Ali Spahia reports: The meeting of of Europe was held in Paris on 22.05.1995, with a delegation from our parliament also in attendance. The provisional agenda for the third part of the Council of Europe’s 1995 session was approved. On the last Thursday in June, during the morning session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will vote on Albania’s application to become a full member.

. The National Council discussed at length recent achievements, supporting and commending parliament and the government for what has been accomplished during this 100-day period since 31 January 1995. Meanwhile, the Council called for continued priority to be given to: a) implementing the laws; b) reframing the issue of former owners; e) speeding up the privatization process. The Council also discussed the election campaign within the PD and its other structures, such as LDG and FRD, as well as improving propaganda work, and reached the following conclusions: 1) The organizational work of the PD and its structures, and of LDG and FRPD, must be strengthened in order to establish them broadly and firmly, as close as possible to the individual. 2) This campaign should serve to select the most capable, devoted and committed people to be elected to leadership positions in these structures. 3) Work must be intensified to increase the number of activists and committed members, and to explain our program and achievements to the people. 4) The role of the PD’s central structures should be more active and decisive in this regard; this role should also be reflected in better work by the groups assigned to the PD branches. 5) The quality of the PD press must be improved. PD and state leaders at every level should participate more widely in it. 6) Producing the special bulletin is an extremely important task for all PD structures at every level. 7) Distributing the press should be considered one of the main duties of the PD structures. The heads of group sections should regard it as a top priority. 8) Subscriptions to RD and TD must be handled seriously and carefully.

Speech by the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, delivered at the expanded meeting of the National Council of the Democratic Party Ladies and Gentlemen, On 29 January of this year, at a time when the extreme left had undertaken one of its most aggressive and immoral campaigns against democracy, reform and its achievements since December 1991, the National Council of the Democratic Party convened. At that meeting, [the text is corrupted] … of posters and portraits. But without his lieutenants, Enver would have been merely a worthless relic, so interviews began with those still alive, with Ali and the Hoxhaist guard; they announced imaginary decorations and celebrations for Ali, Hoxha and Lleshi from democratic Russia, and, believing their own lies, went as far as openly calling on the stage those who had isolated the country to lead Albanian politics. In the PS, the fist of those who ordered shots to be fired at unarmed people has now definitively gained the upper hand, during the massacres of the [unclear] “ZP” gang, and meetings and conversations [followed] as well. These are: 1—Enverism and the trumpeting of Marx’s pseudo-values. The fundamental lines of the socialist alternative, trumpeted by every means of their propaganda in “ZP”, in the newspapers of the [unclear] “ZP” gang, as well as at meetings and in conversations, are: Another line of the socialist alternative is the denial and nihilism of all of Albania’s historic and major achievements during these three years, [and] of the dictatorship period. This is not only because today’s socialist leaders are bound by a thousand threads to the work of E. Hoxha and his clique, but also because some of them bear direct responsibility for the February massacre, the fires, and all the chaos, anarchy and organized crime of 1991; and also because Marx’s principles, without Enver’s name and work and his guard, are as foreign to Albanians as Marx’s principles themselves. Therefore, immediately after 6 November, an even stronger Enveriada than that of February ’91 began. The PS leaders thought the time had come to display the dictatorship’s [unclear] façade; they celebrated the country’s liberation by singing hymns to the dictator, brought out [unclear] of all ages from the [unclear] enclave, and began distributing [text continues]. President Sali Berisha speaking at the expanded meeting of the National Council of the Democratic Party.

- Militancy and commitment, a necessity for all PDSH structures - Speech by the Secretary-General of the PDSH, Mr. Tritan Shehu The current political moment we are going through is of particular importance for the PD, and this is connected to two aspects. First, we are holding what I would simply call new elections at several levels of the PD and its organizations, such as FRPD and LDG, but we are using this process to carry out a restructuring and reconsolidation of our structures as well. The main idea is undoubtedly to reconsolidate them by extending them widely, as a capillary network, further down to the grassroots and as close as possible to people and individuals. On the other hand, these structures must be permanent, operational and active, requiring from them and from activists a spirit of militancy and dedication in carrying out [the text is garbled]. This is essential if we are to rely on the majority of voters. As we are now engaged in an extensive process which this month includes restructuring LDG, FRPD and the PD’s grassroots structures, while next month it will also include the branch level, we can confidently say that this is the most suitable moment to achieve these objectives and to increase the ranks of the PD and its other structures with new members. The work carried out over the past 3–4 weeks, despite some shortcomings, has, I believe, produced positive results. The working groups set up by the central organization are generally doing good work and are helping more with organizing activities; they are also helping to undertake this process and select people. Nevertheless, it must be said that the branches expect more from these groups, which themselves need to understand more clearly their role and responsibility. At the penultimate meeting of the National Council, we decided that the central organization’s role should be more strongly felt; we must understand that, ultimately, these groups are the ones that will translate this role into practice. On the other hand, it must be said that not everyone has understood equally the importance of closely following activities, from sections through to the activities of LDG and FRPD, together with the [garbled text]; if this is not corrected, it will have further negative consequences at the PD branch level as well. One of the reasons it was decided to follow this sequence of activities was precisely the idea that strengthening these structures would directly help strengthen the PD branches, on the one hand, and the fact that these activities would help identify good people to be nominated later for leadership positions in the PD. (Continued on page 2) [They] ordered more than twenty-five people to be shot, organized the massacres of the past three years. Secondly, this moment is characterized by the approach of the elections, as we are now entering the final year of this electoral period. These two elements must be viewed as closely connected and serving one another. It will be these structures that we are consolidating which will lead and carry out the election campaign. There is not the slightest doubt that their role will be very great; it will be decisive for the results of the coming elections. For us in particular, for the PD, organizing such bodies at every level is vital—not one of these should be left out: neither the FRPD, nor the LDG, nor the PD’s grassroots structures. These will be the elements that conduct the small-scale propaganda and grassroots work with people—working neighborhood by neighborhood, village by village, house by house—the sustained work that requires dedication and militancy. This work will also be the foundation for safeguarding our electorate’s votes. For an electoral party such as the PD, which wins its [support/elections]

CHRONICLE Yesterday, in one of the halls of the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the expanded meeting of the PD National Council was held. It discussed organizational issues concerning the PDSH election campaign and its structures, as well as the need to improve the PDSH’s propaganda work. (Continued on page 3)

On 6 November, in the first referendum in Albanian history, as is known, the draft constitution, whose preparation was one of the objectives of the PD program, was not approved. its achievements since the dictatorship of that meeting, decisive decisions were taken for advancing reform and fully implementing the PD program. On 6 November, in the first referendum in Albanian history, as is known, the draft constitution—which had been drawn up as one of the objectives of the PD program—was not approved. But the leaders of Albanian Marxism used the rejection of a draft to declare what they called the end of Albanian democracy. They concluded that the Democratic Party’s alternative—that is, the alternative of the rule of law and a market economy in Albania—had only a limited time left, and that a different alternative should now be proclaimed for the country to replace the Democratic Party’s alternative. Thus, the ideologues of the notorious M-L instinct gathered, drafted and immediately published the PS’s election program, based vertically on the inseparable principles of major turning points; but now the time has come to become more down-to-earth and practical. Now that we have freedom, people need to understand that it is something eternal that cannot be questioned, and the majority has very quickly forgotten the past. We must prepare a new strategy for repeating democracy’s victory. of Marxism. The fundamental lines of the socialist alternative, trumpeted and undefended during the massacres of February and April ’91. Attempts to distance themselves from the past, to break away from the principles of Marxism or from the PPSH, remain isolated voices in the darkness surrounding the leadership of the PS. In fact, those who directed the terror and the massacres of ’91 covered up and [unclear] all the [unclear], extinguishing every ray of moderate left-wing thought within this party. The second line of the PS alternative was the overthrow of the Meksi Government and the provocation of elections in

To erase today’s Albanian reality from people’s minds, on January 1 of this year they announced (Continued on page 2)

Speech delivered at the National Council of the PD by the Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjeter Arbnori During the meetings we held on the restructuring of the PD, I observed several things, which I list here according to their importance, just as I noted them. 1. Four and [unclear] years ago, we achieved a powerful success, when our positive program and other alternatives set out together—cruel?—along with the emotional aspect, the pretense of violence and, after? half a century of oppression, many of our victories. Enthusiasm was an inseparable part of these great [events], more that it is something eternal that can no longer be questioned, and the majority have strategy for repeating the victory of democracy. 2. Let us never forget that the communists accepted freedoms and human rights, democracy, pluralism, the market economy, and ties with the world only under duress. But now that they have taken this short course in capitalism, they have seen that they cannot be so forceful there either, where they once declared that they were forever against private property and personal interest. The problem is that they want capitalism only for themselves; that is why we also opposed the privatization vouchers. They curse our laws, vote against them, and secretly benefit from them shamelessly. They have even managed to be

Speech by Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi Ladies and gentlemen, We have just begun the final year of this legislature, during which the Democratic Party’s electoral program and the Democratic Government’s program must be fulfilled. The transition has been and remains difficult, although I believe we have overcome the emergency. It is a well-known phenomenon that the more you improve, the more problems arise: old ones are resolved and new ones emerge. Fortunately or otherwise, this is the dialectic of things and phenomena. This year will be decisive for reform and for the fate of democracy in Albania, which means that in many respects we must increase our efforts to implement the program for economic and state reform. Our achievements in creating a free-market economy and a state governed by the rule of law are not insignificant, but we still have much to do; moreover, we must work to implement the legislation. This would also be one of the greatest tasks of our work at many levels: the executive, central and local levels, the judiciary and prosecution service, and the fulfillment [of obligations], etc. The Government has sought to highlight this issue and has taken measures to improve the legislation. Nevertheless, it remains a very important task, because although it is known that laws do not begin to operate in practice immediately, in a period of transition such as ours, when the development of the old state and the creation of new laws necessarily require their implementation as quickly as possible, above all they must be implemented with the commitment of a true democrat—not with the attitude of those who look for loopholes in laws and ways to exploit their non-implementation as much as possible for their own benefit. To fulfill the obligations and commitments of the PD, we must always take a critical view of our achievements, because without this

Photos: GANI XHENGO

The 65th meeting of the DEMYC Executive Committee (Democratic Youth of the European Community), held in Gdansk, Poland, from 18 to 21 May, accepted the PDSH Youth Forum as a full member. We will tell you more in the next issue of “RD”.

Today at 12:00 at the Palace of Congresses ... Representatives of the PDSH ... Tirana ... press conference. Press and Information Department of the PDSH