Interview with PAD Assembly member Mr. Albert Karrigji The reasons I left the DP were purely emotional and had no basis in reality Neritan Ceka is all appearance and no substance; he is average in terms of political intellect, knows personal interest well, and becomes an enemy of anyone he thinks threatens his political career. He thinks he is the president S.Berisha’s only rival. p. 3

From the PS heritage collection Minutes of the meeting of the 6th Plenum of the Central Committee of the 6th Congress of the PPSH, dated 16–17 December 1974 (Balluku, Dume, Çako) p. 7

Intellectuals turned their backs on the PS The Socialist Party stands before the Albanian electorate in the old way. Almost nothing has changed in its substance, except that the old figures have become even more entrenched. Once again, the newly announced lists of the Socialist Party are packed with the red guards, the old elite, and those closest to that elite. Once again, Albanians must put up with the candidacy of Enver Hoxha’s double, Zabit Brokaj, and his personal adviser Fatrin Sinani. After them come the small-time Enverists, such as Ilir Meta and Monika Kryemadhi, making the embryonic scheme of Enver and Nexhmije clearer. The mirror image of this list, announced yesterday by the Socialist Party, is a large guard formed by the hero of such lists, Gramoz Ruci, together with the PS electorate. The picture is that of a gang forced to stay obedient to its masters while also remaining ready, as soon as the moment comes, to set upon any reformer in the Socialist Party. A few years ago, a foreign journalist asked me whether there was an institution in Albania that could issue those interested with a certificate bearing the title “intellectual.” It was the beginning of the democratic movement, on the eve of the overthrow of the dictatorship. Wanting to be polite, I pretended not to notice his sarcasm, although at its core he had a point: he was struck by the large number of people who liked to present themselves as “intellectuals”! That journalist’s question often comes to mind. Not because I want to solve the “riddle” of his sarcasm. Albania has historically had, and still has today, intellectuals of the very highest caliber. Albania has never lacked them and will not lack them tomorrow. As for the “institution” that awards this title, if we agree that it exists, how it functions is extremely difficult to explain. Only one thing is certain: here, nothing is achieved by proclaiming oneself or being proclaimed, by laurel wreaths, or by publications filling newspaper pages with portraits and every kind of pose. The intellectual’s path is arduous, full of dangers, and necessarily runs through people’s conscience. Whatever definition a dictionary gives this term, in my view a person is an intellectual if they play a role, at the very least, in shaping social consciousness. p. 3

The coming to power of the former communists will hinder Albania’s integration into Europe The Secretary General of the PDSH, Mr. Tritan Shehu, continues his visit to Italy

I consider the issue of the electoral law completely closed and express my regret at the efforts of the leaders of the far left to instrumentalize the parties’ round table in order to create the red front President Berisha received the Chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Sabri Godo, at a meeting today At this meeting, the Chairman of the round table of 13 parties was received, and on this occasion I wished to express my satisfaction with the results achieved by this round table in setting the 4% threshold, as well as in further improving many articles of the election law. I also wish to convey my unwavering appreciation to the chairmen of the other parties and assure them that I have always been, and remain, open to dialogue. Naturally, in order to create the red front. After failing to create the red front, the leaders of the far left are now creating a [?] of right-wing parties which, according to them, are harmed by this law, at a time when in reality they are in a state of deep internal panic because under the law they themselves enacted in 1992, with a majoritarian system, they won in only four of the 100 electoral districts, and they know well that with this kind of puppets and youngsters, under this system they could obtain even more disappointing results. But this is not the fault of the electoral law, because it is thoroughly democratic; rather, this is the inevitable result of their anti-DP opposition, the class struggle they are waging within the party, and the game they are trying to play with youngsters and puppets before the Albanian electorate. Mr. Godo told the President that, by convening the round table, he aimed to set the 4% threshold, further improve the electoral law, and ensure its adoption. Naturally, he would have preferred other changes as well, but the Republican Party and the Right League are now determined and prepared to make a dignified commitment to the coming election campaign. He also expressed his regret over the efforts some parties are expected to make to manipulate and instrumentalize the political forces’ round table.

New documents on Serbian funding The document is dated 3 March 1990 and is signed by M.Knesevic

Albanians have been and remain opposed to all violence and oppression p. 2

The document is dated March 3, 1990, and signed by M. Knezević Zannoni reveals the name of the former Sigurimi agent (A.D) Another chilling fact transmitted by the Pietro Zannoni press office: Serbia, in collaboration with the former Sigurimi and the Albanian Communists, drew up plans to organize a coup d’état in Albania. The document confirming this fact is dated March 3, 1990, and is signed by UDB official M. Knezević. This information was passed to the Pietro Zannoni press office by a former security-service agent, whose name Zannoni has finally agreed to disclose as well (his initials are AD). The Serbian secret-service document concerns military control over the territories bordering Albania, and especially the territory of Kosovo, as well as the funding that was to be provided to certain Serbian agents active in Albania to control the Communist apparatus. The document also records the initial steps in preparing a Communist coup in Albania, with the backing of the former Moscow secret service. The document is listed as number 12 in the UDB file on this matter, while page 3 mentions funding for “an independent newspaper to work on behalf of the Communists in Albania.” Another documented fact is the agreement between the Serbian and Albanian Communists to maintain Serbian dominance over Kosovo. Below, we present several excerpts from this document as transmitted by the Pietro Zannoni press office. Page 3, section XIXIXIX-441: “Belgrade’s military control, in accordance with M. Knezević’s instructions, will administer the property assigned by order of XXX (a secret code often used in the document bearing the seal XIXIXIX-441, ed. Zannoni), who will oversee the running of an ‘independent’ newspaper on behalf of the Communist authorities in Albania. The newspaper will also guarantee the supporters and interests of Communism in Albania. Support for this newspaper has been ordered on behalf of XXX and it will exert all the necessary pressure on Albanian public opinion. If the newspaper receiving funding no longer complies with the orders and directives, its staff will be replaced. Those who control the newspaper will be Albanian Communists and agents active in Tirana. Officials of the Communist Party, civilian members of the central Communist authorities, and the Serbian military authorities would be assigned to monitor the actions that would serve to guarantee the protection of Communist principles among the Albanian people. M. Knezević, on behalf of XXX-1, will order representatives in Serbia and Montenegro to place the entire Communist secret apparatus in Albania, which operates with Belgrade’s support, under control.” This, then, is part of the document that reveals the strategy of the Serbian secret services in 1990, when it was clear that Communism in Albania was slipping from their grasp. The course[?] of subsequent events has shown that certain political forces, certain individuals within the Socialist Party, as well as politicians and many ordinary people from the “independent” newspaper “KJ,” openly served Serbian interests in Albania. The increasingly frequent discovery of new documents makes the matter more and more alarming and makes it essential to shed light on it as soon as possible. Prepared by: E.PALOKA

Interview with Erick Siesby, chairman of the Danish Helsinki Committee It is normal to prevent people who dominated the country’s politics under the Communist regime from dominating it again. We have seen examples in other Eastern countries too, where former Communist leaders have been able to regain power. Do you consider that the anti-genocide law paves the way for new people to enter Albanian politics, while keeping the criminalized segment of Albanian society out? —As I understand it, this is a law that will not prevent these people from participating sufficiently in political life. I think the fact that they are barred from standing as candidates for parliament is a kind of punishment that does not require people. It is a complicated situation, because in reality it is a punishment. Acts are being punished that were not punished at the time they were committed. But, as I said, this is a revolutionary period. I think politics under the Communist regime from continuing to dominate it again. Some such steps are necessary. We have seen examples in other Eastern countries And after democracy had arrived, most of these countries had not removed the former Communist leaders from their positions and power. Privatization in a country like Poland has been a major advantage in political life. The Communists were in a position that allowed them to take all the factories and the country’s wealth, thereby securing economic power. You can see now that they have regained political power. Would you wish that to happen to Albania? —I don’t think this will happen in your country. If Albanians vote for the Socialists, then they deserve their misfortune.

Enver’s double, Zabit Brokaj, chose self-sacrifice The steadfast [unclear] of the council, where the compromised head of the PS, Brokaj, has barricaded himself, decided to sacrifice himself. Amid the enthusiasm of the Enverist bricklayers, he agreed to become a sacrificial offering in the foundations of the fortress being built, agreeing to stand as a PS parliamentary candidate. Brokaj knows that his candidacy is illegal, because of his unquestionable past in the service of the dictatorship, a service for which he was also rewarded with general’s epaulettes. The former brave man of the [unclear] has decided to show his followers once again the great Communist principles he learned in Enver’s time, to which he has decided to remain faithful until the end. Nevertheless, Albanians are not to blame for not wanting to be walled up alive, as in the legend, just to keep Enver’s fortress standing. The legend of the immurement seems to be the greatest incentive that prompted Brokaj, Enver’s double, to sacrifice himself. Sensing the final collapse of the fortress of Enverism, in order to make them Zabit Brokaj and his personal adviser Fatr(i)h Sinani. Behind them come the little Enverists, such as Ilir Meta with Monika Kryemadhi, competing to recreate the embryonic scheme of Enver and Nexhmije. The [unclear] of this list that the Socialist Party announced yesterday is a large fence erected by the hero of his scrubbed lists. Kuci with the PS electorate. The picture is just like a gang that has been forced to behave obediently toward its masters, with a new silence ready to break out as soon as the moment comes to turn against every reformer in the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party has definitively taken on the appearance of its leadership. Compromised by its past, this leadership has passed its mentality and its entire make-up down to the lists of parliamentary candidates, ensuring an intense coexistence with the past. This list is a symbol of this party’s moral crisis, a crisis that its members are doing everything they can to pass on to the future and impose on Albania as well. At the same time, the list reflects the clans flourishing within this party, while more clearly than ever it reveals the complete exclusion of reformers from positions of representation. When Luan Rama replaces Xhevat Lloshi, one can say that in this party all the Xhevats have their own lion who can sideline them. Such relationships within a party bring mediocre and immoral people to the highest levels of politics, where wisdom and morality are most needed. The choice made by the committee that selects the candidates is a choice that reflects the conditions within the Socialist Party. It expresses the shallow qualities of the moment and also marks the convention of this political formation, which remains rooted in 1990–91, when this party was converted as well. They have nowhere else to find other people. Intellectuals have turned their backs on the Socialist Party. Dozens and dozens of prominent people in Tirana have refused their celebrations rather than stand as candidates for this party. Even intellectuals who published their smuggling in the pages of “ZP” have not hesitated to do so. This is also an important moment for electoral sentiment. The departure of intellectuals from this party is the clearest signal that all those who regard intellectualism as society’s vanguard should naturally stay away from it. Everyone who hopes for European civic values among Albanians should stay away from this party and encourage a change of conscience away from what Albania’s political past represents. Even the intellectuals represented on Ruçi’s lists have been placed there for demagogic purposes. It is known that Mago Lakrori will be disqualified by this party’s leadership, but reliable sources say the same fate awaits Luan Haxharaga and Luan Shahollari. They are there so that, after the final selection, it will become clear that they should no longer be in this party. The list of the five will be retained among the other, larger numbers, and cannot be offset by Ruçi’s offers to recruit Tirana’s intellectuals. The only path left to this party is the street, as its sole way of finding a suitable appearance and model. Their service to the country would consist of just one gesture: leaving its political life.

The return of the former Communists to power will hinder Albania’s integration into Europe p. 2