The SP against dialogue with the governing majority and others At his second meeting with the heads of Tirana’s organizations, SP Secretary General Mejdani attacked President Berisha and, at his first meeting with the heads of SP sections, Mejdani, shaken by the state of the party he has agreed to lead, confirmed that the “two-month presidium.” Faced with a deep political crisis, Mejdani appears to see a way out in boycotting not only Parliament but also dialogue with the SP; the party chairman, agreed to lead, confirmed that the largest opposition party is falling apart as a result of misunderstandings. The SP’s former leader, Pellumbi, has reached almost the same conclusion, saying that the crisis in the SP is deepening and blaming the “two-month presidium” for it. dialogue with the main political opponents, while saying that Socialists should know how to talk and what to say in cafés.

. A different kind of communication among the Socialists continues. The relations between SP leaders and their grassroots, and vice versa, have been conceived according to the principle of downward functionaries. The farther you are from the SP leadership, the less you should know and, consequently, the less right you have to interpret or explain anything about the Socialist Party and its actions. This is one of the principles announced in recent days, but it has not been in operation only in recent days. Albanians in general, but Communists especially, have been reminded of the years after the war, when the party of today’s Socialists kept its name and membership secret and, consequently, all its activities. This organizational political absurdity can be seen as a condition of existence for this party at a time when it is nearing its complete disappearance. Never, in any extreme case of the functioning of political parties—not even when their level or necessity of existence was most in doubt—have party members been instructed on how to behave in cafés or restaurants, or on how much they may talk with their wife, brother, sister or cousin about politics or its nuances within the SP. Three days ago, Rehep Mejdani, the SP’s Secretary General, instructed members at the grassroots of his party to be careful when talking about the party. Mejdani called on the psychology he has practiced for so many years when he advised that ordinary SP members keep their distance and limit their conversations. Why do you need to know so much about what will happen to Nano or what the party’s future position will be on such-and-such an issue? If he considered it important to maintain a distance between the small and the great—or, more accurately, between people and the problems that have eroded the SP—yesterday he recommended another course for news about the party. The people in the leadership should go among party members and explain to them the diversity and diversion, he says. In other words, having imposed silence and obedience on the grassroots, he now lines people up in front of Islam, Brokaj, Legisi, Majko, Dokle and himself to hear the answers to the mysteries unfolding in the SP. Thus ordinary Socialists and others who are eager to hear stories about Socialists will have to test their senses against Mejdani’s version of the Socialist Party’s renewal, Majko’s version of events among the Euro-socialists, or Dokle’s version of the possibility that the state manipulated the votes. No one has the right to think differently. For everything else that cannot be made public, there is only one approach: conceal it for as long as possible, until it is forgotten or avoided. The conspiracy recently employed by the Socialists is the creation of a single model of thought within the party. It was presented as the last resort through which further problems could be made to disappear, after it became clear that their divisions are so profound that even a ray of light could expose their political backwardness and this party’s anachronistic conduct in a democracy. The moment for conspiracy no longer exists within the parameters in which Marxist theory could be applied a few years ago. Very few people remain Socialists like Mejdani, Dokle or Majko. Their number is shrinking every day, and the very architects of the new conspiracy theory in Albanian politics are themselves in decline. Whatever the leaders who have inherited Ramizism may do, they can no longer create more veils for people than the transparency of their everyday, shabby and anemic reality can create. A view of one of the SP rallies

A view of one of the SP rallies

Minister Shehu received the Romanian ambassador On the occasion of the conclusion of his diplomatic mission in Albania, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania in Tirana, Mr. Gheorghe Miku, was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr. Tritan Shehu. Mr. Shehu thanked Mr. Miku for his contribution to strengthening the comprehensive and friendly relations between Albania and Romania, and at the same time for his role as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. Mr. Miku, expressing his highest regard for cooperation with the Albanian government, stressed the need to continue along the path already begun, since the friendly feelings between our two peoples have already been given concrete expression in the many agreements reached in numerous fields, including the economy, education, culture, etc.

A non-parliamentary commission to monitor usury?

Major charity concert in Zurich The proceeds raised from this concert will be used to carry out this association’s projects for the Gjirokastra district, compiled in the dossier “Eveniment ’97”

Interview with Afrim Krasniqi, chairman of the Youth Forum of the Democratic Party From 14–17 November 1996, the DEMYC seminar on “Youth Migration in Europe” was held in Tirana, along with the 71st meeting of the Political Committee of DEMYC member organizations. The organizer of this activity, the first of its kind in our country, was the Youth Forum of the Albanian Democratic Party. To learn more about the meeting’s topics and the role of DEMYC and FRPD itself in this pan-European activity, we interviewed FRPD chairman and MP Afrim Krasniqi. The main messages of a Western democracy are the development of democracy, tolerance and human rights; these are the major priorities on which the Democratic Party, to which we belong, was founded and won successive mandates. Beyond that, however, it maintains no particular codes of communication, which are a necessity for us. These include encouraging and developing intermediary committees, carrying out projects and exchanges, increasing moral responsibility in the commitment to solving problems in society, promoting progressive trends and leaving behind the methods and mentalities of the communist or post-communist period. With its projects, activities, earned authority, commitment, and central and local leaders selected by it, FRPD will undoubtedly be the great locomotive of the transformative and integrative process, for which our mentality and society are in great need.

The many announcements around town about Hajdari’s meeting manage to persuade around 20 curious people from Korça to come and hear about Hajdari’s trade-union adventure. The “trade unionist” Hajdari, deeply impressed—almost to the point of madness—by this epithet, sets out on his adventure to convince people that he is a trade unionist and supports trade unions, after speaking with several journalists, pensioners and high-school students in Tirana, and heads for Korça. Once again, Hajdari goes to Korça not because he wanted to or had asked to go, but because he had been called and told that Korça was entirely trade-unionist. The many announcements about this, scattered around in various forms, concerned a public meeting on 20 November about trade unions and trade unionism. Hajdari arrived in Korça, and they had thought of starting his meeting with his famous line: “I did not bring trade unionism; I found it among you.” But everything Hajdari had planned did not go entirely as expected, because so many people gathered at the hotel where he planned to deliver his trade-union message (around 15 to 20 people) that it was too difficult to leave without giving a trade-unionist’s speech. In these circumstances, Hajdari chose the most interesting way to save his trade unionism, telling those present that he had gone out on private business (though on a trade-union matter), and was therefore forced to leave for Tirana. The many people present applauded for a long time, chanting: “Long live private trade unionism.”

The Ministry of Privatization institutionalizes the privatization process PAGE 2 Vesështa: The speed of carrying out the privatization process will be one of the Ministry of Privatization’s basic features of work

A non-parliamentary commission to control usury? PAGE 3 The chairman of the Economy Committee, BashkimKopliku, stresses that Parliament and the committee have approved a number of laws that guarantee such activities and, if implemented rigorously, are sufficient. Meanwhile, Albina Karamitri, one of the initiators of the draft law, says that it does not conflict with any other law previously approved by Parliament, but merely provides citizens with even greater security regarding usury.