— Speech by Comrade Ramiz Alia at the 10th Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee — Comrades, During the three months that have passed since the 9th Plenum, the country has experienced a new phase of revolutionary upsurge. The people welcomed the decisions of that plenum and were inspired to take action aimed at the continuous improvement of our society. The role of the masses was further strengthened, and their awareness of the political responsibility incumbent upon them increased. Information received by the Central Committee shows that during this time the Party, the organs of state power, and the economic bodies have become more active. The participation of the masses in all social activity has been more effective. Public debate on the proper resolution of problems has become more lively. During these two or three months, in implementation of the decisions of the 9th Plenum, elections and reelections were held for a considerable number of cadres. Some were reaffirmed, while others were replaced by newer, more capable comrades. In Tirana alone, 266 directors, chiefs, and various officials were replaced. I would like to inform the comrades that, by making these changes, we are also better implementing the decisions of the 8th Plenum of the Central Committee on establishing as fair a numerical balance as possible between Party members and non-Party members in state bodies. Thus, for example, in the offices of ministries and central institutions, Communists today make up only 33 percent of the total number of employees and officials, while 67 percent are non-Party members. In the district of Tirana, of the total number of cadres and engineering-technical personnel directing the economy and culture in combines, plants, factories, enterprises, and agricultural cooperatives, about 17.5 percent are Communists, while around 82.5 Our successes in all fields are connected with the role of the Party and with the name of Enver Hoxha, who wisely and resolutely led the Albanian people from one victory to another. This is why the people love the Party and are bound to it like flesh to bone; this is why the people and the Party respect Enver Hoxha and consistently follow his teachings. The 10th Plenum of the Central Committee builds on the work we did at the 9th Plenum. The main objective of today’s meeting was to discuss measures for improving the economic mechanism. Their essence, as Comrade Adil put it very well in the report he delivered, is to strengthen the efficiency of the economy; create conditions for enterprises to finance themselves and for their employees to participate in distributing the profits they generate above plan; establish the balance required by the times between centralization and the powers of the grassroots in drawing up and implementing plans; increase the role of economic methods and the market; and bring prices closer to values. The aim has been to find new solutions to these fundamental issues by socialist means, and to apply the criteria required by an intensive economy with dynamic development. Production needs long-term solutions that open the way for everyone to have real authority and initiative, not mechanical rules and measures that merely make cosmetic adjustments and leave you halfway along the road. The current economic mechanism will require a further increase in the role of science in formulating development policies. The improvements discussed and approved at this plenum are the logical consequence of the objective conditions that have emerged. We are making changes on a broad front because the country’s economic situation has evolved, the ideological and cultural preparation of the people has risen, a wealth of experience has been accumulated, and the links between economic entities are stable. The Party encourages and guides these changes in order to open up new development prospects, put the economic and financial system at the service of technical progress, subject it to more rational structures in production, exploit our natural resources more quickly, and raise the people’s standard of living. Everywhere, the mobilizing force of the plan must be reinforced by incentives and economic interest. The changes inspired by the Party in the field of production relations, which we are now formalizing at this meeting of the Central Committee Plenum, are also a valuable contribution to the very science of socialist political economy. Economic theoretical concepts must develop and be enriched alongside the transformations taking place in the economy. They take on new content, especially at the intensive stage of its development. It can safely be said that, just as socialism is a long process of development, so too its economic theory is continually being perfected. It must always clear the way for the more productive use, in economic and social terms, of all the development resources at the country’s disposal. The measures under discussion will be accompanied by new standards of economic and moral conduct and by a different psychology and a more active attitude toward work and social property. All this calls for a change in educational aims, so that educational work can be coordinated with the operation of the economic mechanism. This must begin with school textbooks, the press, and propaganda, and extend to the Party’s educational work. In this way, education will not lose its importance in society; its weight will increase. Economic levers and methods stimulate the thinking, interest, and sense of responsibility of every worker and specialist and every economic body. Under conditions in which the needs of expanded reproduction will be financed from enterprise resources and through credit; when part of the income of employees and managers will be made conditional on and determined by the level of net income achieved at the center; and when obligations to central bodies regarding production in kind will consist primarily of supplies outside the workshops and departments, determined through separate accounting, the enterprise takes on real weight. Under these conditions, each employee and cadre has a direct interest in having their say on the running of the enterprise and in demanding accountability for the fairest possible organization of production, the implementation of the most advanced technology, workers’ discipline and rules, prudent management of resources, saving raw materials, and having the most capable people in management in the smallest possible number. Thus, the revolutionary measures to expand socialist democracy will not remain general principles: they will also be linked to the employees’ material interests, since from the enterprise’s above-plan profit, employees may receive up to three additional monthly salaries a year. As a result, the con- (Continued on page 2) percent are non-Party members. The development of the mass line, as we had predicted, has been accompanied by a narrowing of the ground for bureaucratism. The links between Party and state bodies and the employees have been further strengthened. Criticism and self-criticism are expressed with greater courage. The working masses have demonstrated culture, maturity, and balance in carrying out tasks and making decisions. This is a great encouragement for the Party to continue resolutely along this path. The ability of the masses to use democratic means, laws, and institutions in the service of socialist progress demonstrates that the Party’s decision was right. Conversely, their misuse would make us stop and think. The 9th Plenum clearly reflected the combative, antibureaucratic character of our Party. The open conduct of meetings of primary organizations, with the free participation of collective members, placed their activity—and that of all Communists—under the direct control of the masses, increased the creative role of employees in formulating development plans and directives, and strengthened the unity of the people with the Party. While affirming these encouraging steps, we must be aware that in this field we have much to do and will continue to have much to do. The struggle to democratize the life of the country is a historical process that must accompany socialism step by step. The current measures in fact constitute a second cycle, a new phase in the historical period that began on the eve of the 1970s, with Comrade Enver Hoxha’s well-known speeches and the decisions the Party took at that time to revolutionize every aspect of its own life and that of the entire country. Our Party will resolutely follow the path it has set for itself. The decisions we made at the 9th Plenum, which we are further developing and giving concrete form at today’s meeting, serve the interests of the people and the homeland. We aim to increase the role of the masses, so that workers, peasants, the intelligentsia, the youth—the people themselves—are the true masters of the country and exercise their power and sovereignty in every field: the economy, culture, and defense. We aim to revolutionize the life of the country and the Party by strengthening socialist democracy, so that the whole economy can develop, employees’ interest in every sphere of social activity can grow, and living conditions can be continually improved. It must be clear to all of us, starting with the members of the Party’s Central Committee and the Government, that implementing the tasks we have defined is not easy. Changes are always difficult. Many factors are intertwined here: tradition, culture, and material conditions. Take the question of authority. We all agree that the role of the masses and their initiative cannot be increased without relinquishing the excessive centralization of authority in central bodies or executive committees. But bureaucratism and routine do not disappear easily. To give something up, one must learn to do something else, something more skilled. Doing work one has mastered over decades is easier than adapting to a new way of management. Accustomed to exercising other people’s rights and securing authority through orders and personal decisions, some officials ask: “But what are we going to do now?” These comrades forget that central bodies and executive committees are not there to allocate funds and material resources, but to deal seriously and competently with formulating development policies in their respective fields, with the strategy for technical and technological progress, and with valuable studies and conclusions drawn from practice and from contact with and oversight of enterprises in their system. In today’s conditions, it has become possible to redistribute tasks and functions throughout the entire hierarchy of the management apparatus on a scientific basis. The 9th Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee called for a new ordering of social and economic life, based on discipline and uniform standards and laws that allow no exceptions. The masses have been encouraged to bring every action that is carried out under scrutiny. But the road we must travel to achieve our objectives is long. Resistance will be encountered, both from those who do not understand development and from those who try to harm socialism. Let us not forget that the class struggle is taking place in this field too. Thus, implementing the decision to have cadres, directors, and heads of various institutions elected directly by the collectives may seem simple. Nevertheless, implementation of the mass line has caused difficulties for some Party, state, and economic bodies. As a result, procedural actions are taken that artificially obstruct the implementation of the people’s will; collectives are pressured to elect the previous person in charge; voting is sometimes held openly so that the candidate put forward by the meeting’s presidium will be approved; in some places, confusion is created, and idlers exploit the democratic right to elect from below in order to discredit cadres who demand accountability and discipline, and so on. Here is another difficulty that must be overcome with patience and persistent educational work, but also by establishing clear and precise rules. The Party must follow throughout the process all the work being done to implement the decisions of the 9th Plenum. If in Tropojë or another district collectives reject certain recommendations by the responsible bodies concerning the election of people to leadership posts, this should prompt the district Party committee and executive committee to learn more about the situation and increase their contact with the people. If in the district of Berat it is said that the Party Committee can perform its duties with only half its staff, then action must now follow. If, finally, throughout the country there has been discussion about standardizing the requirements for each job and redefining the necessary criteria, this discussion must also extend to the central bodies, including the apparatus of the Central Committee. Let us bear in mind that forums are elected and renewed periodically, according to the Party statute and internal rules, whereas the apparatuses remain the same. Even after the 9th Plenum, in many areas both centrally and in the districts, the apparatuses continue much as before, making demands of others. Yet the most elementary principle for implementing its decisions should be: “let us start with ourselves.” The requirements for instructors must be adapted to the times. The decisions of the 9th Plenum set the task of raising the Party’s and mass organizations’ educational and persuasive work to a higher level. All propaganda, oral and written, must meet the demands of the times. It must discard slogans and formulas and make greater use of arguments, addressing questions and problems patiently and with culture. The Party and mass organizations must explain matters to people, while also rejecting every influence of the hostile propaganda directed against our country and socialism. It is necessary to work tirelessly to strengthen the unity of the people around the Party, our tested weapon. Work must be done with workers and peasants, with the intelligentsia, and especially with the youth, who are the future of the homeland. Work must be done to preserve and further develop the human values created by socialism, such as love for the homeland and its freedom, honesty and moral integrity, and a revolutionary and a[?]ctive spirit. It is never superfluous to explain to the masses that not long ago, just 45 years ago, nearly 85 percent of the population was illiterate. Today, by contrast, 75 percent of young people attend secondary schools. We must not forget that in 1945 the average life expectancy of an Albanian was 38 years. Now it exceeds 70. Not long ago, just 25 years ago, Albanian girls and women were considered second-class beings. Today, over 60 percent of teachers and doctors are women and girls. There is no unemployment in Albania, just as there are no drugs or terrorism; there is no social inequality, nor is there national unrest. The country is developing and progressing without debt or enslaving chains. The people are free in their own sovereign homeland. No temporary difficulty or shortage can overshadow these victories of the people and socialism. The great economic, political, and social transformations that took the country from the feudal stage into modern life could not have been achieved under any other social order than socialist society, where the people and the state are closely bound to each other. These achievements could not have become reality if Albania had not had a free and democratic life in which citizens’ rights and duties are harmonized with the interests of society as a whole. (Photo: ATSH) [The text then repeats:] con- (Continued on page 2)

(Photo: ATSH)

Our society has every opportunity for progress. We will put these opportunities in the economy and in other areas of social life into practice and turn them into new achievements through the united strength of the people, in their interest and in the interest of socialist construction.