(Photo: ATSH)

— A warm conversation with the cooperative members of Selenicë — The First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, Comrade Ramiz Alia, left Korçë yesterday and arrived in the district of Kolonjë. He was welcomed by Hysen Faqolli, First Secretary of the district Party Committee, and Mikail Cakuli, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the district People's Council. On the way, Comrade Ramiz Alia stopped at the center of the Selenicë agricultural cooperative, where he was welcomed by the cooperative members, specialists, and cadres of this enterprise. The comrades from the cooperative had planned a meeting in an indoor hall. But could it hold these hundreds of people and their enthusiasm? “The weather is so lovely,” said Comrade Ramiz. “Why don't we talk out here in this nearby meadow?” That was all it took for the field to fill with enthusiastic people from Selenicë. Two little ones in white aprons came over, sat down, and placed Comrade Ramiz in their midst. “Now we have the presidium in ... order,” he said. “We can begin.” Muharrem Serani, secretary of the cooperative's Party bureau, spoke about the achievements they had made, particularly in increasing livestock yields, but also about shortcomings in their work with maize. Among other things, Comrade Ramiz asked about the progress Selenicë had made in education and health care, and especially about distribution. (Continued on page 2)

— From the speech at the meeting with the district cadres — “Everywhere I went,” Comrade Ramiz pointed out, “people told me that the 10th Plenum has freed new ideas. This is positive. This Plenum must change people's ideas and mentality. Everything must be viewed critically, distinguishing clearly what is valuable as it is from what needs to be changed.” This Plenum, he said, was not only about the economy, but about every field. First and foremost, Party organizations must reflect on it. Party life must respond to the new demands that have emerged, starting with reporting. Often, reports give only a partial picture of reality and highlight only the positive aspects. It was said here that the peasantry had welcomed the decision to let them decide for themselves what to do with the livestock kept in household herds. But why had the leading comrades in the districts and at the grassroots, the communists and cadres, not made any criticisms or suggestions earlier to put the situation in livestock farming right? The Party must be informed about reality as it is, without glossing over it, and certainly without unhealthy criticism. Otherwise, it cannot reach correct conclusions. People must express their views freely, with communist sincerity and an open heart. The decisions of the 10th Plenum must change the Party's internal life itself. It must respond to current standards and demands. The Party leads effectively when its line enters the world of the masses and is embraced by them. It cannot fulfill this mission through orders or decisions, but by winning the people over through the example of the communists. The 9th Plenum, Comrade Ramiz went on, instructed that Party meetings be held openly. This is not a matter of procedure or simply an organizational practice, because it concerns the very essence of the Party's work. By holding their meetings openly, organizations come under the direct control of the people. There is then no need for a campaign in which communists report on their work, because they will be continuously held accountable. “At present,” he emphasized, “some traditional forms of Party work have become obsolete and must be replaced with new ones. Party education, directed by the education sector, can no longer be conducted through schematic programs. Educational methods must give people the opportunity to think for themselves, not merely to approve. Of course, there is discipline in the Party, and there are decisions which, once made, must be implemented. But until decisions are reached and implemented, communists must have the opportunity to examine and discover things as people with critical minds.” “Let us take another issue,” he said, “that of admissions to the Party. I believe that you, like districts elsewhere, have conducted studies and drawn up plans on this matter, setting out ratios and percentages, and sometimes even naming the candidates in advance. This can prevent the grassroots organization from keeping up with life. Ratios and proportions are necessary, but they apply to the Party as a whole. The grassroots organization does not admit people to meet numbers, ratios, or percentages, nor to adjust the geographical distribution, but to improve its composition. “What is fundamental for the Party,” Comrade Ramiz pointed out, “is is no socialism without people's activity, without democracy—that is, without the people's power. It is sometimes said that the mass line is implemented through the Party. That is true. But the 10th Plenum, just as it called for strengthening the Party's leading role, also called for greater direct participation by the people in the affairs of government. “Democratizing Party life and the exercise of power is no easy matter. Various social, cultural, traditional, and other factors are intertwined here. To act democratically means to observe the ethics of debate and dialogue, to listen to other people's views and for others to respect your views, and to discuss with arguments rather than impose yourself by virtue of your position and office. The people's democracy is the most effective weapon in the struggle against bureaucratism, which is not a passing phenomenon but one of the most dangerous ills for socialism. “Bureaucratism and formalism also exist in the Party's work, especially in its apparatuses. I am not in favor of setting quotas for what percentage of the apparatuses may be cut, but there is room to streamline them. The Party and government apparatuses serve the elected bodies. In practice, however, they wield more power than they should. Their relationship with the forums must change. This makes it all the more important to strengthen the role of elected representatives, which means choosing the most capable people, those able to take responsibility for the authority entrusted to them. “If we speak of strengthening the Party's role,” he said, “this also implies strengthening the role of mass organizations. They must be more active in their work, and Party organizations themselves must abandon their tendency to keep these organizations under their tutelage. “In the spirit of the 10th Plenum,” he instructed, “every employee and every workplace must determine what it will change about itself. In this context, the propaganda work too must free itself from outdated patterns and forms, and raise its level to meet the people's cultural aspirations.” At the end, Comrade Ramiz congratulated the workers of Kolonjë on their successes and wished them further success.

The meetings Comrade Ramiz held with the people of Kolonjë at the Selenicë cooperative, with the district's leading cadres in Ersekë, and those in Leskovik all had something else in common today, besides their warm, friendly atmosphere. How had the decisions of the 10th Plenum been understood? How were they being implemented? This was one reason people were eager to inform Comrade Ramiz in concrete detail, just as he wanted to know precisely what had changed since the 10th Plenum in the thinking of people, communists, and cadres, as well as in working practices. Impressions The fact is that everywhere, here in Kolonjë too, people tell you when you meet them that since the Plenum they have noticed a different outlook and even greater mobilization. This is also apparent in people's cheerful state of mind. But at the meeting in Ersekë, Comrade Ramiz insisted on learning what concrete changes had taken place in the Party organization and in the thinking of the secretary of the grassroots organization or the secretary of the Party committee, and so on. In the dialogue between the leader and Gjergji Milos on these issues, one senses that responding to the Plenum as quickly and as well as possible requires a broader outlook, beyond the narrow concepts of the past. Because, as was said at the meeting, understanding the 10th Plenum is not simply a matter of reading. For example, speaking about the Party's leading role cannot be done merely by explaining the lessons one may have taken at the Party School. Because those ... (Continued on page 2)

As part of preparations for the next session of the People's Assembly, the standing commissions on Foreign Affairs and Trade met yesterday in Tirana. At the Foreign Affairs Commission, the draft laws to be submitted to the upcoming session of the People's Assembly were discussed in a spirit of open exchange. These included “On Agreements,” “On Tariff Issues,” “On Certain Amendments to the Law on the Approval and Implementation of the State Budget,” “On the State Bank,” “On the Agricultural Bank,” and others. The commission's chairman, deputy Foto Çami, said that all these and other draft laws were of great importance for strengthening the economy and democratizing the country's relations and public life. Their implementation would give further impetus to resolving the problems arising from the country's development, and so on. The deputies, who had also sought the views of employees in their work collectives and of their constituents, began by asking questions and requesting clarification on specific issues of economic development with better accounting, on the responsibilities of ministries and executive committees of district People's Councils, and so on. They addressed the improvement of the economic mechanism and its levers, the expansion of enterprises' powers, their self-financing, and expanded reproduction in implementation of the decisions of the 10th Plenum of the Party's Central Committee and the directives of Comrade Ramiz Alia. They discussed in particular the draft law “On Enterprises,” considering it closely connected with increasing production, raising the people's well-being, and so on. Nexhmije Hoxha, deputy for the district of Tirana, spoke about expanding enterprises' powers, which gives them greater initiative and independence to increase their activity and production. Shefqet Peçi, deputy for the district of Fier, requested that, when responsibility lies with ministries and not with the enterprise, tasks should not be delayed for objective reasons. Bilal Parruca, deputy for the district of Shkodër, proposed that the council ... (Continued on page 2)

It is fundamental for the Party that its line be the line of the masses. There is no socialism without people's self-activity, without democracy—that is, without the people's power.