SINCE MAY 24, 1944 The present development of our country, our present socialist state, has its roots in the foundations of the new democratic-popular state laid 46 years ago at the historic Congress of Përmet. This “constituent” congress will forever remain one of the monuments to the Party and Comrade Enver Hoxha, because, by creating the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council as the highest legislative and executive body in Albania and as the sole representative of the Albanian people and state, and by creating the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee as a provisional government—the first people’s democratic government of Albania—the Congress created the Albanian state of people’s democracy and settled once and for all the question of political power in the interests of the insurgent working masses. “The Congress,” as Comrade Ramiz Alia has said, “made the people’s fundamental aspirations a reality, the principal aim of so many of their revolutionary fighters; it made the people masters of the country, gave them power, and guaranteed Albania freedom and independence.” In creating and continually strengthening the new power in our country, the power that springs from the people and belongs to them, our Party has not imitated the models and practices of other countries, but has followed and continues to follow an original path based on Marxist-Leninist ideology, national historical experience, Albania’s particular conditions as a country with a small territory and population, and its level of economic, social and cultural development. In this country, the people and the state are bound to each other like flesh and bone. This explains the great economic, political and social transformations achieved in our country, which brought it out of multifaceted backwardness and into modern life. Our Party has always worked to preserve and strengthen the popular character of power and has fought resolutely for its continued improvement and democratization, because democracy is not granted once and for all; under the influence of various objective and subjective factors, it is continually deepened and broadened. Thus, with the further improvement of socialist relations in production, the uninterrupted development of the productive forces, the strengthening of socialist consciousness, and the raising of the material and cultural level of the masses, it became possible for our country, on the basis of the decisions of the Party Central Committee’s recent plenums, to enter a new phase of further democratization of its life. The 46 years since the Congress of Përmet are a living experience confirming that the continued strengthening and democratization of our people’s power, and the successful construction of socialism in Albania, depend on the Party’s sole and indivisible leadership in every sphere of the country’s life. In the future, too, as was emphasized at the 9th Plenum of the Central Committee, preserving the leading role of our Party will be a basic condition for continuing socialist construction in Albania and for revolutionizing the ties between the authorities and the masses through the expansion of socialist democracy, the improvement of legislation and of the new economic mechanism, and changes to the methods and working style of state bodies, etc. The uninterrupted democratization of the organs of power; the full authority of representative bodies elected by the masses; workers’ effective exercise of their right to decide for themselves on economic and cultural development plans, on the volume of production and the distribution of material goods, and to exercise oversight in every sphere of life, etc.—all aimed at further increasing the role of urban and rural workers in governing the country, developing the economy further, and improving living conditions—are now at the center of the attention of Party and state bodies and of every individual and collective. The latest session of the People’s Assembly gave legal force to the people’s will to resolve many issues relating to the further revolutionization and democratization of the country’s life. These will have broadly positive consequences throughout the country’s economic and social life and will powerfully influence its more rapid development, thanks to the more rational use of the creative energies of the masses, cadres and specialists, and of the new material and financial opportunities offered by the new economic mechanism, which will be highly beneficial to the interests of the working class. The decisions of the Party Central Committee’s 10th Plenum and those of the People’s Assembly have sparked renewed interest and enthusiasm for work, in order to fulfill and surpass the tasks in every field. Thus, the unity of the people and their militant solidarity around the Party are growing stronger still. Along this path, our people’s power, too, will be continually strengthened and democratized. By implementing the decisions adopted by the People’s Assembly and the guidance and advice of our beloved leader, Comrade Ramiz Alia, every worker, in the position assigned to them by society, contributes to the progress of the homeland and to the further strengthening and democratization of our socialist state, whose foundations were laid in the stormy years of the National Liberation War and given legal form at the Congress of Përmet. It has not imitated models and practices from original path based on Marxist-Leninist ideology, the national historical experience, Albania’s particular circumstances the country’s level of economic, social and cultural development, etc. As the 46 years that have passed testify, our people’s power was and remains profoundly popular-democratic, because it expresses the will of the sovereign people, masters of their own destiny. The fundamentally democratic character of our socialist state is grounded in the existence of socialist relations of production, built on the concentration of the means of production in the hands of the working masses, and in the leadership of the state by our working class, with its Party at the head. These have at the same time been and remain fundamental factors in strengthening and expanding socialist democracy in our country. The socialist social order and depend on the Party’s sole and indivisible leadership over every aspect emphasized at the 9th Plenum of the Central Committee, safeguarding our Party’s leading role will constitute guaranteeing the freedom and independence of the homeland. With its correct political line and its principled, consistent struggle to implement it, our Party has done and continues to do everything to ensure that our power remains steadfastly faithful to revolutionary, democratic and popular ideals and develops and perfects itself along a correct socialist path. Among the measures adopted by the Party at its 9th and 10th CC plenums to further strengthen power by deepening its democratization and that of the country’s entire life, and to combat bureaucratic concepts and practices, the central place is occupied by measures for the further revolutionization of the Party, for Party’s sole and indivisible leadership over every aspect our Party’s leading role will constitute revolutionization of the Party, for

Whenever you travel along the Vjosa, the people of Përmet, wherever you may be, tell you: “Look, May 24 has come... We’re waiting for you!” And before your eyes takes shape the Partisan of the Congress, which sanctioned the people’s will and sealed Albania’s democratic power. The Seventh Brigade fought and celebrated its heroism against the Nazi enemy at Qafa e Kiçokut and Shkozë. There in Odriçan, in the peasants’ simple shelters, the first ministries of the new Albania were being formed. An enemy plane circled over the delegates, who did not even bat an eyelid. The scent of roses, scorched by the shells, mingled with the smoke of rifles. And the Congress sealed the people’s will, barred the monarch’s return to Albania, and stood ready to strike with the sword at every attempt to establish reactionary governments, whether inside or outside the country. And the new roses of Përmet bloom, seeming to have just emerged from the wounds of the fallen. I walk through the city of students. A city whose name evokes light. Sons and daughters, grandchildren of former partisans who also convened the Congress of Përmet, live in this city—a nest that nurtures flight. It is exam time now, the most important exams, which the people did not ask about. But the democratization of life takes governance out of the hands of the administration and places it with the masses, who make the decisions. “The people have asked to meet more often with their elected representatives and to speak more frankly,” says People’s Artist Luftar Pajo. “And I’m not just a pencil-wielder visiting Përmet High School, but also ...” The visible text of the article ends here at the lower edge. “...the sawmill workers now?” their director Trifon Çfarku tells you. “Because they will be paid for this output, but if they do not deliver it, they will have to pay the money back. Now the administration—we managers are being held accountable by the workers themselves to take measures to settle the matter of the goods. The production yield that the foreman achieves with his sawmill workers, I have to deliver in management, in the administration of the goods. That is why I believe the forest should have one owner. Whoever is made responsible for it must mark the trees, cut them, transport them and process them. Felling the trees, transporting and processing them, and making furniture should therefore all be part of one enterprise, so that it is accountable to itself. Above all, forest maintenance must be included in this system, because ultimately the forest is the crown of the ecological system’s pyramid. Here is what has happened: the same material—for example, a beech log—is reported as timber by the timber-processing enterprise after it is felled; when it goes to the combine, it is reported as sawn timber; after sawing, when it goes to the furniture factory, it is reported as furniture once processed. Why should it be reported three times by three enterprises? The state and the people need to know how much furniture you produced. The cycle should therefore be closed so that the material is not wasted.” In your notes you have a mosaic of conversations, episodes and impressions. You have just come away from a polemic, from an open debate full of questions and disagreements. A young poet from Elbasan, who writes as he thinks, has enthusiastic admirers and disapproving critics. A young journalist takes notes on the paradoxes of bureaucracy that are being filtered through democratization. The director of NTUS turns out to be an electrician with a secondary-school education and cannot be replaced because he was appointed only two years ago. The director of the Water Enterprise, too, lacks the relevant education. But how can the new economic mechanism be implemented when directors like these do not know how to read the records for this economic sector professionally? A former district secretary of the Youth, a very good young woman, of course, is promoted to director of the savings bank just to raise her salary, even though the position calls for a financial economist, not a planner. Meanwhile, a qualified economist at the Food Enterprise works in production; she is being underused, they say, because there is no job available. There you have it: such paradoxes obstruct democratization. And you travel on again. You meet new comrades, new people. The archaeologist Riza Hasa has just returned from Munich, where he took the archaeological exhibition. And he tells you about the book he brought in German, «Për “Rruga e letërsisë gjermane”». The painter Sami Roçi tells how a foreign journalist liked two prints by a young man from Skroska, and he hurries to look again at the paintings in «Galerinë e Artit pikturat e Luvrit», stopping especially at Gauguin. Almost twenty thousand visitors have seen the exhibition. And it leaves them with impressions not only of the Mona Lisa and Liberty on the Barricades, but also of works by the Impressionists Monet and Renoir; after the Impressionists, Van Gogh and Gauguin, and then, in our century, Matisse, Braque and Picasso. A person who enjoys power in their own country enjoys—and will continue to enjoy—the finest human values wherever they are found. I found myself at a discussion among comrades. The discussion turned to the most capable, the most interested. ...met, who seem name evokes light. Sons and daughters, grandchildren, for ... of former partisans who convened and consecrated nurtures flight. It is exam time now. It is also a season of discussions about upcoming appointments. The young people decide for themselves at their meetings. The power of appointment has been given to the young people themselves. Freedom demanded their blood in the War, and they gave it. They were almost twenty years old. Remember Qemal Stafa and Margarita Tutulani, Vojo Kushi and Shejnaze Juka. Now young people have the power to debate and decide for themselves to work wherever the voice of the Homeland calls them. But bureaucracy will not disappear easily. It attacks you with interference and compromises that our sincere young people will not tolerate. The Plenum says that objective criteria should be established. Nevertheless, some who seek privileges do not want competition. During a meeting, as I am told, the criteria set by the presidium are being discussed differently. And the meeting— …of Përmet, who seemed as though they had just emerged from the wound of the fallen. I walked through the city of students. A city bearing a name of light. Sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of former partisans, who cried out and consecrated Përmet, are here in this city—a nest that nurtures flight. It is examination future The power to make appointments has been given to the young themselves. Freedom asked for were barely twenty. Juka. The Plenum says that rigorous not want competition. At one meeting, as I learn, the criteria set by the presidium are being debated differently. And the meeting— I know why they are more interested — (Continued on page 3) High school students (Photo: G. Xhengo)

These days, Marash Hajati, chairman of the Union of Journalists of Albania and editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Zëri i popullit», is making a friendly visit to Algeria. During his stay, he was received by Nouredin Nait Mazi, director-general of the publishing enterprise «El Muxhahidin», with whom he exchanged views on the work and role of the press and on opportunities for cooperation in the field of information between the two countries. He also visited and held meetings at the technical center of the publishing enterprise «El Muxhahidin» and at the studios of Algerian Television. The chairman of the Union of Journalists of Albania, Marash Hajati, was also received by Sadek Busena, Algeria’s Minister of Energy and Minerals. During the reception, which took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere, they discussed the good relations between the two countries and opportunities to expand cooperation in various areas of mutual interest. Dhimitër Stamo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, was also present at these meetings. (ATSH)

After four stages, the «Vllaznia» team is in the lead Yesterday the fourth stage of the 46th Tour of Albania was held, Durrës–Fier, an individual race against the clock over one kilometre, 82 km long. At the end of this stage, first place went to the «Vllaznia» team with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 14 seconds; second place to the «Partizani» team with a time of 1 hour, 52 minutes and 09 seconds; and third place to the «Dinamo» team with a time of 1 hour, 53 minutes and 22 seconds. After four stages, the «Vllaznia» team leads with a time of 29 hours, 45 minutes and 38 seconds, followed by the «Partizani» and «Dinamo» teams. In the individual standings, Renato Telhai of the «Skënderbeu» team continues to lead. Today the fifth stage, Fier–Gjirokastër, 124 km long, will take place. (ATSH)

Work cannot be done with telegrams alone In just a few days, the wheat harvest will begin, especially in the coastal areas. For this purpose, combine harvesters from the eastern region come down to the coastal fields to help. The employees of the Peshkopi SMT worked for several months in a row and completed everything that was our responsibility by the end of April. But by this time, some supplies should also have arrived. Alcohol for the brake system is missing; steel chains, certain types of bearings and electrical components of specified sizes are missing. Not a single spare part has arrived for four combine harvesters of one type. Meanwhile, the telegram that comes from elsewhere—“Have the microlators ready for transporting the combine harvesters”—seems out of season, when the machines were standing on blocks for their tires. Has the Mechanical Directorate taken an interest in these shortages? Now we can say that everything is ready on our end, but these machines are not ready for operation because of the supply shortages, as well as the lack of interest shown by this directorate, which we have informed from time to time. The difficulties caused by the lack of supplies are not limited to the matters we have mentioned. At this SMT, concern has repeatedly been raised over the shortage of tires for the tractors we use in our work. Of the first 160 tires we should have received during this period, we were supplied with only 16. The SMT’s supply staff have been left in Tirana looking for these parts, even though the agricultural supply base has already handled this. Likewise, when it comes to moving combine harvesters from one district to another, we believe it would be right for our district’s machines for the campaign to go to Krujë and Lezhë, since those districts send combine harvesters to Dibër. This would better harmonize the interests and responsibilities of the districts. Bensil Skënderi, Selim Shkurta, Dalip Lela, Elez Fishti, mechan operators at the «Hamdi Lleshi» SMT, Peshkopi Retreading tires is worthwhile The director of the Durrës tire factory, Agim Kasmi; the head of the tire-retreading section, Ramyeti Curri; the quality inspector, Gjon Brunga; and the section’s workers raised this issue with us: “For a month now we have been half-starved of tires for retreading. The contracts we signed last year are not being honored by the others; consequently, we are not meeting our obligations either.” What is the situation? The collection of tires for retreading is handled by the construction-materials trading enterprise in Durrës and its branches in the districts. The factory’s specialists go to the site, inspect the condition of the tires, and determine precisely which ones need retreading, while those that are completely worn out are assigned another use, in Durrës and Himarë. Contracts were also signed last year. The plan for this year is 25,000 tires. (Continued on page 2)

Supplies through... intermediaries The district’s commercial and food enterprises are supplied with cooking oil by the food-products enterprise in Fier. However, the Commercial Trading Enterprise No. 2, headquartered in Fier as well, is supplied with oil by the food-processing and procurement enterprise in Ballsh. The latter obtains it under contract from the food enterprise in Fier and passes it on to NTSH No. 2 in Fier. Thus, supplies are routed through an “intermediary.” And we think this creates a chain: specifically, over a breach of the oil contract, NTSH No. 2 takes its supplier, the food enterprise in Ballsh, to arbitration. The latter shifts responsibility further down the line and takes the food enterprise in Fier to arbitration. Especially since the beginning of the year, the supplying enterprises have created a major shortfall for NTSH No. 2 in fulfilling its contract. We think that in this first instance of this tangled arrangement, the managers of the food enterprise in Fier should fully accept their responsibility, rather than deflecting it onto intermediate links. VANGJEL STEFA