«Because I don’t want the gentlemen to take power after this...» — KORÇË — The candidate sat down. He turned his gaze toward the residents. Their faces showed approval of what had been said. At the end, after the questions, without wishing to draw conclusions, a participant in the meeting with residents of neighborhood No. 6 expressed himself as follows: «I am a worker. Yesterday, here in this hall, I was among those attending the meeting with the Democratic Party’s female representative candidate. As a man of the people, I have the right to compare these two candidates and make an appeal. I invite the residents of our neighborhood to vote for this engineer, comrade Agim Shahinasi. Here are my reasons. He came here and spoke with us like one of our own, like our comrade. Whereas the Democratic Party deputy (Natascha Lako) presented herself to us as a lady. I’ll tell you plainly: I can’t stomach this word “gentleman.” And I want to ask: to whom will we give power if we vote for the representative of this party—to the gentlemen?! Second, you heard the Labour Party candidate: he spoke to us face to face, was concerned about our problems, and did not take offense. Let the Democratic Party deputy forgive me, but she had a prompter with her; the person accompanying her from the Korçë branch of the Democratic Party spoke more than the deputy did. Third, the Democratic Party’s program does not convince me that it protects workers’ interests. So why are these ladies and gentlemen suddenly so friendly toward us workers—is it just to get our votes?!» That was all he said. The other residents approved. Indeed, he had voiced everyone’s sentiments. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit» Why the hall applauded Marie Gjeloshi so enthusiastically — TROPOJË — One of the most striking contributions made in the hall was that of worker Marie Gjeloshi. Among other things, she praised the PPSH parliamentary candidate, Halil Elezi, for his high moral integrity, his loyalty as a communist and cadre, and his determination to carry out his duties and keep his promises. But we understood her words on this point, which we quote: «The people have always had problems and always will. We understand that no matter who takes power, the people will still have problems. But we love the Party of Labour and like its program because we trust it, since it is more down to earth and twice as closely connected to the people; these people who curse seem to me like people who have not yet come round from the anesthesia. The Democratic Party’s program has left out just one point: it didn’t say, “we will bring even the dead back to life.” Had it said that too, it would surely have won every vote. As for the rest, we don’t envy them. What the Party of Labour has done, we see with our own eyes and touch with our own hands, and they are wasting their time trying both to curse it and to praise it; everything that has been done is among us, bound up with our blood and sweat.» Contributions like these, which tell the truth as it is, show that nothing but love for the Party of Labour and its sons—who are the blood and life of the country—can enter the hearts of the people in the «16 Tetori» and «50th Anniversary of Independence» neighborhoods of the city of Bajram Curri. Can democracy be built through insults, as we are reading in the Democratic Party’s newspaper? I am a wor- HALIL BUÇPAPAJ Our Party is the initiator of the democratization of the country. It has worked and continues to work courageously and resolutely in this direction. After the elections, too, we will resolutely follow this path. RAMIZ ALIA

A group of veterans from Tepelena write to us We heard you, Mr. Gramoz Pashko, when you spoke on television and offered us veterans your care and assistance. But you set one condition: that we not speak in our neighborhoods, that we keep quiet and forget our past, forget our people’s struggle for freedom. It does not even occur to us to take you into consideration, much less your concern for us. And how could we listen to you, when you deny our respected comrade, your father? No, Mr. Gramoz, you do not love Albania’s veterans, the veterans of the National Liberation War; you denied them, the blood and sweat they shed over these 46 years. What you said on television was only for electoral consumption. What you served up to the people was only to win votes. But we veterans of Tepelena tell you plainly that our votes belong to the Albanian Party of Labour, today and for as long as we live. It is hard to believe there are honest veterans in Albania who would give you and the party you represent their votes. Veterans: Elmas Teme, Esh-ref Gjonça, Zagoll Shehu, Hito Rusto, Dallëndyshe Bektashi, Shyqyri Shehu, Rexho Malaj, Resmi Goga, Margarita Bilbili, Vangjeli Gjonça, Bane Cela, Faslli Mullaraj, Tahir Mehmeti, etc.

— PUKË — Candidates for the Albanian Party of Labour have for days been holding discussions with voters in the electoral districts of the Pukë district. They debate various points of the electoral program, ask questions and give answers. Everywhere, the candidates’ commitment to advancing the work is singled out, but we will also move forward with objectives achieved, because there is no democracy without work.» Therefore, the urgent task is to plant potatoes and prepare the land for the major corn campaign, etc., because waiting is harmful now. to advancing the work is singled out, ...t for deputy; our votes go to the person we hold dear. And that is the candidate of the Albanian Party of Labour. But also with objectives fulfilled. This is what is happening in every collective, wherever meetings are held. The voters are like this everywhere, connected to their work, candidates for parliament Nikollë Pali and Fran Pjetri also told us; they were nominated in the Gjegjan and Iballë districts. The miners, sawmill workers and collectives have great aims— ka ditë që në këtë zonat e zgjedhjeve të rrethit të Pukës janë shfaqur në biseda me zgjedhësit. Debatojnë për pika të ndryshme të programit elektoral, bëhen pyetje e japin përgjigje. Kudo veçohet për… [partly illegible] for everyone to feel the candidates’ commitment to moving work forward and resolving in good time the problems raised by the people. But these meetings are taking place amid work in every production sector. In agriculture, the season does not allow you to leave work. And so does the good weather that is [holding?]. A farmer from Laj… put it well: «We will go to the polling station united; we will give our vote to the candidate of the Albanian Party of Labour…»

— SHKODËR — At the bus manufacturing plant, we meet Tren Xhabina, a director who speaks knowledgeably about his own work and that of the collective. «The essential thing,» he says, «is to keep my workers supplied with work. It is easier to ... tell them, “Here’s 80 percent, now go.” But that is neither in their interest nor in the plant’s…». He explains how he has struggled to find them work fronts even outside the planned production specifications, as well as additional materials. «What is important,» he says, «is that we have tried to find— (Continued on page 2)

corn irrigation campaign, etc., because waiting is harmful now. The cooperative members of Qelzë came from work to meet Arif Halili, the Albanian Party of Labour candidate for parliament. No one is absent from work: some are working in the cooperative yard, while other forces carry out the day’s tasks at the cooperative every day. The conversations begin naturally with the work being done and conclude with a pledge before the candida-

Yesterday afternoon, in one of the rooms of the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Prof. Dr. Rexhep Mejdani, met with foreign parliamentary delegations that have come to our country at the invitation of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly to observe the elections in Albania on 31 March. After welcoming them on behalf of the Central Election Commission, Prof. Dr. Rexhep Mejdani, among other things, stressed that your presence during these elections will be an element that will help ensure their successful conduct and the realization of democratic processes. The invitation extended by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and your presence in Albania convincingly demonstrate that you consider it your duty to follow the conduct of free, democratic and pluralist elections. He then discussed the new electoral law, the majoritarian system, the organization and conduct of the elections, etc. He also spoke about the work carried out so far by the Central Election Commission and the district, constituency and polling-station commissions, etc. After explaining that the preparatory work for observing the elections under the electoral law had been completed—including preparing polling stations, drawing up voter lists, proposing and presenting candidates, etc.—Prof. Dr. Rexhep Mejdani also spoke about coverage of the election campaign in the press and on Radio-Television. The overwhelming majority of military personnel, he stressed, will vote [text unclear]. the organization and conduct of the elections, etc. (Part of the column text is illegible.)

The Labor Party Committee in the district of Skrapar organized a large gathering at the House of Culture of the Professional Unions in the town of Poliçan to explain the PPSH electoral program. Professor Dr. Abdyl Baka, secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, spoke about the Labor Party’s program. He emphasized the fundamental idea that the Party of Labor’s economic and social program is permeated by the socialist ideal and the aim of ensuring the people’s well-being and social justice on the basis of work and each person’s contribution. The economic reform we have designed, he went on to stress, will create the conditions for establishing a new economic climate through the operation of productive market forces and the active role of the state in the market. The reforms will proceed gradually, from full self-management of industry to pluralism in the field of ownership, from strict monetary and financial policy to the setting of priorities for economic development, and from intensifying economic relations with the world to implementing a complete and efficient system in the field of [text cut off]. (Continued on page 2)

foreign delegations arrived in our country yesterday to observe the pluralist elections in Albania on 31 March: the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, headed by Marsel Lentezë - Komnetë, and the delegation of the European Parliament of the European Community, headed by Aleksandër Langer. Those who came to receive them at Rinas Airport included Sihat Tozaj, secretary of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, and Muhamet Kapllani, Minister of Foreign Affairs, among others. Also yesterday, the delegation of the An- [Continued on page 4] arrived in our country.

Yesterday, the group of American senators and congressmen, headed by Senator Dennis De Konsinski, chairman of the Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held a press conference in central Tirana. Journalists from our press organizations, the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, RTV, and representatives of newspapers, news agencies, radio stations and television networks from foreign countries took part. Senator Dennis De Konsini and other members of the group answered journalists’ questions about the situation of foreigners [text unclear], how they assess the current situation in Albania on the eve of the first pluralist elections on 31 March, the country’s relations and cooperation with other countries, its integration into the civilized world, and what they [text unclear]. (Continued on page 4)

Yesterday morning, Mejdani, held a meeting with Dennis De Konsini, Europe. Prof. Dr. Rexhep Mejdani briefed the American delegation on the situation in the country, the work and activities of the Central Election Commission, and the progress of preparations for the 31 March elections. He said that substantial work had been done to educate and instruct voters and prepare for pluralist elections in the country. Prof. Dr. Rexhep Mejdani outlined the various aspects of the election campaign and said that election propaganda would cease on election day. In response to the senators’ questions, De Konsini [asked] about how the elections would be conducted by electoral subjects, the issue of communication, and matters relating to election propaganda. (Continued on page 4)

Even after the explanations given to the press by the chairman of the Central Election Commission concerning the invalidity of votes cast for comrade Ramiz Alia in districts where he is not registered as a candidate, confusion still persists. We therefore clarify once again: For each candidacy, only the votes the candidate receives in the relevant district are valid. The same rule applies to comrade Ramiz Alia’s candidacy. Voters from other districts

chairman of the Central Election Commission regarding constituencies where he is not registered as a candidate, there is still some confusion. votes that the candidate receives in the relevant constituency candidacy. If voters from other areas of the country vote for him, as they have said they intend to do, they will waste their votes. Even if 10,000 or 500,000 ballot papers were filled out for Comrade Ramiz Alia throughout the country, not one of them would count in favor of his candidacy. On the contrary, they would be votes lost by the Labor Party candidates in the respective constituencies. Such a vote has no value for the person, for the Labor Party, or for the candidate it has put forward. We therefore reiterate: our voters should cast their votes only for the Labor Party candidate in the constituency to which they belong. “ZËRI I POPULLIT”

Various political forces in the country have requested permission to hold rallies in the capital’s main square in the run-up to the elections. In view of the tense situation we are experiencing, which could prevent the people from going calmly and freely to the democratic and pluralist elections of 31 March, and given that this square and the main avenues have seen dozens of violent confrontations in recent months, the authorities and law-enforcement bodies have not granted permission for such rallies to be held in this square. The Democratic Party continues to insist on organizing rallies there, even though the reasons have been made clear and other venues and squares in the capital have been offered for its election rally. Despite the warning issued, it has posted notices calling on its supporters to gather on 29 March. The authorities and law-enforcement bodies inform citizens that any gathering in “Skënderbej” Square and along “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard is illegal. Law-enforcement forces have been ordered to strictly enforce the law on gatherings and demonstrations. The authorities and law-enforcement bodies call on the country’s political forces to refrain from organizing and holding rallies in Tirana’s main square and boulevard until the elections have concluded.

The Presidential Council, which met yesterday, 28 March 1991, with representatives of the Labor Party, the Democratic Party, the Ecological Party and other electoral subjects in attendance, discussed the progress of the election campaign to date. It noted that all the subjects had abided by the election law and the agreement reached among them. Those attending the meeting were informed of the concern arising from the Democratic Party’s insistence on holding an election rally at all costs in “Skënderbej” Square, despite the fact that the authorities and law-enforcement bodies in the capital, for reasons of security and public order, had not granted the relevant permission. The authorities in the capital have offered the Democratic Party any other venue, square or hall in Tirana for holding its rally, with the exception of the central square and “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard. The Presidential Council and all those attending the meeting considered the position of the authorities and law-enforcement bodies to be justified, all the more so since no other party or electoral subject had been granted permission to hold rallies in this square during the election campaign. They called on the Democratic Party to hold its rally at one of the locations offered to it and not to act in violation of the law.