The People’s Assembly continued its work yesterday morning at 9:00, under the direction of Kastriot Islami, Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and a deputy. At the outset, deputies were presented with the composition of the Parliamentary Commission to inform the Assembly about the events of April 2 in the city of Shkodër. The chairmen of the parliamentary groups of the political parties proposed deputies from the Party of Labour, the Democratic Party and the OMONIA organization as members of this commission. The Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly informed the deputies that, at the first meeting he had held with the chairmen of the parliamentary groups and the prime minister, they had reached a consensus on drawing up the agenda for the Assembly’s proceedings, as follows: 1. – Review and adoption of the draft constitution; 2. – Election of the head of state; 3. – Composition of the government. 6. – Election of the Constitutional Council. 7. – Report from the Special Parliamentary Commission. 8. – Election of the Supreme Court. 9. – Appointment of the Prosecutor General and his deputy. 10. – Election of the High Council of Justice. 11. – Review of the proposals of the Draft Rules Commission. 12. – Election of the Standing Committees of the People’s Assembly. 13. – Election of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Group. 14. – Approval of the Decree issued by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly between the two sessions. Although consensus on the agenda had been reached among the parliamentarians, there were numerous comments, discussions and debates in the Assembly by deputies on the proposal, with emphasis on the view that item 7 should be at the top of the agenda, that is, before the review and adoption of the draft constitution. PP deputies Fehmi Abdiu, Ismail Lleshi, etc., said that the agenda presented was quite suitable for the normal conduct of the Assembly’s proceedings. Meanwhile, PP deputy Fatos Nano said that the order in which the various agenda items were considered should not become a cause for obstructing the Assembly’s work and the normal functioning of the state. Specifically, he proposed that the Special Parliamentary Commission be instructed and assigned particular responsibility to work as quickly as possible, and that the Assembly suspend its proceedings whenever the Commission was ready to report on its findings. “In the meantime, we must continue our work,” he said. PP deputy Shaqir Vukaj, having joined other deputies in expressing concern about the painful events in Shkodër and the need for a swift and fair resolution of the investigations into them, (continued on page 2) (Photo: ATSH)

— Statement by the Council of Ministers on expanding the market mechanism and strengthening economic levers in agriculture — Based on the fact that agriculture is a major sector of the economy; that the peasantry has made and continues to make an important contribution to the sources of social accumulation; that the incomes of cooperative members and peasants are lower than those of the working class; and that the possibilities for increasing production and making use of favourable natural conditions in agriculture are far greater than the results achieved to date, the Council of Ministers, at its meeting of 18.4.1991, set out the following tasks for the relevant state bodies, to be accompanied immediately by the necessary decisions. 1. ON PROCUREMENT PRICES AND OTHER ECONOMIC LEVERS In general, procurement prices for agricultural and livestock products are to be set on the basis of their costs under the least favourable average climatic and soil conditions. In accordance with this economic criterion, procurement prices for grain, industrial crops and livestock products are to be raised. For these major products, which form the basis of the people’s diet, the aim should be to apply uniform prices throughout the country. To ensure that wheat bread is available throughout the year in the countryside as well, the relevant bodies, in drawing up the grain balance and in accordance with the above measures, are to leave the agricultural economy the entire wheat production it needs for this purpose, or make up any shortfall. The retail prices of these products will be controlled by the state. Prices for vegetables, fruit, potatoes, watermelons, medicinal plants and other products obtained from agricultural land are to be determined freely according to supply and demand in contractual relations between agricultural economies and the state, collective or private economic entities connected with them. As production increases, efforts will be made to neutralize the tendency for prices to rise. The change in the criteria for setting procurement prices and free-market prices, and the increase in their levels, are to be accompanied by the elimination of prices, tariffs and other economic levers that have been granted more generously than in previous years solely as a result of improvements in the economic mechanisms. These changes and benefits will be implemented gradually during this year, with the aim of offsetting their effects on retail prices in the cities and the countryside through increases in wages and pensions and by other means closely linked to price movements. 2. ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF COOPERATIVES AND THE STRENGTHENING OF COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL INTEREST WITHIN THEM As part of economic reform, the Council of Ministers emphasizes the need for agricultural cooperatives, as economic and social units in the countryside, not only to avoid being dissolved, but to become in practice the principal administrators of economic and social life in the countryside. On the basis of cooperative democracy and decisions taken collectively concerning work, property, production and distribution, they are to expand and supplement their activities with production, trade and essential services throughout the territory of the economic area in which they operate; increase their economic independence; and harmonize the interests of their members with those of the countryside as a whole and with the city. a) The production structure is to be determined directly by agricultural economies through free contractual relations with procurement enterprises, industry, domestic and foreign trade, and private collectives, in accordance with the economic interests of producers and consumers. The Council of Ministers recommends that agricultural economies give priority in their production structures to the crops and livestock best suited to their specific conditions and which, in light of market conditions, ensure them greater income. State bodies and other independent economic entities are to draw up their own plans for the purchase and sale of agricultural and livestock products with third parties, as well as for their distribution, including exports and imports. – Livestock, fruit trees, olive trees, vineyards and citrus groves may be assigned to families or groups of families under annual production contracts or contracts of longer duration. In the case of livestock, the contract also covers the arable land or pasture provided for use. – For field crops, production may be organized on the basis of brigades or small work units, down to the family level, advancing production agreements under contracts for each production cycle concluded with the brigade leaders. – Cooperative members are to be remunerated according to the specific arrangements for organizing production and the results obtained from its sale. Alongside improvements to existing forms, differentiated remuneration may also be applied on the basis of the income earned by each brigade or smaller production unit, as well as remuneration for each unit of product sold. – The agricultural cooperative is to decide for itself the size of its accumulation fund and how it is used for investment, a wage guarantee fund and other common needs. It may determine the allocation of these funds at any time, according to the economic needs that arise and the decisions taken by its representative bodies. 3. ON EXPANDING AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION AND THE OTHER NECESSARY MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL BASE FOR THE COLLECTION, PROCESSING AND SALE OF AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS, ETC. They take on the functions of producing and marketing bread, managing the accumulation fund and social insurance, providing agro-zooveterinary services, essential services in the countryside, etc. State bodies and enterprises will continue to have the relevant responsibilities for these matters. c) In lowland agricultural cooperatives and other cooperatives with substantial amounts of agricultural land and jointly owned livestock, the current cooperative organization is to be maintained and improved. The forms of organizing production, work and remuneration in these cooperatives are to be varied, with the aim of strengthening the direct interest of producers, both collectively and as individuals. a call upon the Commission entrusted with special responsibility to neutralize the impact of rising prices. The change in the criteria for setting procurement and free-market sales prices, and raising their levels, should economic levers differentiated by region. This should be supplemented by a system of service tariffs, prices for means of production, and a fiscal system governing the relations of the economic entities of cooperatives and agricultural enterprises with the state budget. As a result of the economic and financial measures outlined above, agricultural workers will receive several hundred million lekë from this year’s produce ... ...atives connected with them. With increased production, the aim will be for other independent economic entities to draw up their own plans for buying and selling for their distribution, including exports and imports. b) In agricultural cooperatives, mainly in mountainous areas with little or no agricultural land, the economy should take on a cooperative commercial character. In such cases, arable land, fruit trees, vineyards, and collectively owned livestock may be entrusted to families or groups of families to manage under a long-term contract concluded with the cooperative’s representative bodies. These commercial-type cooperatives shall enter into regular contracts with producers to ensure the supply of... ...the accumulation fund and the purposes for which it is used, including investment, a wage guarantee fund, and other shared needs. It may change the purpose for which these funds are used at any time, depending on the economic requirements d) An agricultural cooperative may, using its own funds or credit and through commercial activities at home and abroad, purchase production equipment of any kind through direct contractual arrangements. 3. ON COMPLETING THE PERSONAL SUBSIDIARY PLOT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE In agricultural cooperatives, ... (Continued on page 2)

— TIRANA — There is no shortage of obstacles. Particularly when it comes to supplies and raw materials. But is it right to add new difficulties to these shortages with our own hands, through our political and party passions? The day before yesterday, at the start of the day, some passenger-transport drivers in the capital stopped work. Nevertheless, many workers once again made their way on foot to their workplaces. They got off in Yzberisht or at the other end, at the Autotractor Plant. At the “Misto Mame” Wood Plant, we are told, arrangements had been made, and the workers arrived before seven o’clock. This was because they do not agree with the Independent Trade Union’s action, which it called a warning strike, when an agreement is known to exist, and because it fails to recognize that the workers’ interests call for reducing their difficulties, not adding to them, as happened. The workers went to work, worked and contributed as much as they could. But a group of workers at the Autotractor Plant tell us that the slackness is in the ministries. And in a way they are right. Why? The shortage of even a few buses is felt very quickly in urban transport. It is said that only half the fleet is in service each day. In fact, that proportion is much lower when one takes into account the poor discipline of some drivers who travel with empty vehicles while citizens wait at stops. It is hard to believe that the Ministry of Transport is pursuing a complete solution to the problem. Some drivers went to buy new buses and brought back only 15. Around 100 were supposed to be brought. “We weren’t given the funds,” they explain at the Passenger Transport Directorate. But why did they go, then? How can you go shopping without money in your pocket? So the workers are right when they say the slackness is higher up. FRANO ÇAKA

— KORÇË — Since the beginning of the year and up to the present, the employees of the geological enterprise in the Korçë district have fulfilled their targets for all the minerals on which the teams have been focusing, such as copper, coal, talc, quartz sand, etc. This month, work has also begun on identifying a new chromium site. Fulfilment of the targets has also been accompanied by a reduction in the planned level of expenditure. The enterprise’s managers and specialists have held discussions with representatives of a foreign firm about entering into business relations to improve the decorative stone of the Korçë and Kolonjë areas and prepare slabs for the interior and exterior cladding of buildings. KOSTAQ DUKA

These days, a delegation headed by the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Aleks Luarasi, will depart for Italy. The delegation will hold talks with Italian government authorities on ways to further expand and intensify relations between the two countries in the political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian fields. In particular, the delegation will discuss the issue of Albanian citizens who have left for Italy and will pay special attention to the conditions under which they are settled in the Italian Republic, measures to return to Albania all minor children accompanied by their parents, facilitating their contacts with their homeland and relatives, etc. (ATSH)

Albania’s chargé d’affaires a.i. to the USSR, Përtel Hasanamataj, arrived in Moscow together with other diplomats, who will soon open the Albanian embassy there. Albania’s chargé d’affaires a.i. to the USSR, Përtel Hasanamat[aj?], arrived in Moscow together with other diplomats, who will soon open the Albanian embassy there. (ATSH)

We, the deputies of the People’s Assembly, gathered to consider the most important issues concerning our people today, and informed of the painful events in the city of Shkodër, devoted particular attention to them. At the wish of all the deputies, without exception, we established a special commission to examine the progress of the investigations into these events, with the aim of bringing the full truth to light. We assure the people of Shkodër that, through this commitment of ours, we stand by them, and we appeal to them to show themselves, as always, mature, prudent and possessed of democratic culture, and to return to work and normal life. The cooperation of all political forces, trade union organizations, religious communities in your city, etc., to maintain public calm, prevent conflicts and seek justice, has also set an excellent example for us, the deputies of different political parties, in finding common ground on the positive achievements that characterize the first days of work of our pluralist Assembly. We are convinced that our commitment will help Shkodër find the confidence to overcome with courage the situation it is going through. THE DEPUTIES OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY Tirana, 18.4.1991

On the basis of the decision of the People’s Assembly, and in cooperation with the chairmen of the Parliamentary Groups, the Presidium decided that the following deputies shall serve on the Special Parliamentary Commission to monitor the progress of the investigation into the events in the city of Shkodër: 1. Ali Alushani, deputy for Skrapar 2. Stavri Kallço, deputy for Korçë 3. Gëzim Haxhiu, deputy for Krujë 4. Islam Gjana, deputy for Kukës 5. Ilir Dushi, deputy for Fier 6. Xhemal Dauti, deputy for Berat 7. Petraq Curri, deputy for Vlorë 8. Esat Myftari, deputy for Lezhë 9. Emin Mysliu, deputy for Durrës 10. Thoma Miço, deputy for Sarandë THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY Tirana, 18. 4. 1991

DEBATE AND CONSENSUS — FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS — We have had occasion to follow the proceedings of various sessions of the People’s Assembly. The current one, whose work is taking place these days, is undoubtedly exceptional for everyone, above all. Not simply because the meetings are being held amid a difficult situation, with extraordinary vitality; not only because it seizes every opportunity to make room for major issues of historic importance for the country’s future, but also because it has an atmosphere of freedom unlike that of earlier sessions. Attentively engaged with a number of issues, but, as the title itself says, debate ... appears to be in order, the debates ... [partly illegible] ... intermediate, and also charged with a pronounced partisan tone, with a tendency to evade or delay, but nevertheless useful. On every matter the deputies brought arguments and counterarguments to the debating platform. A truly constructive debate takes place only after an issue has been examined from every angle; only then is its approval discussed. THE FIRST ALBANIAN PLURALIST ASSEMBLY HAS BEGUN ITS WORK It has now become an epigraph among the state’s activities. Historic decisions will be taken here, such as the adoption of the Constitution and the election of the President and the new government, etc., which will set Albania on its path of European development. Here, European ... will be developed. Here will be held ... [text cut off] ... the decisions. Here deputies and parties will face one another plainly, but with arguments, and the one who brings forward the most arguments will prevail. As we said above, we are ... (Continued on page 3)