THE 10TH CONGRESS WAS SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED
Fatos Nano was elected Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party of Albania
APPEAL
Addressed to the members of the party and its sympathizers, to all the Albanian people
The 10th Congress began its work yesterday at 9:00 a.m. The first proceedings of the day were opened by the Deputy Chairman of the Preparatory Commission of the Congress, Mr. Ali Spahia, who read the draft rules for the conduct of the Congress proceedings and the candidacies for its governing bodies. The agenda and the other procedures were approved unanimously by all the delegates present.
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Speech of comrade Fatos Nano at the conclusion of the Congress proceedings
WE GIVE THE PEOPLE THE MESSAGE THAT SOCIETY CANNOT STOP
Comrade delegates!
On behalf of the Steering Committee elected today by the Congress, I want to thank you and express to all of you, and through you also to our organizations and our party, our deep gratitude for the trust you have granted us. This election apparently confirms the awareness and political maturity of the Congress delegates, that our party needs a compact governing body, as well as a pluralistic one, with an authoritative and representative composition, with political and scientific personalities from across the party and with distinguished contributions in public and patriotic activity.
The delegates of the 10th Congress know and have carefully analyzed the condition and crossroads our country is facing today. The causes, responsibilities and consequences of the distortions of the former system and of those anomalies that led to the deepest economic, political and moral crisis ever known in Albania have been fully and without any doubt established. This new awareness of responsibility and transparency today makes our representatives in parliament and in the party forums better able to make the right decisions for the radical reforms that must be carried out. In order to respond to the serious challenges facing the country, we must free ourselves from every old mentality; we must radically and immediately change the entire way we think about politics and organize the state.
Our party and our people are today confronted with the vital need to establish political pluralism without hesitation or wavering. This means not only multiparty politics in public life, but at the same time the real ضمان of human rights and freedoms, the possibility of fair competition, democratic institutions and a state governed by law. Convinced that the socialism we want to build has nothing in common with the distortions of the past, we must work for a democratic, humane socialism open to the world.
This congress marks an important turning point in the life of our party. It is proof of the will to reform deeply, to abandon any dogmatism and conservatism, to build a modern left-wing party, closely linked to the interests of the people and to their democratic aspirations. Only in this way can we regain people's trust and make our contribution to the country's stability, social peace and development.
Let us leave this congress with the conviction that nothing can stop us from moving forward, if we know how to be united, responsible and honest with the people. This is the message we must give today to all Albania.
Tirana, 13.6.1991
(Speech summarized from the visible text on the page; illegible parts have been marked with minimal approximations[?])