Yesterday, in one of the halls of the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, PSSH chairman Fatos Nano held a press conference. Journalists from the press, radio and television, ATSH, representatives of the diplomatic corps in Tirana, etc., attended. At this press conference, Fatos Nano gave an overview of the proceedings of the meeting organized in recent days in Trieste, Italy, on the subject: “On the contribution of democratic and reformist forces to the transition process in Central Europe.” The meeting, comrade Fatos Nano said, was organized by Italian Foreign Minister Giani De Mikelis and Austrian State Minister Peter Jankoviç. Senior representatives of parties from the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, as well as from the independent Yugoslav republics, took part. Representatives of these parties presented their assessments at the meeting of new developments in this part of Europe in the context of democratizing public life and institutionalizing democracy. They also raised issues that concern these countries today at this stage of transition. At this meeting, comrade Fatos Nano said, I had the opportunity to give an overview of democratic developments in Albania and the role of the PSSH in these processes. I emphasized the commitment of political forces in Albania to deepening democracy and the problems our country faces today. The conference expressed the need to support the process of our country’s full integration into Central Europe within the current developments of democratic Europe. The participants at the meeting stressed that it is essential to overcome, with prudence and moderation, certain negative processes that are becoming apparent, such as the intensification of national conflicts, which seriously threaten the young and fragile democracies of the countries of Central Europe. Meetings of this kind, comrade Fatos Nano emphasized, serve to exchange experience among post-communist countries in resolving the problems they face. Fatos Nano then spoke about his meetings with the Secretary General of the Italian Socialist Party, Betino Kraksi, and with Italian Foreign Minister Giani De Mikelis. These contacts, he said, are part of the ongoing strengthening of the relations of friendship and cooperation that have long existed between the Italian Socialist Party and the Socialist Party of Albania. Fatos Nano then answered journalists’ questions. Correspondent of “Zëri i popullit”

KUDOS TO THE PD REPRESENTATIVE Aid arrived from the Municipality of Marseille. How much was there, where did it go, and how was it distributed? It is known that it was received by Mr. Tomorr Malasi, as chairman of Tirana’s pluralist Executive Committee. It is known that he appointed a commission without specialists to distribute the aid. It is known that the aid was distributed without proper documentation, and that some of it was found in the storeroom of this committee and in the chairman’s anteroom. For some time now, there has been talk of aid being stolen. Television and the press have reported such incidents from time to time. But they have covered only one side—the looting by crowds—without looking at the other side: the secret theft, using cars, by corrupt officials who, naturally, pick the cream of the aid, “the choicest cuts,” the most expensive goods, as masters of power. There is still no transparency about this. Yet rumors of such thefts have been circulating among the people for some time. Various clues also point to the misuse of that first consignment that came from the Municipality of Marseille for people with great need, not for people with great power. And what are these clues? To begin with, the distribution commission was appointed without a collective opinion or decision. A decision of this kind is democratic, whereas an individual decision, even one made by the chairman himself, is characteristic of one-man rule and the mentality of unlimited power... Another clue: no financial officer was appointed to the commission, even though the committee has some of the most capable ones, specialists best qualified to prevent any abuse. Was even that not clear to you, Mr. Tomorr Malasi? Moreover, the commission worked for a week without all its members being present. A senior official should know all these things, but they were not taken into account, either for specific interests or through incompetence. In both cases, the people pay the “costs.” Let us continue. The routes for stealing aid are wide open. From the customs post at the border all the way to Tirana, there is no customs clearance. No entry is recorded even in the storeroom. Except for the books, which nobody takes. A state governed by law begins with the enforcement of rules and laws. What arrived, how it was distributed, where it went—the paperwork says very little. It is said that some packages ended up at Tirana’s two sports clubs, “Tirana” and “Tiranë.” At the same time, an audit was conducted at this committee, which, instead of following the work through to the end as a specialized body should, was satisfied with issuing a notice. “The aid was received without being inspected by a commission and without being documented,” the notice says. Well, well—what theft! And we are supposed to trust these commissions and their “unquestionable” officials, as in the one-party system, when we journalists were made to “lick the ice” and keep quiet. Those days are gone, gentlemen. Give up the threats and the one-party mentality. In fact, you are right to talk this way. Now you have another kind of protection too: the pens of some incompetent opposition journalists, who trail behind the partisans. “The Socialists are in power,” and plenty of other hot-air balloons are launched from the pages of newspapers by people echoing their “superiors.” A smokescreen to cover every trace of corruption. Still, what a fine service we are doing democracy with balloons like these. Ever since political parties were born in 1872 in the USA, it has been said in a de-

. Whenever I hear former ministers of the PD being insulted by their own comrades, I hear ringing in my ears the words of the republican journalist Mirush Kabashi: “A dog’s tail, a dog’s tail you’ll remain!” Just as a dog’s tail is crooked and can never be straightened, so too were many people here once regarded as having some blemish in their biographies. When it came to marrying them off, promoting them to positions of responsibility, or even giving them a certificate of commendation, a great-grandfather who had been a gendarme would come up and ruin everything. If one of these people, rightly or wrongly, happened to displease the boss, they were called... “the ninety-times-cursed,” for having crossed the boss. Matters reached the point where some people needed connections even to get an ordinary job, while all the gates of career advancement were open to others. Without being openly declared, the division into first-class and second-class citizens—and perhaps even third-class citizens—became a reality. Almost all the people who brought about this situation have now joined the opposition. Good luck to them! That is where they belong. This is perfectly normal. What is surprising is that alongside them, many of yesterday’s frightened witnesses have joined the opposition: wrongdoers, people who used to answer from behind the fence, bribe-takers, people who abused their positions, troublemakers, servile careerists, and so on. They are the ones shouting louder than anyone else. These people make up Albania’s fact-finding body today. They get into everything, muddle everything, create pointless conflicts, and cause new victims. They think nobody recognizes them, that everyone has forgotten their deeds. They forget that, whatever they do, wherever they have gone they will always be treated as a “dog’s tail.” Didn’t they remind Gramoz who his father and mother were when he tried to pull a little stunt? I don’t think so. With that wretched communist membership card, he went to university, became the faculty youth secretary, the university youth secretary, and the district youth secretary. No matter how much you spit on yourself, no matter how much you scrub your face, the day would come when you displeased the gentlemen, and they would remind you of your “dog’s tail.” I have been very surprised by the articles in RD by my former astronomy teacher. I knew him differently. Back then, although he taught astronomy, at every opportunity he would talk about the greatness of Enver Hoxha. It was from this astronomy teacher that I learned when F. Hoxha’s first work was published. Today, as a journalist, he blackens, distorts, and twists things to suit the appetites of his new patrons. A few days ago, an acquaintance of mine who had been with the Party of Labour for over 40 years switched to the Democratic Party. The Internal Affairs Branch had even given him a pistol. Everyone is amazed, because he would have shot you on the spot if you so much as mentioned Enver. Whatever the case, people make decisions based on their own interests. That is why no one would want to be in a position where others considered them a “dog’s tail.” BEQIR SKRELI

Five railcars of aid arrived from France. The television people interviewed by the French—don’t let them make us jointly responsible [text garbled]. — Five railcars of aid arrived from France. The French interviewed those from television and then left. The aid was received by a certain Sokrat Rezhda, a boiler operator and storekeeper at the District Executive Committee. There were jackets and other clothes, new blankets, tape recorders, food—everything you could think of. We saw it with our own eyes and unloaded it. The commission’s goods were locked inside the warehouse until later. They fooled us. They took the packages and rushed to open them. Inside, they had put old locally made clothes, some of them unwashed, just as they had taken them from the state. The two trucks that came from the village also delivered only clothes, mostly old ones. This went on for five days. What are they saying at the Committee? Përparim Bodinaku, deputy chairman, representative of the PS: — The committee should have issued a collective decision about distributing the aid, but that was not done. Nor was the commission appointed collectively by the “leadership.” There was no financial officer on this commission, who, in the commi-

Dear readers! In Tepelenë, you would think that everything Albania has needed and will need has come from there. But don’t think I want to say that the people of Tepelenë are better than others. We are like you, like all Albanians, with the same blood, the same language, the same fate. But what divides us is Mr. Sali Berisha’s view that we in Tepelenë should be given only [unclear]. He has found no future for us except livestock farming and perhaps a hotel for foreigners. He himself said this to us at the meeting he held in Tepelenë on 13.2.1992. He tried to appear calm and humane, kind and egalitarian, but then he forgot himself and spoke as if to someone out on the street. But this did not last long, because sooner or later he let slip that he had secured the future of us people of Tepelenë through [unclear], with just one difference (although he had it in mind, he did not have time to say it): [unclear] would come from abroad only if we voted for him. So I would remind Mr. Berisha that the times when we worshipped the [unclear] that determine the fate of regions are over. Stop exhausting yourselves over the peasants, whom you yourselves branded as “ignorant,” and when you were asked about it in Tepelenë, you denied it once and for all, saying, “You can’t say that,” and declared with your own mouth, “He who insults, gets insulted.” It is true that a straight line can bend without breaking, and the moment came when you unknowingly claimed again what you had said about the peasants, because in truth it suits you. We asked you what you thought about employment for the people of Tepelenë, and you told us outright that we were [unclear]. Are you going to leave us with even less than we had? It is not your fault; perhaps we were hasty to ask you at a time when your heads are on fire for power. Goodbye, Mr. Sali, after the elections. Remember: the people of Tepelenë receive you in turn and judge you as they see fit. SAJER TEPELENASI

Zabit Brokaj was a minister for nine months in two governments: the government headed by Fatos Nano and the Government of Stability. He was a minister nominated by the Socialist Party. During this time, Albania has faced significant domestic and foreign, economic and political problems connected with the deepening of democratic processes. The contribution these governments have made to maintaining stability and bringing Albania into the European mainstream has been considerable. With this in mind, our editorial staff member Arianita Rredhi asked this minister what his work has involved in improving our health service: — I am a minister in Nano’s government. A socialist government in which all the ministers were of the same par... [continues on page 2]

... [vazhdim] ... tie. Dhe që atëherë pata kontakte dhe marrëveshje me firma të ndryshme që gjithë përkatësisht time socialiste dhe të qeverisë njënjëherë për përfaqësues. Këto takime dhe marrëveshje vijuan më pas me qeverinë e stabilitetit. Më konkretisht: u filluan ndihmat me medikamente nga asistenca mjekësore falas e Kanadasë (MAP internacional Kanada dhe Amerikë) të financuara vullnetarisht nga grupi «HOM-XHEJSH», me rreth 3 milionë dollarë amerikanë. Njëkohësisht filluan takimet me shoqatën «Farmacisti pa kufi» dhe «Mjeku i botës». U lidhën marrëveshje me qeverinë turke si edhe me Italinë. Gjatë kësaj kohe nga Turqia erdhën 110 ambulanca. Fillimi i ndihmave qeveritare nga (Vijon në faqen 2)

[Fotografi: tekst i dukshëm i paqartë] Ju duhët të ndërloni si komota...