GJIROKASTËR: During the two months of January–February 1992, 25 new members were admitted. Organizations of the Socialist Party worth singling out include those in the village of Arshi-Lengo, with 8 new admissions; the village of Kakkoz, with 11 admissions; and Dhoksat, with 3 admissions, etc. KORÇË: Based on the assessment conducted in the Socialist Party organizations, it emerges that around 7,000 party members currently belong to them, a number that continues to grow, especially through new admissions. In February alone, 25 members joined the party, mainly young people in the organizations in the villages of Tren, Cetë, Mëmel, Proger, Moglicë, Rëmbec, at the glass factory, etc. PËRMET: In February alone, 26 new members were admitted to the ranks of the SP in Përmet.

The people are in great doubt. Whom should they give their vote to?! The opposition has hurled, and continues to hurl, the most dizzying curses and slanders at the Socialist Party. People, tired of the golovite and endless accusations of political warfare, rightly and forcefully speak out for the victory of democracy. The Albanian socialists—the initiators and thinkers behind the great processes of transformation—have seen, and continue to see, this path as the only alternative for the survival of Albanians and Albania. Their vote will be for real democracy, not the democracy of the pistol, terror and intimidation that is brandished in broad daylight. They will vote for Albania to be independent, free and prosperous, not a colony. The historic test lies ahead: it is March 22. Each person’s vote is an obligation to history and to the future. The opposition’s political kitchen stinks. From whose mouths do you hear, brothers and sisters, these humiliating words and this unparalleled moral corruption: “One visa—one woman” (!?) “Grab-drugs-sex” (?!). From whose mouths do you hear, brothers and sisters, throughout Albania: “If the PS wins again, the elections will be ruined,” “If the PS wins again, Albania is done for,” “If the PS wins again, there will be even more hell than there is now.” In short, the people want a way out of the successive crises into which they have fallen. The solution is this: let DEMOCRACY win; let the free market win, movement throughout the country, free thought over fear and threats, virtue over vice, reason over abnormality; let work and culture win over speculation and intellectual lethargy. Whoever is frightened by this democratic motto (he or they) is, at least in practice, against democracy, even though he has become like a swallow, “flying” from one end of Albania to the other. (A swallow—a swallow, not against changes!). If the opposition is constantly screaming about uprooting communism (while not knowing how to uproot it, and instead driving its roots deeper), we must work together to uproot Don Quixotism, which for now is appearing like a dense fog in political life and culture. Don Quixotes! How can those govern this Albania, burdened with so many troubles, who turn the hero of the hours into a traitor and put the defender’s brave man on a pedestal? Division, elbowing and money-grubbing, a struggle over cults and positions behind the scenes. And these blessed democrats, who are “burning” like candles for the nation and the people, who cannot put two stones together in their own house (that is, in their headquarters), promise to make Albanians happy as soon as they ascend the throne. Poor things! Shouldn’t we believe the things they themselves say and write, or keep proclaiming on Television? Yet these heroes fret day and night over the PS, saying that it “is not capable of governing the country even if it wins.” All these democrats are worrying about the horseman because his legs are dangling. We shall see what happens here. Now we have a great task ahead of us, the principal task that will open the way for full democracy: the election campaign. The alternative of the Albanian socialists will win it. But March 22 is not far off: there can and must be no more calm, no more waiting. All socialists are on their feet and must remain so. Those disappointed by the opposition need warmth and arguments. The PS press must go from house to house in the villages. The villagers must be informed: a vote for the opposition is a vote against oneself. No, a thousand times no to giving the land to feudal lords and latifundists; no, a thousand times no to a worker’s vote for the revanchist right-wing forces. Do not vote against yourself, against your own blood, against your own sweat. Think of your children, too. They are, and will be, the first victims of the boundless money-grubbing mania of the new castes now emerging in all sorts of ways—those you can see with your own eyes, contemporaries, fellow citizens, fellow villagers. A vote is not candy: “Here you go, a sweet, unwrap it and eat it.” A vote is not something you give away casually; it is a responsibility, a historic and solemn one. Democracy or dictatorship? Further destruction, or Albania’s rebirth? Will the country be governed by law and the nation’s intellect—the intellectuals—or by amateur political adventurers? The socialists will win. Only in this way will Albania challenge the great, real dangers threatening it. Are they to win and also challenge the great real dangers that threaten them? dangers that threaten them? Are they to win and also challenge… Together with it, when RTV continues to appeal for the opposition 24 hours a day. Together with the domestic radio. Together with the chorus of the “big” newspapers and leaflets. These are decisive days for democracy and Albania. Work and more work until the very last second before the election results are announced. Democracy will win, and the socialists will fully integrate themselves with the European left and Albania with contemporary progress.

Some time ago, Mr Genc Ruli held a meeting in the Patos area with members and supporters of the DP. To them, as well as to members of the other parties present in the same hall, Mr Ruli was one of the DP’s balanced intellectuals. But, to the participants’ astonishment, that day Mr Ruli took off his «mask», and spoke in the language of Saliu and Azemi. After speaking at length about the DP’s struggle against communism and the kripokonstituve, he turned to the goods coming to Albania … from the world. “They are being stolen by those in power, although there is still some left,” said, among other things, Mr AZ… Mr Genci. The call was clear: “Come on, lads, rush into the warehouses and take everything that is left.” Thank goodness the DP members and supporters who were all in the hall did not understand their leader. Mr Genci was asked many questions at the meeting, which he answered eloquently. He was asked: “Why doesn’t the DP distance itself from thieves, profiteers and criminals?” Mr Ruli replied: “We have no connection whatsoever with criminals and thieves. No criminal or thief is a member or supporter of the DP.” And, to the astonishment of those in the hall, when Mr Ruli got up, he embraced and kissed affectionately one of the first democrats of the DP in Patos, Dashnor Kozan… Dashnor, or as they briefly call him in Patos, Daci, broke into the offices of the PS steering committee for the Patos area by force 2–3 months ago, and continues to occupy them today. During this time Daci has appropriated and removed goods worth 20 thousand lek from the building. Standing beside Mr Ruli and Daci was the smiling chairman of the DP section for the Patos area, Iljaz Vrioni, nephew of Iliaz bej Vrioni. Seeing this charming trio reminded me of the lines of the poem «Kënga Salep Sulltanit», written by our democrat Fan Noli: “And the drunken Iliaz Vrioni / Gets drunk as custom requires / Shouts: ‘Long live Nani? Poloni! / So said Xenophon too.’” SHKËLQIM SAJA

Meetings at the Socialist Party Steering Committee The vice-chairman of the Socialist Party, Spiro Dede, received on March 3 the mission of the Steering Committee, the mission of the International Monetary Fund, headed by Renato Filosa, director of this Fund’s Executive Board. The guests expressed their views on the paths to be followed during the transition period so that Albania can emerge from the crisis. They emphasized finding ways to activate the country’s material and human potential, which is considerable, through firm financial discipline, reform measures, and the coordinated incentivization of workers and entrepreneurs, as well as the introduction of foreign capital and the creation of a social-assistance network to protect the interests of the poorest sections of the population. The guests stressed that the mission’s role is to help Albania, and that it will immediately begin putting cooperation into practice with the government that will emerge from the free will of the people in the upcoming elections. After informing the IMF mission members about the difficult situation the country is going through, and about the characteristics of a small country that can be well administered very quickly, with its potential—almost untouched in the face of the demands of modern development—Spiro Dede stressed that Albania would soon, with conviction and confidence, take its place among developed Europe. It has very capable, passionate, intelligent, industrious people who love culture, have great spirit, and possess the will and broad vision for the future. We know that we are now at a critical point in the transition, dominated by powerful passions and the determination to put an end to stagnation and crisis; there are also many excesses, paralysis, deadlock, bureaucracy and chaos. But these must and will be overcome. Especially at the beginning, we need the strong, experienced and sure hand of our friends. We very much need the competent and proven hand of the IMF! First to get Albania working again, and then to reform from the foundations the economic “machine” and the whole of the new Albania. In discussing ways and possibilities for balancing the budget, [we discussed] paying at 80 percent wherever work can be done: in agriculture, trade, pastures, forests and food-processing enterprises; wherever raw materials are available, etc. Meanwhile, raw materials for other enterprises must be secured, and will be secured. Here we need the hand of our friends; among other things, we need the hand of the IMF. The meeting discussed support for Economic Reform through fruitful cooperation with the International Monetary Fund as well, so that this would also be reflected in the objectives of the Socialist Party’s electoral program, which offers a clear vision of ways to stabilize the economy and advance the reform process. The IMF mission’s guests expressed their constructive views on the problems Albania must confront, voiced their confidence that the possibilities and conditions exist for this beautiful country, with its material and human wealth, to quickly embark on the path to prosperity and take a dignified place in Europe, and thanked their hosts for the meeting and the visions they presented. Also attending the meeting were Bashkim Zeneli, Secretary for Foreign Relations of the Socialist Party, and Anastas Angjeli, member of the Socialist Party Steering Committee and finance expert. With the Pre-Election Observer Mission, organized by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs of the USA. Also on March 3, the SP Vice-Chairman, Spiro Dede, received at the Steering Committee headquarters a pre-election observer mission headed by Tomas O. Melia, program director at Also attending the meeting were Namik Dokle, a member of the SP Presidium, and Bashkim Zeneli, Secretary for Foreign Relations. The guests were interested in learning about the SP’s election-campaign work, its electoral program and its assessments of the situation in the country. Spiro Dede spoke to the guests about the work done to prepare the campaign… (Continued on page 3) … of the population and the Mission itself emphasized… that the role of this Mission, it stressed, from the free vote of the people in the upcoming elections. Spiro Dede, after acquainting the IMF Mission members with the difficult situation the country is going through, thanked them for the assistance the International Monetary Fund has provided and for its willingness to make this assistance concrete in overcoming the current difficulties and implementing economic reform. He expressed the Socialist Party’s support, with all its resources and intellectual strength, for achieving these goals, and gave them an extensive briefing on the PSSH’s economic program. At the meeting, views were exchanged on possible areas of cooperation, the most productive ways to bring Albania fully into the market economy, to increase credibility so as to attract investment from abroad, the progress of the privatization process, etc. With its very substantial resources, its excellent microcredit for an extremely effective restructuring and development of agriculture, its mineral wealth, and its diverse tourism opportunities and potential… … especially at the beginning, the strong, experienced and dependable hand of our friends is needed. We greatly need the competent and well-established and the whole of the new Albania. During the discussion of ways and means to balance the state budget, get work started, abolish the 80-percent scheme, etc., some very interesting views were expressed at the meeting. The 80-percent scheme, Spiro Dede said, is perhaps the offspring and final decision of the previous system’s administrative-command machine and bureaucracy. Faced with the crisis that had become evident, the stagnation and paralysis of the economy, and especially the workers’ natural dissatisfaction, the administrative-command machine came up with its «remedy»: an administrative solution, the 80-percent scheme. It seemed as though the discontented would be satisfied and calmed, but because the solution was outside the logic and laws of economics, it soon became a burden. The paralyzed state pays for parasitism, feeds laziness, the psychology of getting something for nothing, anarchy and speculation. That ill-judged decision must end as soon as possible. And there are ways and means; there is no reason…

It tells how, when a leader of the PD went to Golem of Gjirokastër, after the holding of the same elections… in the office of… [?] — Are you coming from Albania? I’m going to give you a gift. The “popular” leader puffed himself up and went; Golemi, alert…[?] — Make us have one … [?]… We asked these questions: — And the last hole, where is it? — Ah, the last hole? The PD’s last hole is «Republika» and «Alternativa SDA». Have you heard anything about them, sir? I’ve heard of them, but I haven’t seen them… This story came to mind as we read the two statements in these newspapers about the press conference of PS chairman Fatos Nano. In April, an article was written about him, and it was striking to hear that they buy them in droves, only they buy the last issue at night. These “great democrats,” who were proven to be gërn… [?] murrit nga të dy anët, although they do not know what “publikim” means, finally found salvation in the applause of the gathering at the conference. That is enough for them then to say that “the freedom of speech is being trampled,” “the conference turned into a rally,” “the journalists are being provoked,” “that… that… and…” Ah, yes! It is the melody of the last hole of… «RD». What can I tell you! … [?] and the entrance made had: «Alternativë» and «Republika» A half-reply isn’t even worth it. THE OBSERVER

Before us are today’s newspapers: Bolshevik attacks by RD on its former editor-in-chief, Frrok Cupi. Wearying rhythmic blows against the quill-bearers, the former MP Zogaj. In «Zëri i Rinisë», Neritan Ceka, former chairman of the parliamentary committee of the PD group, exposes the speculator Baleta. As if to make this newspaper’s story even stranger, Baleta sets the former RD spokesman Genc Pollo on him. A great spectacle for politics. (Pity anyone who believes in this monstrous democracy!) Punches thrown at the air, like in the fantastical scenes of Don Quixote. So many former members from the ranks of the PD. A hemorrhage in its brain. Who’s next?! At this dramatic moment, in the PD a late-arriving servant, a back-alley schemer like Sali M… [?] lioshi, rushes to defend the honor of someone mistranslated like himself. What gratitude for this deed is there in the political world? A good move by the PD’s champion in translation and… Sa-mi left «Zëri i popullit», and …

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE OPPOSITION

SOCIALISTS STAND FOR STABILITY AND ORDER. THEIR VICTORY IS THE VICTORY OF THE LAW, A VICTORY OF JUSTICE FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED. VOTE FOR THE SOCIALISTS, BECAUSE THAT WAY YOU ARE VOTING FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN.

Read on page 4: The sins, attacks and forgetfulness of a Bolshevik The article is taken from the newspaper «Bujku» and is authored by IDRIZ AJETI, FAZLI KELMENDI, HAJRULLAH GONANI.