For the series: THE OTHER FACE OF THE DP Orally. At the rallies held these days and at the most recent press conference, you have declared that the Socialist Party is deceiving the peasants by telling them that the Democratic Party will return the lands to their former owners or compensate them. Whom is the poor peasant supposed to believe?! In writing. The DP’s election program states in black and white: “The democratic state will guarantee by law compensation in value to former landowners, regardless of where they live today, to the extent possible, for the land property they owned before the 1946 agrarian reform.” Meanwhile, the newspaper “RD,” dated 22 February 1992, says: “We recognize as a legitimate right the possible return, or compensation to the extent provided for by law, of the properties of former owners unjustly persecuted by the communist regime.” The conclusion, Mr. Berisha, is that there are no longer any illiterate people in Albania. Everyone has ears and can hear, just as they have eyes to read. So, who is the deceiver? The Observer

I remember that Iraq’s schools and universities closed ten days after the war in the Gulf had begun. In Albania, Tirana’s universities emptied out ten days before voting day. That is what happened. On 11 March 1992, students had gathered in front of the DP headquarters. There I learned that they would be paid—and were paid—a whole salary in old lek for the DP’s election campaign. I, too, was offered such an opportunity, on the condition, I was told, that I also become a member of the DP. How are we to understand such an act?! Albanian students were the first to rise up in those days of… As a student, as a fighter thirsting for democracy, I wanted to address my fellow students in the auditoriums. What will history call you, student comrades, who until yesterday rallied the people for democracy?! Could this reward the DP is giving you be the fruit of our work?! And who will pay the other students, those unaffiliated with any party, or the students terrorized psychologically by the DP?! If the Berisha party has funds like these, why doesn’t it provide support for students living in critical conditions: without water, electricity, plates, or spoons?! Is it not Mr. Berisha who… sat in parliament in the students’ name, putting all sorts of pressure on the president as well? What did Saliu do for these students? How many of their demands did he meet, in keeping with the promises he made? Sali Berisha is dividing the nation, and now even the students—the “angels” of democracy who fight for freedom, justice, and national unity. Let Mr. Berisha and others like him understand this well: students do not need bosses meddling in their affairs. We students already know the “democrats” well, but we do not… students. wage of eight thousand old lek for the PD’s election campaign. They offered me the same opportunity, on the condition that I also become a member of the PD. were the first to rise up on that unforgettable day in open struggle against the seizure and introduction of democracy and pluralism in Albania. It was the students who shouted loudly at rallies that they were not a movement of any political party, that they were fighting for their great national rights. While the lecture halls emptied, neither the Minister of Education nor the rectors of the universities in Tirana raised their voices. What is the truth? As for the rector of UB, Mr. Haxhi Aliko, I know him; he is a member of the PSD, and it is understandable that such an act would suit him. As if he were the only rector!

Once upon a time—what a tale it was. There was a certain leader of the PDSH. They called him Sali Berisha. He went here and there, came and went from the PP like a red aga, and before long, one day in March of this year, he went to Tepelenë. The voters asked him: - What developments does the PD intend to bring to the people of Tepelenë if it wins the elections of March 22? - Bilateral development, Sali replied. - Oh, so you still intend to leave us with a «karrabë», just as in the days of monism? Why don’t you try being a «karrabë» yourself for once and come here among us? Perhaps you’d do a good job as a shepherd, since you too came down from the mountains. another leader, this time of the PP. They called him Sabri Godo. He went here and there, came and went in the PP like a red aga, came and went from the organs of the dictatorship, and before long, one day in March, he too went to Tepelenë. The voters asked him: - What developments does the PR intend to bring to the people of Tepelenë? - Industrial development for catching and processing fish, he replied. - Come now, Mr. Sabri, they answered him. Your party must be very powerful if it’s going to raise and process fish for us up in these mountains! Apparently you want to put the fish right into our mouths, eh? Once upon a time—what a tale it was. There were a Sali and a Skënder. They spoke and spoke, wrote and wrote, went in and out of Albania, wrote about every village and trumpeted freedom, democracy, land. But would you believe it? Before the ink had even dried, they changed their tune. They scrawled over their signatures and said the opposite.

- Humor from the PD’s military program - Mr. Perikli presented the PD’s program for the army with rare skill in Kuvovë, on the day he was announced as a parliamentary candidate. His speech caused a stir. Mr. Perikli’s two hands, with two fingers raised on each, startled us. Above all, we were surprised by the words of this general in the government of stability, this «great» military reformer. Since the «mingahët» are not «linin», and since Mr. Sali... did not give us his word, I wanted to recount some of Mr. Pero’s ideas and extensive military experience. First: Mr. Perikli is a great military reformer. He put his ideas for reform into practice right from the start. He began his experiment with the soldiers’ variety show. With a firm stroke of the pen, he threw its 20 employees out onto Tirana’s boulevard. He did this in order to cut the military budget and put an end to the evil—an order from the PD’s governing council to ban humor in the army. Just like Švejk. Second, Mr. Teta deserves special credit of a national character, because he allowed democracy to enter the army completely. He created «democratic spaces» for bomber pilots like Xhon Megou, this former minister

- Lord Carrington declares - «The Albanians in Kosovo constitute an absolute majority, so they should obtain what they want,» says Lord Carrington, answering a question about the problems of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. He made this statement at this international affairs institute in London on March 30 of this year. Asked whether Albanians are being treated fairly in the discussions at the Peace Conference in The Hague and ... regarding the principles to be applied in resolving problems throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia, he replied that special solutions were being sought for each case, applying different criteria so that no problems would be left that might erupt later. Lord Carrington said that Albanians had no reason to feel abandoned, adding that one must not forget that politics is «the art of the possible».

- Candidates for parliament from the PSSH continue meeting and talking with voters throughout the country - Confidence in victory is expressed everywhere The Socialist Party candidate for parliament in electoral district no. 67, which includes the city of Sarandë and the villages in the Konispol and Vrinë area, comrade Gramoz Ruçi, held several meetings with his electorate in the city and the countryside in recent days. After giving a detailed explanation of the Socialist Party’s program, he answered the many questions from those attending the meeting. Asked why he had put forward his candidacy in the Sarandë district, he replied: «I came here at the request of the Steering Committee of the PS in the Sarandë district. I welcomed this request because I respect the people of Sarandë, the Albanians and the Greek minority. Reminded by you of the question of what you promise the people of Sarandë as a member of parliament, he replied that the position of the Party, as well as my own as a candidate, is the one laid down in the election law. No promises, no gifts to influence the will of the people. Votes are bought neither with promises nor with aid, which is provided not by parties but by the rule-of-law state. In response to the question of whether the Socialist Party is capable of governing the country if it wins the election, he expressed the Party’s view that, in the current situation the country is going through, the best option is a coalition government. If the other parties do not accept this, the Socialist Party is fully capable of governing the country. Comrade Gramoz Ruçi also met with intellectuals from the city of Sarandë: economists, agronomists, doctors, teachers, creative professionals, members and supporters from the city of Sarandë. Those present showed great interest in the prospects opened up by the PS

laid down in the election law. interest in the prospects opened up by the PS

The member of the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party and parliamentary candidate in electoral district 58 in the Librazhd district, comrade Fatos Zharri, held meetings with residents of the villages of Bërzhdëdhe, Çakavec, Zhyrë, etc. The meeting focused on the main directions and objectives of the Socialist Party’s election program. Those present praised the realistic and measured nature of the election program and expressed their support for the Socialist Party’s political, economic and social objectives. The discussion then turned to concrete, pressing problems relating to the bread supply; the valuation of the property of former agricultural cooperatives; strengthening the work of law-enforcement bodies in order to restore peace and security of life and to protect people from those who kill, slash, burn, steal and destroy warehouses, schools, etc. In response to questions put to him by the participants, comrade Fatos Zharri stressed that the Socialist Party consistently adheres to the use of democratic paths, means and methods in conducting the election campaign. It firmly condemns theft and destruction, and the actions of those who violate the law, threaten people or take their lives, and burn down the beacons of hope for education—the schools. It has firmly called on and continues to call on the law-enforcement agencies to prevent such actions, uncover and punish the organizers and perpetrators of the sinister schemes that orchestrate bloodshed and impose a dictatorship of violence in Albania. The threats being made against people...

Democracy will triumph! This nationwide aspiration will become a reality. Vote for a free Albania, not to turn it into a colony. Vote for the peasants’ land—not the landlords’ land. Vote for democracy, not dictatorship.

- THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING - The biggest piece of propaganda the DP is peddling today is the identification of its name with democracy. Its readiness to conduct interviews and gather thoughts and opinions from intellectuals, peasants, and passers-by is aimed at getting the word “democracy” out of their mouths so it can use it as “capital” for the Democratic Party. A name does not determine what something is. You can be called “Besnik” and be untrustworthy. You can be called “Bukuriç” and be ugly. To think that democracy came into being in Albania with the Democratic Party is sheer naivety. It would be as if the people were born of political parties, rather than parties creating democracy and the people. To claim that democracy will be brought only by members of the Party that bears this name, and only if they are in power, is also an electoral manipulation that is unlikely to work. In reality, the Democratic Party lost last year in the small towns, and especially in the countryside, not because ignorant people live there, but because that is where the large masses of ordinary people live—people who have gained nothing and hope for more realistic and credible solutions. We have the impression that this year, too, the DP considers the peasantry and the underprivileged classes ignorant; naively, it thinks they will not see through it, but it is saying so before the campaign—indeed, it seems to be making an indirect admission of fault. The fact that it hopes to win votes mainly through disorienting propaganda, rallies, and television tricks shows that it has not abandoned its contemptuous view of this segment of the population—the people who decide the outcome of the vote. They forget that even in the most remote village, perceptive people understand the DP’s “movies” and the TV operators’ tricks. Even children know that when you drive a knife up to the hilt into an “opponent” in a movie, you do not really stab him; that when you make an “enemy” bleed, you do not really kill him; and that when cars collide or cities burn, they are not really burning. Nor is one easily fooled by rallies with jazz, without first sitting down and going over the figures with you. The people are not a manipulated mob that follows Berisha. Democrats are not the members of the DP; rather, we would say, almost all… There are countless examples of this, without even going into the history. Long before the Democratic Party was created, the people welcomed the start of the opening-up to Germany and Strauss’s visit, even though “the Germans,” even to children, had become a symbol of the enemy, savagery, and Nazism. Likewise, ordinary people welcomed the opening of Kakavijë years ago, the establishment of diplomatic relations with the USA, ties with the USSR, etc. By nature, peoples want friendship and peace, regardless of what the regimes in power and politicians do. Last year, the Democratic Party tried to exploit the democratic wave that rightly erupted against the bloc and the privileged elite who had turned their backs on the people. But the sympathizers of this movement were not only DP members; they were people from every sector of the population. These were honest people, democrats at heart, who not only did not defend the former leadership but condemned it with disgust. Are ordinary members of the Socialist Party—bricklayers, peasants, ordinary intellectuals—who fought all their lives, not democrats? Or are only those who raise two fingers and shout “Freedom—Democracy” democrats? Do PS members and members of other parties have “oppression—slavery” as their slogan? The DP certainly has merits. But alongside them, it also bears undisputed responsibility for disruption, destruction, and bringing things down to zero. But it is well known that it is easy to destroy and harder to build. The reality is… [text unclear]. The reality is such that, so far, hardly a single stone has been laid. If democrats really were the members of the DP, they would not make pressure, strikes, demonstrations, protests, ultimatums, boycotts, and all the other “democratic” methods that brought the country’s economy to a standstill their first recourse. Democrats call for tolerance. In truth, it was PS members who made major concessions, even to the point of an actual sharing of power, so much so that their sympathizers have “held it against them.” So why are these people not democrats, while the DP leaders, who categorically do not ac… [continuation] If the DP wins, everything will be put right at the push of a button, the world will help, and we will go on doing politics. A democrat is a person of work, not words and promises. Are we going to do business through politics, too?! Are those democrats who, for party interests, remove honest people from leadership and appoint mostly incompetent ones? It was rightly said that during the previous leadership there were many cadres who were not intellectuals. Ironically, experienced leaders were pushed aside, while thousands of trained people across every specialty were left in command. But why should the head of the philosophy department, with a scientific degree, once again be summoned to the DP headquarters and given campaign instructions by his student, who has not yet graduated: Azem Hajdari?! Are we going to go on with incompetent party hacks?! This situation continues in the other lower-level bodies as well. Why are journalists at ZP described as communists, bloc members, while someone like Alfons Gurashi is called a democrat—even though for a whole lifetime his voice has conveyed to us the emotions of PPS congresses, the grand parades of May 1, the program “A Chronicle, A Life,” and all the successful visits of former communist leaders… and now, with those same theatrical emotions, that same syllabic voice and sharp movements of his head, he is trying to convince us of the opposite? If all DP members were truly democrats, they would not constantly impose on us certain foreigners who, with all their arrogance, speak as if they were masters in our own home. If the DP leadership were democratic, it would not pursue power so openly and aggressively, nor would it accept privileges. A democrat is someone who makes sacrifices, not someone who, after having milked the country for 46 years, pretends to be persecuted in order to gain power again.