– By candidate of sciences Fatmir Zanaj, member of the Presidium of the KD of the PSSH – Our people, disillusioned, tired, fed up and worn down by totalitarian socialism, cannot understand that neither is the extreme capitalism of the “free economy” offered by the PDSH alternative a perfect choice, free of social wounds. But they do not understand that the alternative of democratic socialism means accepting capitalist society, with its good and bad sides; it means committing to the struggle for the ongoing reform of this society in a direction that avoids extreme polarization and social wounds, and that the heartlessness of competition is offset by the work of a range of financial, social, legal and other mechanisms that encourage humanism, the social economy, solidarity, and the protection of human rights, whether people are rich or poor. Democratic socialism is our theoretical prospect. As an ideal, however, it differs from totalitarian socialism. Totalitarian socialism was inherited in the Stalinist dictatorial model. The ideal of this model was narrowed and conceived in an utterly simplistic and dogmatic manner. Declaring itself the solution for defending the interests of the little people, chiefly the working class with a very low educational and cultural level in the poor and backward countries of Eastern Europe, in the 1920s and 1930s the communists were compelled to formulate their ideal using simplifying, schoolbook methods (introducing the language of 4 explanations, 3 criteria, 5 consequences, etc.). Understandably, this was the only way to convey the communist ideology and ideal humanely to people at that educational and cultural level, to raise them up in revolution, and to channel their energies and aspirations toward building a society in which there should be no oppression or exploitation of people by other people. Although the communists failed, and although they were removed from power both in the East and in Albania, their practice of presenting the social ideal in a simplistic, dogmatic way lives on as a rigid stereotype in people’s psychology. This dangerous stereotype of thinking about the ideal, the vision, became intertwined with other harmful aspects of the mentality of the Party-state. Today we see this in the way right-wing forces manipulate the majority of the Albanian electorate in the 22 March elections. But how should we as socialists understand and approach our theoretical prospect? Should we definitively separate our theoretical outlook from the concrete objectives of political struggle in a concrete reality? The theoretical literature on the prospects of the democratic socialist alternative offers no definitive, dogmatized answer of the “yes or no” kind that stands above private ownership, the market economy, competition, the labor and money markets, etc., which form the foundations and basic mechanisms of capitalism. Communists did things differently. They formulated an ideal, refined it with universal principles, built from it a model type of socialist society, and sought to impose this model on society’s development. It was and is the communists who over-ideologized concepts of capitalism and socialism, private property and collective property, the rule of law and the dictatorship of the proletariat, “bourgeois” democracy and “proletarian” democracy, taking particular economic and political developments in particular countries and periods as their starting point and turning them into certain clichés and universal principles. With the failure of totalitarian socialism, it seems that the standing of the European socialist and social-democratic left has been damaged to some extent, as shown by recent elections in various European countries and by the setbacks it has suffered. This phenomenon brings to mind how Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party defeated Callaghan’s Labour Party in the May 1979 elections in Britain. The weapon that brought Thatcher victory was the identification of Labour’s program and policy of strengthening the state’s role and reducing social benefits and guarantees for individuals and disadvantaged groups with the imaginary danger of a slide into

BERAT. – Only a few enterprises and sectors in Berat are operating. More than 16,000 people are being paid 80 percent of their wages. But... Intensive efforts to resume production are under way at the textile combine, which employs about 10,000 people. More than 500 tonnes of cotton have been secured through imports, and this quantity is increasing day by day. The combine’s new spinning section has been operating for several days. With the yarn produced here, the machinery in the weaving factories will be supplied in the days ahead, which will mean a real start to work at the combine. KORÇË – The poultry-farming enterprise in the Korçë district has served, and continues to serve, the population’s needs. Despite the difficulties, the work carried out during this period has met a substantial part of market demand. Among the many problems is the increase in poultry feed supplied directly through the villages. This is intended to increase and reduce the cost of production and, at the same time, the market price of eggs. Despite this, work in this sector continues in the villages: these enterprises have 17,000 chicks, while half the requirement is 105,000 birds.

I heard your statement on Albanian Radio and Television about the veterans from Shkodra who found themselves poor and helpless on the eve of the elections. You took the murderer of the veteran Xhemal Selimi under your protection—at least, would he have been a murderer? Perhaps, given your mouth, which seems eager to speak, although you call yourself a Shkodran and a fellow citizen of the late veteran, and although you also hold a parliamentary mandate. Perhaps this is part of “democracy”! This sort of thing makes you a king, too. Your cynical statement bears witness to the law of nature, the law according to which the might of the strongest is always right. Is it perhaps solely because you are a deputy? And, as you claim, do you have the right to set these self-governing rules aside? According to you—and even more so, according to your treasurer’s cronies—there is no longer any need for investigators, prosecutors, judges, or laws? Your level of “democracy” has evidently given you more than enough “culture” and “education.” How many years and centuries will it take to raise you up, “dear Spahiu”? Your statement that this is “simply a family matter” is a provocation to the feelings of honest people, people whose loved ones were taken from them by a criminal’s bullet. And my anger grows when you seem not to care that 17 “murderers” have appeared among those in your own circle of purpose over the course of 3–4 years, in acts of revenge. Tell me, then, what can your brilliant “philosophy” say about these graves that have been dug, these doors that have been closed? I would not like to think that this terrible drama and tragedy in Albanian families makes no impression on you. Mr. Spahiu, A good answer could have come from the mouth of a cultured and morally upright parliamentarian, but I wanted to write these few lines through this open letter as well. If the revulsion people feel at what you declared as a deputy and chairman of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group is merely an expression of the despair you feel when you see that the Albanian parliament can once again be described as nothing but a place of demagogues and ordinary politicians, then yes, let it be considered inhuman. Furthermore, I have no desire to argue either with you or with those who echo you, because I have no time to waste. This is how the logic of an Albanian speaks and writes to you. PAVLLO GJIDEDË

WE HAVE NO MEAT, BUT WE EXPORT LIVESTOCK! Apparently, the number of paradoxes here keeps increasing. They continue day after day. They are even taking over the economy, penetrating its mechanisms and logic. (Can an economy in which paradoxes operate remain standing?) We all know that the only meat in our state-owned shops is imported meat brought to us from the West. And we are all quite pleased about it—one might say (although an inspection shows that this meat was slaughtered and stored at least as far back as 1974), because supplies have been plentiful and for several months we have forgotten about ration coupons. Fresh meat—or at least a little broth from this kind of meat for small children—is out of the question. Even when someone tries to buy meat from a private seller, the price is prohibitively high: over 60 lek, and now 70 lek per kilogram. Someone might reason that none of us has livestock to slaughter, so we must wait until the herds increase, and then... But that is not what is happening. We may indeed be eating imported meat, but our country exports a great deal of livestock to Greece and Macedonia. Some of it is the very best, especially lambs and calves. This began a year ago, but in recent weeks it seems to have increased. Livestock middlemen operate in the markets of Gështiza, Elbasan and Gostimë, and along the Elbasan–Librazhd road trucks loaded with livestock pass one after another, illegally heading for the border. Last Sunday, even the butchers could not manage to sell meat. A lamb fetched as much as ... 500 new lek. How did this happen? Quite simply: “representatives” of some Greek and Macedonian traders, in order to make a deal, are buying at “prices higher than the butchers’”—not only lambs and kids, but also cows and heifers (up to 10,000 new lek for a heifer). It is said that traders from across the border are involved in this on a large scale; the animals are sold at more than three times the purchase price. Some villagers sell their livestock out of desperation, to buy grain or chemical fertilizers. Others who want to keep cows or other animals and build up their herds cannot afford to buy any. If a butcher cannot buy animals like these, how can a villager with empty pockets buy them? Does the villager’s inability to supply the market mean that the middlemen are doing so? Is the livestock market currently unable to compete with foreign buyers operating through these middleman-representatives among us? Foreign traders, then, – get rich, and so do our middlemen and drivers, while the country grows poorer as its livestock is driven away. And all of this happens not only at night but also in broad daylight. The police and customs remain silent (could it be that they suspect they too are getting a share of the proceeds from this “emigration” of livestock?). Meanwhile, we only rarely hear from the news media that a truck carrying livestock has been stopped, but it is forgotten that this may be just one among thousands of cases. The “export” of live animals is carried out methodically every day, not just on Sundays, through the Rrajcë crossing in Librazhd and other border crossings at Kapështicë and nearby. Since the middlemen act so freely and without the slightest fear of the law, could this mean that many others are involved in something even worse? On Sunday evening, for example, besides many private and state-owned vehicles with Korçë plates heading toward Bilisht, we also saw cars with Elbasan plates carrying lambs, kids and cows. Along more than 130 km of road, which passes through the towns of Elbasan, Librazhd, Përrenjas, Pogradec (Continued on page 3)

– “The standard of living” – It is natural for everyone, before expressing an opinion about the future of life, to be better oriented toward the reality in which they live. It is natural for everyone, before expressing an opinion about the future of life, to be better oriented toward the reality in which they live: to compare themselves with others and make a self-assessment of themselves and of the possibilities of fulfilling their aspirations. Then, looking beyond the changing circumstances, to find within and beyond them what is called optimism about life. In any case, this remains within the narrow bounds of individual assessment. But specialists have long since managed to generalize this from all efforts to predict the future, and have given answers about positive changes over the next five years. East Germans also feel pessimistic, although not as much as the former Soviets. Among other things, this has to do with the fact that they have more quickly understood the path that must be followed. But something important remains to be clarified. What do people base their judgment about the future on? And does this allow optimists to be optimistic about themselves? If we were to assess global developments, there are reasons for optimism: the end of the Cold War, efforts to bring peace to the region, the overthrow of dictatorships, economic freedom. Can we put these factors together in the conditions of Albania’s transition? Predictions are based on two notions. First, “democracy has returned,” and second, “Capitalism in (Continued on page 3)

Everywhere, election campaigns culminate in their results. These are the votes the people give you. This time, elections in Italy were held early because of disputes that erupted within the government and the governing party, and the emergence of a kind of crisis within it. All the main Italian parties set to work to achieve the highest possible results in these elections, although they knew full well that the burden of governing would not be easy. Alongside individual party aims, old and new alliances came to the fore in these elections, as before. The largest party in power, the Democratic Party, adhered to its alliance with the socialist left, the PSI. Indeed, many Italian and foreign commentators described this alliance as a victory for the policy of the Italian socialists. But what did the results of the elections held two days ago show? The Christian Democratic party in power won 107 seats in the Senate, compared with 125 in the previous elections—that is, 18 fewer seats than before—and received 27.3 percent of the total vote. The Democratic Party of the Left (former communists and former members of the Action party) won 64 seats, compared with 81 in the previous elections, that is, 17 fewer seats, and received 17 percent of the total vote. Meanwhile, the Italian Socialist Party won 49 seats, compared with 36 in the previous elections, that is, 13 more seats, receiving 13.6 percent of the total vote. The other parties received lower percentages, which could serve only to strengthen the alliances. And what percentages were achieved in the Lower House? The Christian Democrats remained in the lead, with the following percentages: Christian Democratic Party, 29.7 percent; Democratic Party of the Left, 16.1 percent; Socialist Party, 13.6 percent. Looking at the election results as a whole, and not only those of the parties mentioned, one fact stands out: only the Italian Socialist Party has risen in per...

On the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the people’s resistance to the fascist aggression of 7 April 1939, and to remember those who fell in that resistance, the Patriotic Association for 7 April of the Albanian Nation organized a commemorative session yesterday afternoon in the hall of the Central House of the Army, with the participation. On the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the people’s resistance to the fascist aggression of 7 April 1939, and to remember those who fell in that resistance, the Patriotic Association for 7 April of the Albanian Nation organized a commemorative session yesterday afternoon in the hall of the Central House of the Army, with the participation of ... Representatives of ... and ... were present, along with veterans, soldiers... and a group of veterans from the Patriotic Association for the Youth of the Nation from Kosovo, as well as representatives of political parties. Several papers were then presented on the Albanian resistance in April 1939, on the Turkish spirit toward the fascist aggression and the resistance of the Albanians, and on artistic literature against the fascist occupier. A cultural program was held in commemoration.

DIOGENES AND ... IN THE PRESIDENT...

THE MYSTERIES OF BABYLON AND THE MYSTERIES OF GOD The customs of ancient civilization. Learn about some of its rituals and symbols, many of which are very similar to those of today. What is the mystery of God, and what can it reveal to us about today’s Albanians? Help with the complex and varied program of ... Lebanon, ancient Babylon and Israel – and learn their mysteries ... Friday evening – 10 April THE WONDERS OF NATURE How was nature created, with all its plants and animals, its air and water? This is a program of extraordinary interest. You will see ... PALACE OF CONGRESSES 6:00 p.m., 9 and 10 April PLEASE NOTE: AT A ... PREMIERE, WILL BE HELD ...

Who was elected to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly