Gentlemen parliamentarians, take care! You are an exceptional parliament. You will resolve matters and tasks of particular importance, in exceptional situations, as few other parliaments in Europe will. The million of your constituents, the particular conditions and hardships, the particular problems and situations of Albania make you so. Prize and appreciate this exceptional circumstance that has fallen to your historic mission with wisdom and courage! In other countries, especially in the developed world, it is commonplace for your counterparts to spend entire days and weeks happily discussing and arguing over language dialects, the amount of subsidies and taxes, and even matters concerning the interception of the Cosmos. There, whether or not a President is elected may depend on the stance he takes during the election campaign on abortion. There, governments may fall or rise over a 3 or 5 percent increase in the price of meat! But you must build everything anew, from the Fundamental Law of the State to the Judiciary itself, from the genuine separation of the three powers to their actual functioning and consolidation; from drafting and adopting modern legislation to enforcing the law; from uprooting a failed system to establishing and operating a new system, a new society. Housewives and those who will become ministers tomorrow, peasants facing the land and farmers imprisoned by conscience before the broken limbs of society and the state; the unemployed and the hopeless; thieves and criminals; kindergarten children and academics; empty coffers and crushing prices, the speculators of the stifled business world and the disarray of the market; democrats and armists; the persecuted; trees by the roadside and the silent chimneys of factories—all are waiting for you. Whether this mountain of troubles and hopes placed upon you is just or unjust, deserved or undeserved—this is the Albanian reality, this is what makes your situation exceptional. You are not allowed to tire! You are not allowed to drag things out. You are not allowed to lose your clear-mindedness; you must be extremely rational! This was your fate; this is what makes your situation exceptional! Remain true to it, because every exceptional circumstance has its own “exceptional” cases, with incalculable consequences: If it is not properly understood, if no action is taken, if the exceptional is trampled underfoot, it turns into its opposite and becomes the general rule. It becomes so if even a procedural rule sets off a burst of oratory. If a proposal to add or remove one word from an article or paragraph opens the door to replies and counter-replies, quotations, quibbling, hurt feelings and reconciliation. Do not let the exceptional be trampled underfoot! In an exceptional case, even something written and previously voted on may be broken; something may even be passed over. But if this becomes the rule, if decisions are made on a party-by-party basis, then the exceptional becomes general, the extraordinary becomes ordinary, the unlawful becomes lawful! A parliamentary republic such as the one we want to build certainly has no need of a merely ceremonial President, a figure of prestige and little substance, a puppet. He must be given more rights, more powers. This is especially true in our particular circumstances, given our particular hardships and our particular psychology. But beware—be very wary of the exceptional nature of “exceptional” cases. Because in Albania today, the general condition is that everything is acute and exceptional, a state of emergency! The slightest rocking of the boat, the slightest loss of balance—which here is hanging by a thread—and anything ordinary can be presented as and turned into something extraordinary. If exceptional cases are overused, if they pass from hand to hand, from competence to incompetence, from one level to another, then this may happen: The Government, too, may become a tool, Parliament, especially under conditions of extreme bipolarity, may become a puppet. And the Number One may become a monarch! The 45 years that have passed are the clearest evidence of how the danger of this possibility became reality. Therefore, parliamentarians, beware of the exceptional nature of exceptional cases! More than 3 million hopes rest on you, on the new President, and on the new Government. They have faith in you, greet you, wish you well and... wait! THE SOCIALIST

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, SALI BERISHA, ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY. Pursuant to Article 28, paragraph 6, of Law No. 7491, dated 29.4.1991, “On the Main Constitutional Provisions,” and following preliminary consultations, I have decided to appoint Mr Aleksandër Meksi as Chairman of the Council of Ministers to form the new Government. Tirana, 10.4.1992 SALI BERISHA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

Aleksandër Meksi was born on 8 March 1939 in Tirana. He completed higher education at the University of Tirana in the Civil Engineering department. He worked for two years on the construction of the Shkopet Hydroelectric Power Plant, then mainly at the Institute of Cultural Monuments and, most recently, at the Institute of Archaeological Research as a restorer and researcher of medieval architectural monuments. He is the author of a number of articles in this field, monographic works, and a co-author of university textbooks. He received a Doctorate in Science in 1988. He was among the founders of the Democratic Party, a member of its Initiating Commission and subsequently of the party’s governing commission and Presidium. On 31 March 1991, he was elected deputy in electoral district 242 of the city of Tirana and, during the previous legislature, served as deputy chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. In the elections of 22 March, he was again elected deputy, in district 58 of the city of Tirana. He is among the most distinguished intellectuals and speaks several foreign languages.

Eternal tribute to the “People’s Artist” Mentor Xhemali The beautiful spring of flowers and songs, the season most evocative of life, which nevertheless has other dimensions for us Albanians this time, has its losses too. One of them is our physical separation from the “People’s Artist” Mentor Xhemali, master of every genre of song. The news of his loss immediately filled the airwaves. Just as night spreads everywhere after sunset. And we feel pain. We feel human sorrow because Mentor Xhemali, too, with the magic of his art and a soul as broad and rich as only great artists can have, had become dear to us all. Precisely because we loved him and love him, we feel sorrow for him. But while night and day take each other’s place in turn, the night of Mentor Xhemali’s loss is short and will not return. Because true artists never die. Their radiance can never fade. Mentor Xhemali was born in the city of Përmet 68 years ago. He spent his childhood there, came to know poverty there, and learned his first songs there—the songs that would shape the soul of the artist he would become, whom nature had treated so generously by giving him a brilliant voice. In his youth, responding to the call of the Albanian Communist Party, Mentor Xhemali joined the ranks of the glorious National Liberation Army, fighting with weapons in hand against foreign occupiers and local traitors who had placed themselves in their service. It was precisely the years of the War that would crystallize in the future artist an unlimited love for his homeland and its good people, to whom he would later give his soul, his voice and his songs. His wonderful voice stood out after battles, when he and his comrades-in-arms sat around the partisan campfire to sing partisan songs. They were songs of hope... (Continued on page 3)

— The Reuters agency reports that British Prime Minister John Major scored a stunning victory on Friday in the dramatic general election, securing the Conservative Party a historic fourth consecutive term in office. — The Reuters agency reports that British Prime Minister John Major scored a stunning victory on Friday in the dramatic general election, securing the Conservative Party a historic fourth consecutive term in office: with the results from all but 22 constituencies counted, the Conservatives had secured 326 of the 651 seats in the House of Commons. Computer projections say that the Conservatives will win 19 of the remaining seats. Speaking to reporters outside his residence at the official prime ministerial residence at 10 Downing Street, Major said he would work to put Britain on its longest economic recovery path since 1930. Polls conducted a week before the election predicted that Labour would take the lead with a narrow majority of seats. But their fourth defeat within a generation highlights their difficulties, calls into question their ability to take power, and raises doubts about the future of Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. (ATA)

People’s lives at a crossroads For us Albanians, the market economy is completely unfamiliar. To some it appeared frightening, confronting them with difficulties in making a living; to others it brought the chance to become “millionaires” within a few months by speculating on the turmoil that has arisen in every cell of the economy. Both groups, for better or worse, have been “shocked” by these first steps of the free market. One complains about the most essential goods; the other is enthusiastic, having never before seen so much money amassed in such a short time. Whether we like it or not, these are features of the market economy, all the more so in its early stages. Be that as it may, private initiative drives people toward a specific and tangible goal. Indeed, when things go well, the income is good. In this context, laws, rules, responsibilities and the rights of every citizen within a democratic society’s organization can and should enable us to achieve an acceptable standard of living for everyone. The problem is that things here have begun somewhat backwards. It may be that capable people, fully equipped in every respect to work, have been left out on the streets. Others, a not insignificant number, have had the good fortune to be able to eat with a big spoon. We say with conviction that this is not the market economy. Nor is it the labour market. What fault is it of the miner’s if a bureaucratic administrator (for one reason or another acting as such) has neither the desire nor the ability to put him to work so he can earn a living? What fault is it of a saleswoman, on the other hand, if she sets the prices of basic food-basket goods as she pleases because state oversight has atrophied? Both parties—the miner and the saleswoman—are interested in earning. But, to the misfortune of one and the good fortune of the other, the state becomes the cause of anomalies. Indeed, I would say that some official and unofficial actions are encouraging immoral gains, which are immoral even by the standards of a market economy. But what should someone who is used to obeying the rules do? Submit to fate, necessity, the life of their family? Facts like these have also brought disillusionment with what we want to build. For a particular job. For a particular job ... (Continued on page 2)

April is the peak month of work for the farmer. Now crops are planted, but they are also tended. That is why farmers flock to their plots. But this spring has been extremely difficult for them. The lack of agricultural machinery and chemical fertilizers has left them completely hamstrung, to the point that farmers have also become uncertain about whether they will get a harvest this year or not. In some families and villages, wheat was sown in autumn without chemical fertilizer. What is more, instead of seed, the same wheat used for bread was sown. The worst thing is that now the wheat plant, which has emerged above ... (Continued on page 2)

The method of working under the new conditions—that is, those of defeat—was the topic debated at the meeting of the presidium of the PS in the Gjirokastër district in recent days, following the analysis conducted by the party’s governing committee. What were some of the most interesting views? This is the moment when something can be gained from defeat: the PS can be genuinely and completely renewed, cleansed and clothed in a socialist mantle. Euphoria and a sense of power attached every possible label to a party; the position of opposition strengthens militancy, credibility and naturalness. In the PS, whose origins are well known, there is still much to undo and much more to put right. For example, while the elections were of high quality and prudent in terms of internal and external orientation, work has faltered in terms of organizational methods, structures, and understanding the reality of the country and the party itself; much remains to be done. Organizational branches need to be better understood, alongside the problems facing the country and the psychology of the various groups of party members. An intellectualist tendency is also noticeable; people who do ordinary work should be brought closer, without lowering the demands for high-quality European-style management and leadership, which must remain a constant priority. The country’s new political, social and economic reality must be better understood, and this must be taken into account when developing the party’s strategy and work tactics. Here is something happening in Gjirokastër: in the first two weeks after the elec- (Continued on page 1)

By means of a resolution adopted on 2 April in Brussels, the Political Bureau of the European Christian Democratic Union calls on the Parliaments and governments of European countries to strongly condemn the flagrant violations of human rights in Kosovo. By means of a resolution adopted on 2 April in Brussels, the Political Bureau of the European Christian Democratic Union calls on the Parliaments and governments of European countries to strongly condemn the flagrant violations of human rights in Kosovo, demand the immediate lifting of the Serbian state of emergency, and restore Kosovo’s autonomous status. The Christian Democratic Union calls for ethnic Albanians in Kosovo to be granted the right to self-determination; for them to be admitted to talks; for the 1991 referendum to be accepted, in which 87 percent of the population voted for independence; and for the provisional government of Kosovo, headed by dr. Bukoshi and currently based in Ljubljana, to be recognized. It also calls on the European Community to examine the extent to which Serbian and Montenegrin authorities respect minorities before recognizing their state. (ARSH)

A cheerful outing (Photo: N. Xhufka)

On 9 April, after a serious illness, the People’s Artist, Mentor Xhemali, passed away. The news is all the more painful when one thinks that the nightingale of the poor strata, who became known at home and abroad for his wonderful voice, left us on this day of great hopes. Mentori was born in the city of Përmet in 1924, where he completed primary school. From a very young age, he was forced to do hard manual labour for several years at the port of Sarandë to cope with his family’s difficult circumstances. Like many other patriots, he joined the partisan ranks to liberate his homeland. It was precisely in those days of war, after battles and around partisan campfires, that his great talent as a singer began to emerge. After liberation, with the creation of the People’s Army Ensemble, Mentor Xhemali’s voice would be heard and warmly applauded in every corner of the homeland. Nature had endowed this representative of the people’s spirit with a magnificent bass voice, sweet and highly musical, a rare and unforgettable voice. His talent was further perfected by the studies he completed at the Moscow Conservatory. He returned to Albania in 1954, and from then on Mentor’s career in opera began. His performances in world operas such as “The Stolen Bride,” “La Traviata,” “The Barber of Seville,” “Eugene Onegin,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Rigoletto,” and others are unforgettable. He made a valuable contribution through his performances in several roles in our national operas, such as “Lulja e Kujtimit,” “Heronatna,” “Skënderbeu,” and others. The concerts given at home and abroad by this singer of world stature are countless. He won third prize at the Warsaw Festival (1955), second prize at the Moscow Festival (1957), first prize at the Vienna Meeting (1959), and second prize at the Helsinki International Meeting (1961). Everywhere, his commanding voice was welcomed with great enthusiasm. Nourished and raised on folk songs, especially those of his own region, in his later years he returned to performing them, giving them a fresh brilliance and making them known throughout Albanian lands, here, in Kosovo and in the diaspora. The people awarded him the high distinction of “People’s Artist” because he sang so beautifully of tragedy, lyricism and deep sorrow with his resonant, melodious, mournful and powerful voice. Mentori, an open-hearted, loving man of noble spirit, had friends and companions everywhere; he shared their concerns and gave them joy, humour and pleasure. As they part from him, his family, relatives, friends, people of culture, composers, stage artists and the wide audience who knew him or had simply heard his voice express their profound sorrow at the loss of a great artist, born of the same hills and slopes that gave birth to and nurtured the great nightingale of the Albanian language, Naim. Sali Kelmendi, Vath Koreshi, Feim Ibrahimi, Kujtim Laro, Çesk Zadeja, Vaçe Zela, Avni Mula, Gaqo Çako, Mustafai Krantja.