- Appeal by the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party for the holding of its first congress - On 20 June, the First Congress of the Socialist Party of Albania will be held in Tirana. This will be the most important event in the political and organizational life of our new Party during its first year. The Congress will analyze all the work carried out during its first year of existence; the Party’s Eurosocialist and democratic profile will be definitively established, as will its undeniable role in the entire course of progressive democratic processes. The Congress will be held in a particular situation, both for the country and for the Socialist Party itself. The verdict of the pluralist elections of 22 March placed the Socialist Party in opposition, a fact that everyone must correctly and deeply understand. This is also important so that everyone may recognize this phenomenon as a normal feature of the pluralist system we have entered, and so that we may analyze and understand as scientifically as possible the causes, factors, and objective and subjective, internal and external circumstances that placed the Socialist Party in opposition. This is an opportunity for every organization and forum to analyze its own work and that of each individual objectively, courageously, and maturely; to identify the good qualities and strengths, as well as the shortcomings and mistakes at every level; and to speak openly about them everywhere and to everyone, so that they may serve as lessons for today and the future. The main thing is to learn and prepare better for the duties and challenges ahead. The main thing is that, with everyone’s commitment and dedication, especially that of the most active and responsible members and the many intellectuals and specialists active in the SP, clear, far-sighted, and well-founded strategies and tactics be developed to successfully fulfill the true role of an opposition party, defending its own alternatives for the comprehensive transformation of Albanian society for the benefit of the majority. The Socialist Party has all the strength, resources, and abilities to carry out this mission honorably in the new circumstances. It was born amid the waves of profound democratization that swept the entire country, as a result of the need for essential changes in the structure and superstructure of society. It was created not for armchairs and party power, but as an effort and a vehicle for that contemporary movement in Albanian society which defends the interests of working people and producers, and upholds as its banner socialist justice, humanism, and social solidarity under a market economy. It devoted itself to this purpose and these aspirations during its first year, both through its democratic program, among the most suitable of the European left, and through its wide-ranging activities, clear vision, and dedication in confronting the many difficulties and problems of the painful transition. The fact that, as a result of the 22 March elections, the Socialist Party moved into opposition changes nothing—not its essence as a political force of the left, nor its understanding of the place and role of the Party and party politics within the framework of the rule of law and a pluralist democratic society. With wisdom, ability, and dedication, every basic organization and forum, from the grassroots to the center, must find its position, act, and establish itself as a constructive force that does not give up or close in on itself, but finds its place and knows how to take the initiative. Initiative is taken and won where there are problems, difficulties, and anything that calls for study and effective solutions. Initiative is won when, even from the position of opposition, one knows how to support everything that favors development reforms, democracy, and freedom, while also forcefully opposing, with arguments and democratic means, everything incompatible with democracy and everything that conflicts with or undermines the order, interests, aspirations, and hopes of the people. Initiative is taken through wise and successful thought and action in Parliament and in regional and local councils; through contributions to draft laws, decisions, and decrees that are as democratic as possible at every level of government; and through serious involvement in solving the full range of everyday and long-term problems in villages and neighborhoods, districts, regions, and across the country. The Socialist Party has the strength, people, and experience to carry out this mission better. Its parliamentary group of 38 deputies, including some of the finest, most capable, and most dedicated specialists and intellectuals, is playing—and will surely continue to play—an important and active role in the life of Parliament and the country. The Socialist Party has thousands of such people—specialists, workers, farmers, young people, and veterans—in towns, regions, and villages, in institutions, departments, and enterprises. Let them become involved wherever they work and serve. Let the most varied forms of organization and participation be established alongside the SP Steering Committees in districts, regions, and areas, so that we may develop programs of action and projects and launch initiatives that serve the country and democracy in Albania. The Socialist Party will gain the trust and authority it deserves not only through its democratic, contemporary spirit and vision, but especially through concrete commitment, concrete choices and alternatives, and concrete contributions to democracy as a whole and to the defense of the interests of the masses, particularly wage earners and the underprivileged. Other political forces—indeed, an entire bloc of right-wing forces and their allies—will continue to attack and accuse the Socialist Party in order to discredit it, paralyze it, and make it inactive and inert. We have by now grown accustomed to this struggle, which in many respects is a means and a condition for the existence and fate of one political force or another. The best response and the best policy is the Socialist Party’s daily affirmation of itself as a democratic force seriously committed to democracy, prosperity, and political, economic, and social freedom. political, economic, and social freedom. And to achieve this, every grassroots organization and every specialist, by bringing themselves to life, must step “outside themselves,” away from closed work and from the closed, secretive forms and methods of the past. It is essential to connect with the masses and to engage humanely with the concerns and preoccupations of workers and peasants, young people and intellectuals, veterans, women, and soldiers. We come from their ranks, and through our political alternative we defend and express their interests and aspirations. They certainly understand us and tomorrow will understand and trust us even more. That is why it is essential to stay as close as possible to them and their problems, and together to build our daily work, accurately and with the future in mind. More members should join the Socialist Party from among them, especially from the ranks of young people who embrace the alternative of European democratic socialism. The good work of the past 3–4 months, during which the ranks of the SP have grown by about 5,000 new members, mainly from the Eurosocialist Youth Forum, as well as intellectuals, workers, and peasants, should continue. This will be another success for the Party and its first Congress, and at the same time another sign that the SP is establishing itself as a major force, with a future and an undisputed role in all the processes of democratic transformation. The revitalization and dignified affirmation of the Party for today and the future— (Continued on page 4) to carry out its mission in opposition. This requires dedication, honesty, and perseverance in order to strengthen and consolidate the Party. Let the long period leading up to the Congress become a period of revitalization and renewal for all its work and membership.

According to the Independent Trade Union Federation of Miners, Geologists and Beneficiators of Albania, the Secretary-General of the International Miners’ Organization, Mr. Alen Simon, sent the following notice by fax from Paris to the news media in Albania: According to of Albania, the Secretary-General of the International Miners’ Organization, Mr. Alen Simon, sent the following notice by fax from Paris to the news media in Albania: «I am pleased to inform you that our Executive Committee, meeting on 14–15 April 1992 in Bordi, France, considered the membership application of of Albania. After discussion, with more than 2/3 of the votes in favor, it is henceforth officially a member of the International Miners’ Organization. At the same time, the Chairman of of Albania, Mr. Mexhit Zogu, has been elected a member of the Executive Committee. Your Miners’ Federation ranks 45th among the member countries and, under the principles and rules of the statutes, Albanian miners enjoy equal rights with miners from the other member countries. (According to ATSH)

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), headquartered in Paris, announced in its documents the establishment of the Balkan Veterinary Cooperation Committee, thereby recognizing this part of Europe within international veterinary cooperation. The Committee was established in Tirana, and the first president elected was the Director of the Albanian Veterinary Service, Mr. Anesti Rako.

On 25 April 1992, under the direction of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, the Council of Ministers met to consider several important issues and adopt the corresponding decisions. Taking into account the new political relations created by the elections of 22 March, as well as the obstruction of work in many of them, the Council of Ministers decided to change the composition and leadership of the district executive committees. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the law “On the privatization of state enterprises.” The Council of Ministers decided to complete this process by 30 May 1992, including the review of prices and disporatave by the relevant bodies. The Government examined the numerous violations and abuses being committed by the bodies charged with issuing construction permits, temporarily suspending— ... this activity. Another issue considered at today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers was the establishment of a working group, with representatives from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, to address issues concerning the property of political and social organizations. The proposal submitted by the Ministry of Justice was also considered. It will be sent to the People’s Assembly for approval: “On an amendment to Law No. 7526, dated 3.12.1991, ‘On employment relations.’” “For special needs related to improving the functions and structures of the state apparatus in order to implement the economic and political reform for the transition to a free-market economy and the establishment of the rule of law, the competent body has the right to transfer an employee to another position within their profession or place them on social assistance.” (According to ATSH)

According to the Academy of Sciences of Albania, a member of the Academy, Prof. Luan Omari, was elected on 27 March 1992 as a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, based in Vienna. This decision, taken by the Academy’s Senate, was announced by its president, Prof. Dr. Feliks Unger.

- Serbian police and army threaten to start the war - PRISHTINA, April 25. While Vushtri and nine [sic] in Podujevë, Mitrovicë, and other artillery weapons have been positioned in key buildings, at police stations— PRISHTINA, April 25. In Vushtri and nine [sic] in Podujevë, Mitrovicë, machine guns and other artillery weapons have been positioned in key buildings, police stations and other institutions. Groups of soldiers watch from various positions in Kosovo both during the day and during the day. The weapons are aimed at Albanian homes, while the weapons positioned in the towns of Gjakova and Prizren, which are near the border with Albania, are aimed at Albania itself. Serbian police and army are openly supplying ethnic Serbs and Montenegrins with light artillery weapons, while the recruitment and training of Serbian gangs continues at the “Grand” hotel in Prishtina. Serbian children and old people are being evacuated ... ... In Vushtri and nine [sic] in Podujevë, Mitralozë various positions in Kosovo during the night ... Serbian children and old people are being evacuated ...

...After the war he joined the youth campaigns. He waved the flag: “Hooray—talk here, talk there. Comrade Z. in a position of influence. He said a good word: I too said a good word, because he bandaged my wound in democracy.” A biography was made up... “Failure” D. Agolli - Just as a worm eats a rose, leaving only a thorny stump, so wickedness eats away a person’s humanity and leaves a kind of beast. N. Frashëri “Failure” In a pluralist society, political struggle between different parties is natural. It is normal and an indication of normal pluralism. Just as it is natural, with many parties, to join the one you want, the one in which you find your ideals best represented. But just as normal is the dignified conduct of everyone, regardless of the party they join: not confusing political debate and political struggle with society and friendship, not equating conviction with envy, goodness with wickedness and careerism, or with the traditions and values of being Albanian. Democracy is the work of a politician who knows how to provoke with the force of words, but also of the thinker who knows how to mark petitions with the wisdom of thought; the work of a politician who genuinely helps a circle of people, with advice and work, and who — politicians ... ...with socialist justice, humanism, solidarity ... on its banner, under the conditions of a market economy. The purpose of these aspects ... where it found itself in the first year of its life, both with a democratic program at the most advanced levels of the European left and through its wide-ranging activity, its clear vision and its commitment to The fact that, as a result of the March 22 elections, the Socialist Party moved into opposition does not diminish anything: neither its essence as a democratic left-wing political force, nor its progressive program, nor the vital interests of the people it represents and defends. In the days ahead, up to the Congress and at the Congress itself, as well as at all the meetings and activities that will take place from the grassroots to the center during this period, the Party’s role and vision will be further clarified, and convictions about the alternative of democratic socialism will be further rooted and defined. These will equip us all with strategies and tactics enabling the Socialist Party to strengthen the confidence it enjoys wherever it has it, win it back where it has lost it, and successfully play its indispensable and vital role in pluralist democracy in Albania. To achieve all this, as the interests of democracy and the country require, we rightly appeal to the members and sympathizers of the PPSH and to all honest and democratic people. Passionate work is required of all members and sympathizers of the PPSH; dedication, initiative and perseverance are needed to strengthen and consolidate the Party, to develop it into a capable and solid political force, a serious, measured and deeply patriotic force. Let the period following the Congress become a time of renewed energy and revitalization throughout the Party’s work and all its branches. This is the time when people of our generation with genuinely new outlooks, the most advanced and reformist perspectives, must also come forward; when everything that carries the image, practices and mentality of the party-state must be removed without hesitation; when even better ... intellectual ability and do not look at the interests of the parties, how much you have raised in contributions, how many petitions you have signed or how many rallies you have attended. Democracy is the work of people who renew and transform their own practices, and consider them an important part of state and civic activity; people who know well that mentalities ingrained over half a century cannot be removed from one’s mind and party activity as easily as taking off a jacket and hanging it on a coat rack. It is the work of those who constantly strive toward this, listen to the well-intentioned criticism of colleagues inside and outside their parties, and reflect every day, so that coat racks do not always remain empty. In every party they belong to, Albanians call such people “men.” This truly centuries-old Albanian quality does not undermine two-party pluralism; on the contrary, it ennobles it further and makes it more original. These are the true democrats. This becomes all the more necessary if we consider that in many political parties there is also a category of people whom Albanians have stigmatized, and continue to stigmatize, with another name: chameleons. These are the democrats of the evening, the opportunists. Pluralism did not create them. It is not to blame. We, the former members of the Party of Labour, are to blame: we never held a meeting or conference, wrote a piece or article without talking about “the new man.” Pluralism merely stripped off their masks and exposed them, while adding new elements to their ranks. It would have been paradoxical to reach this conclusion in the era of one-party rule, but the present time has proved it true. A social type. What is this species, which has attached itself to democracy like a shoe? Here are some of its traits. Others do the fighting—you take the benefits As always, including in the struggle for democracy, this group became actively involved when the victors were already close to parliamentary and ministerial seats. It prefers to keep the victors’ ranks alive and has no problem changing sides whenever there is a risk that those seats will no longer be theirs. An undesirable social type that regards society, ... ... political life merely as a means to serve itself and its interests; when it does not get what it wants, it will not speak to you, keeps its distance, avoids you and weaves intrigues. Such people join political parties not out of ideals—pluralism has shown that they have none—but for a career, for a position. When the party they join does not give them these things, they leave nothing unsaid, insult everyone, claiming that they have been denied their due, and so on. For them, democracy is considered their property, and when they are not given what they are not entitled to, they leave nothing unsaid. They talk about the national cause and supposedly defend emigrants when they are in Zyçever or Germany; when they are not paid enough, they return to Albania and leave nothing unsaid or unsworn about them. Such people talk and rant about Albanian identity; they criticize the right for violating Albanian traditions and isolating the country from the world, while today they cling like glue to foreigners in Albania so they will give them a seat, so they will host them to dinner on Dajt. In return, they leave nothing unsaid, going so far as to mobilize the Albanian people. And when their comrades ask them, “What are you doing? You can’t tell the foreigners everything,” they answer arrogantly: “You backward people, what do you know about politics? Haven’t you heard the president say that Albanians will take up the policy of open doors?” This is not the policy of open doors; this is not the way out of ... (Continued on page 3)

ON THE OCCASION OF THE HOLY DAY OF EASTER, WE EXTEND OUR HEARTFELT WISHES TO ALL ORTHODOX BELIEVERS, WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA: HAPPY EASTER!