You have sworn before Parliament and the entire people that you will champion human values in all your political and social activity. People expect you to prove that you truly are such a person, not only with words and statements, but also through concrete action. More than a year has passed since the tragic events of 2 April in Shkodër. Two police officers continue to be unjustly held in custody, deprived of their freedom and every other right. What are we waiting for? Why are they not convicted if they are guilty, or pardoned if they are innocent? Can a democratic president, sworn to uphold human values, remain indifferent?... Four human lives await the president’s decision: to live or to die! Four human lives are waiting for the President’s human values to be proclaimed. But at the same time, we are dealing with four criminals awaiting punishment under the law, because otherwise the dead will rise from the graves into which their own hands have put them. The law makes you humane, Mr. President, but it can also make you a dictator. The electrician Bruno Sula is no longer alive. He was brutally murdered some time ago, yet nothing has been said about the fate of his killers. It has been said that ‘they have been caught, but...’ Nothing more. The family of the late Bruno, his workmates, who signed a petition during those painful days (which, it seems, has been forgotten), and our own fragile democracy are waiting for the law to punish them. What are you doing, Mr. President? Have you forgotten all this? Once again, we remind you that people are waiting, waiting for the President to proclaim human values and fairness in the enforcement of the law.

One month ago, the Republic of Albania recalled its ambassador from Belgrade, preceding the decision of the European Community to recall all its ambassadors from the former Yugoslavia, or more precisely, from Serbia. This position, which might at first glance seem like a gain on paper from lowering the level of diplomatic representation, is not accidental. Once again, it expresses disagreement with Serbian communist circles, which are responsible for the Yugoslav crisis in general and for violating the sovereignty of states such as Bosnia-Herzegovina. With this position, the Republic of Albania once again denounces imperial practices and the “genocide being perpetrated by Serbian circles against Albanians in occupied Kosovo, which has been devastated by Serbian forces”; it calls on the European Community, the USA and all other countries to use every means to compel Serbia to stop any further spread of the conflict in Kosovo and to act in this way to prevent a new bloodbath. (ATSH)

In the country’s present economic and social situation, the ineffective activities of central departments are also a matter of considerable importance. Bureaucracy and technocracy have been obstacles, as have the stifling of capable specialists’ ideas, servility and, why not, corruption. The need to restructure the agencies is therefore logical, reasonable, right and beneficial. The Socialist Party has supported and continues to support this process, guided by the aim of enabling capable, honest people with great patriotic commitment to find employment. It is therefore illogical not to support this process of progressive renewal and restructuring. In principle, everything is clear, but reality must be faced. We must look at the specific facts, case by case. We have already stressed that it is normal and logical for advisers, assistants or officials directly connected with the substance of the president’s work to leave his office. But under no circumstances, neither in principle nor in practice, can sound democratic opinion accept that even the typist should be dismissed within 24 hours. Such actions, what is worse, are imposed from the top down. Restructuring thus takes on the character of class purges, of punishments for political beliefs or party affiliation. Democracy must not give rise to anxiety or make people feel insecure. If the right to work is violated, then a fundamental, legitimate human right has been violated. This is what concerns Albanian socialists and their Party. Within 24 hours, dozens and dozens of specialists from government departments are being dismissed and left without assistance. No specific reason is given for each case. Many questions arise: how many of those dismissed are members of the PSSH, and how many belong to other political forces? How many of them do not deserve to be cast aside, given their abilities? Are those who are replacing—or will replace—the people just dismissed more capable? If reality gives no positive answers to these questions, then this process harms not only the socialists but, first and foremost, the work itself; it harms Albania. Regardless of the position taken by other political forces, independent trade unions or confederations, Albanian socialists and their Party will never remain silent. They will never turn a deaf ear. They will publicly denounce arbitrariness and arrogance in the treatment of people and respect for them. And not only that: by democratic means and through democratic channels, they will insist that reforms, restructuring, etc., be carried out only on the basis of the law and criteria assessing each person’s moral and professional qualities. The shift to the thresholds of the right gives democracy new, unwelcome visions. Beware! This would threaten democracy itself and everyone else. Above all, it would harm the country. That is why we say: no further extensions of the hand! KRESHNIK KODHELI

We were travelling by bus to Shkodër and talking about various things. A passenger who got on in the town of Lezhë took our conversation in a different direction: the division of land. “Where we live, on the bank of the Mat, everyone is going to their own land,” he said. “That’s how it should be. Our ancestors bought that land with gold, and it was taken from them. Now, it’s now or never: everyone must get what is rightfully theirs.” “What about the others?” someone asked him. “That’s the state’s business, my friend. I have suffered enough. I was branded a kulak—and why? Because I had land. My father and grandfather bought it with gold. Now our day has come to reclaim our rights.” He spoke rapidly, as if one of us were trying to take from him the land of his ancestors—which no one knew with what gold it had been bought or who had given his ancestors the gold—as if we were trying to deny him every right and those rights were being decided right there, on that short bus journey. Perhaps he would have gone on. But he was interrupted by a somewhat elderly man, gaunt-faced, with a noble complexion. “Do you know what the customary law says, my friend?” he said. “If someone works as a hired hand on another person’s land for twenty years, the landowner is obliged to build him a house, find him a wife and give him a share of his land. Now, this people has been a hired hand for 50 years. Does it not deserve what the customary law says...?” The other man fell silent. He looked at him for a moment and said: “Perhaps you talk like that because you have no land and don’t know what land is!” “I belong to the ... tribe,” the somewhat elderly man replied, and named a well-known tribe. We did not talk about land any more. But we thought that the land commissions should not include the quarrelsome ones—the people who look for a fight even on a bus, let alone in the village house—but rather wise people, who know not only their own troubles, but those of the whole people. BEDRI ISLAMI

The economic delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation Karl Dieter Spranger, visited the livestock complex at Xhafzotaj in the district of Durrës this morning, where it was received by the complex’s director.

. The purge operation also affected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, just as it did the other departments of the state administration. Around 60 of its employees, including department directors, ambassadors, etc., were dismissed by this Ministry and placed on social assistance. Under these circumstances, almost all of Albania’s ambassadors accredited in various countries around the world returned to Tirana. Many of them were placed on social assistance. All the directors of the political and economic departments were dismissed, leaving their posts vacant. In a way, Albanian diplomacy has been paralyzed, precisely at a time when it needs more than ever to be active. Reforming the Albanian Foreign Ministry was necessary because one could also find incompetent people there, without the relevant higher education, coming from the “working class,” coming from fields entirely unrelated to diplomacy, slipped into corners through various friendships and cliques, or with strong party loyalties. But not everyone in this department was or is like that. One could also find diplomats with experience, with knowledge in their fields of activity, who have contributed and can contribute to Albanian diplomacy, seemingly guided not by party interests but by national ones. But what were the criteria for dismissing or removing these Foreign Ministry employees from their jobs? No one can answer this question, since… OBSERVER … were jobs? No one can answer this question, since… OBSERVER

It seems that history is repeating itself in modern times. The chairman of the pluralist executive committee of the Durrës district, Mr. Andrea Xhavara, without a decision by the district executive committee, indeed without formally consulting its presidium, and acting solely in his capacity as its “all-powerful” chairman, appointed Mr. Bashkim Sefa, a mechanical engineer and par- [text incomplete] to the position of head of the personnel section. With this personal decision, the chairman violated the most elementary rules. In other words, in the past Lala used to dismiss people and stamp documents without asking anyone. Later, the government officials of the party-state adopted the practice in more concealed forms, while today this nostalgia is being practiced with even greater zeal by state officials of the Democratic Party. There is not just one Lalë Kros, and not only in Durrës! And what does this appointment make us think of Lalë Krosi, Mr. Andrea! Personally, I am sure that we will see other Xhavara-types with our own eyes and hear them with our own ears. The proverbs remain the same; only the author changes. SPARTAK BRAHO

The economic delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation, Karl Dieter Spranger, went this morning to the livestock complex in Xhafzotaj, in the Durrës district, where it was received by the director of the complex, Hajdar Verdha, and livestock specialists. Republic of Germany, headed by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation, Karl Dieter Spranger, went this morning to the livestock complex in Xhafzotaj, in the Durrës district, where it was received by the director of the complex, Hajdar Verdha, and livestock specialists. Mr. Spranger inquired about the workers’ working conditions, qualifications, services, etc. From there, the German delegation went to Kavajë, where the project “Program for Securing the Livelihoods of the Unemployed in Particularly Poor Regions” will be implemented. The German Federal Minister, Mr. Spranger, asked about the problems and difficulties that had arisen and the situation in various sectors, and emphasized that we would help them. In German policy, this is called “helping in order to truly help.” Then, Mr. Spranger and the other members of the delegation visited the town hospital, the nail and bolt factory, the eight-year school in Fushë Qerrët, and a teacher’s family. He presented the town’s maternity hospital with a set of surgical instruments. In honor of the German delegation, Mr. Naim Karrigi hosted a dinner-cocktail reception at Golem beach. (ATSH)

- The goods belong to the state, while they are sold at prices 4–10 times higher: Who gets the profits? - The market is flooded with alcoholic drinks and cigarettes; who are the traffickers? - Is the trade in children real? - The investigating authorities release criminals; the courts hand down laughable sentences! In various interviews given to the public, as well as in various recent articles, the activity of organized crime has become an issue in Albania. In various interviews given to the public, as well as in various recent articles, the activity of organized crime has become an issue in Albania, or it does not exist, or… [partly illegible] … How are we to discuss particular cases of organized crime? Is it important to respond? Let us reflect … [partly illegible] … and clean up … One major form of organized crime is the trafficking of alcohol and tobacco. Well, Albania is flooded with untaxed alcoholic drinks coming from abroad. … At prices 4–10 times higher. Who are the traffickers? … In what way and by what means? Nobody says anything. We have no facts, someone might say; we know nothing. But ignorance is not an argument. Let us move on. In the middle of Tirana there are dozens of groups playing various gambling games, whose winnings reach very large sums; the question arises once again: “Does this constitute organized crime?” The world and Europe call such activities that, which is why they classify them as illegal games (jeu illicite). Continued below. (Continued on page 2)

- Since August 31, 1991, the marble mine has been occupied by the “Anonymous of Muhurr.” - Regional divisions: “You people from beyond the Drin have no business in our mine. Muhurr and Luznia are in fierce conflict over ownership of the marble mine.” - Paradoxes of the times: 7 engineers and senior specialists are managed by a mid-level technical director. Shkëndër Leka is appointed director according to the “mountain code.” - Hunger strike by 23 miners and staff members. Parliament and RTV remain silent. The problem is solved with words. The public order branch and the investigative authorities continue to drag their feet. On April 27, 1992, on the eve of May Day, 23 specialists and longtime workers at the Marble Mine in Muhurr, Dibër, confined themselves in an open-ended hunger strike. A week earlier, they had submitted their modest demands to what they considered their proper and primary addressees: the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and Radio and Television. The strikers included members and supporters of political parties in both the government and the opposition, as well as members of various trade unions. It should be emphasized that neither the People’s Assembly (although it … [incomplete] published many letters and telegrams addressed to it) nor the radio and television said a single word about these people’s concerns—a concern that is also a matter of concern and obligation for the entire district and the country. The issue concerns millions that for 0 months have not been provided to the economy... During the days of confinement in the hunger strike, concern among the district’s political parties, and even the independent trade union at the center, grew. The conclusion was categorical and shared by all: the strikers are entirely in the right. The old and new bureaucracy is responsible for the inaction regarding the situation at the Marble Mine in Muhurr, for the indifference and destruction, and for hundreds of thousands of dollars lost for nothing. But words remained words, and instead of being uprooted, the bureaucracy took even deeper root. On August 18, 1991, with the Italian firm UP, they decided… (Continued on page 3)

… around 60 of its employees, including department directors, ambassadors, etc., were placed on social assistance.

While the Socialist Party supports the development of reform as the only alternative for overcoming the crisis, it strongly opposes any reckless solution that pits people against one another and creates dangerous social problems.