LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE OF THE PS PARLIAMENTARY GROUP During the 47-year period, state ownership encompassed all sectors of the economy, extending as far as citizens’ homes. In this way, citizens had no opportunity to acquire a home as their own property, even under the most minimal conditions. Through their work, via state construction enterprises or voluntarily, citizens had managed by 1991 to build around 181 thousand state-owned apartments, with a total value of 4.5 billion lekë (all values are calculated at fixed prices from before liberalization). Taking their depreciation through use into account, their remaining real value is around 2.3 billion lekë. The population living in cities and other inhabited centres at the end of 1991 numbered 860 thousand people. Consequently, dividing the remaining real value (3.3 billion lekë) by the population (860 thousand) gives a value of 2830 lekë for each inhabitant. Thus, each resident’s share of this national property amounts to 3830 lekë; this represents the value of the security that each resident could use during the privatization of state housing. The draft law submitted aims to transfer all state-owned homes (not property of former owners) to the ownership of the citizens living in them, while also taking certain criteria into account. The draft law is presented in two versions: a) Version 1: Free transfer of the part of the home to which each resident is entitled under the current norms and criteria, if they live in state-owned housing. b) Version 2: Free transfer only of the security with the aforementioned value to each resident living in state-owned housing. Version 1: The main reason this version is proposed is that residents of cities and other inhabited centres have contributed not only to the creation of 181 thousand state-owned buildings, but also to the creation of the entire national wealth; on the other hand, they own not even the most basic property that a home could represent. Since, for numerous objective and subjective reasons, the assessment and distribution of all national wealth according to each person’s contribution is not being carried out, it is normal for the home to be transferred free of charge to each resident, without their having to pay an additional sum beyond the value of the security mentioned above. This version has several advantages: a) All residents living in state-owned buildings become owners of their homes at once. At the same time, the state is relieved of the task of maintaining them and of other related activities. b) Since it is not necessary to appraise each home individually, there is no need to set up commissions to assess the remaining real value of every home according to its degree of depreciation. Setting up these commissions would require the commitment of many personnel and would create favourable conditions for compromises. c) The issuance of securities might be necessary, which would certainly require the use of foreign currency and other expenses. d) Since privatization is ...

For several days now, it has been whispered at Television that Azem Hajdari gave an interview to Television. Very few people know what he said; others, as usual, embroider the story. It is said that he spoke about the purges in the army and in SHIK and that he does not agree with the way things are being done. But that is of little importance. It is said that an order has come from “above” that the interview must not be broadcast. Whose sore spot the interview hit is unknown; but at least in parliament it is known that Azem Hajdari knows how to hit a sore spot! Apparently, something does not suit someone. An ordinary citizen who is interviewed should not take offence if their interview is not broadcast; nor should any Ballist, kulak or criminal’s nephew take offence. When Azem Hajdari, deputy chairman of the PD, MP and chairman of one of the most important committees, is censored, it means that strict rules have been imposed at Television, that it operates under strict orders, and that strict party discipline reigns there. I am especially convinced that Azem Hajdari spoke Albanian, realistically and objectively, for the public—otherwise he would not have been censored.

- For several months we have been waiting to receive the most essential food items that have been guaranteed to us through the ration card, such as oil, rice, pasta, soap, etc. I say this with despair: so far we have received nothing. Such a wait is making life harder every day for the families of our town. - We have continually read and heard in the press, on the radio and on television declarations and promises, interviews, agreements and discussions involving many delegations, even from the Government of Mr. Meksi, saying that living standards will improve despite the difficult economic and social conditions the country is going through. But so far we have seen no concrete action. - It is strange that in the private market, profiteers and speculators are freely trading in rationed goods, selling some items at high prices. For example, a bar of soap costs from 2.5 to 13 lekë, and sugar from 8 lekë to 35 lekë. The same goes for the other items. From a group of citizens of the Pogradec district 1. Gjokë Laçka, 2. Koco Kove, 3. Llazi Shkurti, 4. Stasi Kërxhalli, 5. Çelnik Tora, 6. Vangjel Çobani, 7. Shefqet Duka.

CORNER OF REFORM Fresh virginity A private bank is being sought in Albania (!?) Where would you find one? There are none in Albania; our banking system still has no variety of banks operating on the basis of financial capital under different ownership. State banks are still untouchable taboos. The economic system has not changed for them. They carry on as they are, untouched, shielded from competition, false virgins, yet shaken by the rents they believe in. We have accepted that the market economy is based on the privatization of the economy, but it is beyond all elementary economic logic to maintain only one banking system—that of the state. The contradiction is plain: private economy—state banks. What does the connection recommend during this half-continental transition? Unlike us, private-bank branches operate in all the countries of the East, from Poland to Bulgaria. But where is India? A number of powerful French and German private banks have opened bank subsidiaries, agencies, branches or representative offices in Hungary, Romania, Poland, etc. These are not mechanical imitations but economic necessities. First: ... The number of powerful European private banks is large. This is because state banks are shaken, confidence has been lost, and they are difficult for foreign investors and businesspeople to accept. Anyone putting money in wants it to be guaranteed first. Do our state banks perhaps make the same impression as those in the East? Second: private banks are better suited to the conditions of a private economy. Then why should we suffer from a mania for originality? The private economy has nothing to expect from state banks. Foreign investors will not put themselves at risk with our banks, burdened by debts and blocked by foreign banks. If the banks in connection are shaken, I do not know whether ours have any foundations. There are nearly 600 million dollars in debts. Repeated efforts to unblock things. Our state banking system is completely incapable of coping with and supporting economic reform in Albania. The government and its specialists should think about this for a few days. No fear. In capitalism, banks go bankrupt too. Are we for a market economy?

We read your observation titled “Mr. Dokle, you were right...” (RD, 17 June 1992), in which you try to write the biographies of the members of the RTV Governing Council, K. Ymeri, S. Çela and A. Minga, proposed by the PS parliamentary group. You have done them nicely—very much like Mihal Bishai. There is just one thing you have not managed: your master, Bisha; you are very late. Why didn’t you do this before your group of MPs voted unanimously?! And there was plenty of time—not just a little, but a full ten days, during which your group met several times on this issue. Nevertheless, well done! With the zeal you have, O observer, one day you will write biographies of the president himself and his advisers too. But for that you need to get ordinary leave. Do you get 15 days or 30 as an MP? The obser-obser-server

MODEL P At last, the people can rejoice in an achievement. A fruit of reform. Young and old alike welcome this... noose placed around the democratic conscience. On behalf of the People’s Assembly Committee for Information, it was announced by deputy S. Shkupi: A democratic biography template! He repeated it over and over. (May the members of the RTV Board have been fortunate enough to see the first example.) And still, it seemed too little to us. The chairman of the presidium was very, very wrong to intervene and prevent the same thing from being repeated so many times! And the reader did well not to be swayed by the template’s promotion, carrying out to the end the task assigned by the party! Reform needs such a template. And parliament spared no effort. It provided one. For our reform will have its own specific character. With politics in the foreground, it is absolutely necessary to respect the «biographical tradition» too. Template P. (created on the basis of the majority’s creative interpretation) is now a reality. And it has come at a very critical time. It is needed by the apparatus and its employees. From top to bottom, it is needed by students, pupils, pioneers. By children who want to go to kindergartens or nurseries. Template P. protects the democratic state from democratic elements. VANGJEL STEFA

CHOOSE AND TAKE In the interview of June 11, 1992, President Berisha clearly and unequivocally presented the legal arguments for the purges that are continuing. He has linked everything to reform. The basic criterion for these purges, he expressed approximately, is the attitude (predisposition) adopted toward reform. Even if you may disagree with this «reasoning», his sincerity cannot be questioned. The President did not think it appropriate to mention that «politics has been put in the foreground» in the purges now under way. Perhaps he did not do so because it would sound like neo-monism. Apparently, he sets aside the biographical legal criteria, «honesty», etc., when supporting the political side. «With whom is the “boundary”» ... [?] On what basis and by what criteria are they evaluated... and discovered... I... So, is an exemplary attitude toward reform required? God help us! For this attitude, only administrative measures are being taken today, whereas in the case of ... [?], the general defeats of the «class struggle», it is ... [?] also moved on to criminal measures for agitation and propaganda. ... [unclear] ... And how did the reforms pass so that one could declare support for the reform ... [unclear]

250 families at the Oblikë Agricultural Enterprise are waiting for... for everything, because they have nothing. In truth, I did not go to the agricultural enterprise in Oblikë to gather information for the subject of this article. A completely new organization of the Socialist Party had been formed there, with around 40 members who had never before belonged to any other party, and I thought I could write a short note about this fact. But I found myself facing a new subject, one I cannot help writing about... 250 highlander families in the Oblikë agricultural enterprise are left stranded, without any hope. A little history. In the Oblikë area, when the agricultural enterprise was established on the hilly slopes—once covered entirely with scrub, now planted with olive groves, fruit trees, etc.—250 highlander families from various parts of the Shkodër highlands were also settled there. Generally, they did not come to these places of their own free will, because their former homes were beautiful too. But the roaring waters of the Drin River hydroelectric power station flooded their villages, and they came. The state built around 30 new apartment blocks, creating a beautiful neighborhood. Until now, with rare exceptions, the young and old, children and adults... In short, the highlanders and the local residents have got along very well. They have naturally supported one another in joy and sorrow, perhaps also because a highlander neighborhood has existed at the entrance to the area for many years. Now things have changed. The 250 families have had not a single person in work since May–September. The men wait, sit in the village square, watch others working the land, but their own hands are tied. They wait for their wages, which this time arrived reduced by 30 percent (pasti). This ... [unclear] They have no land to work, not even a small plot on which to plant vegetables, not a tree for shade, not even a road or a single flower. All the land has been taken by the former owners, the Oblikë agricultural enterprise, which since September is a ... enterprise. It exists on paper, but not in reality. No one knows whose the land is, whose the firm is, what will happen to this agricultural enterprise, where ... is sold ... the share of ... million lek to clear the scrub and establish the well-known plantations. Fences have encroached on the hills and the land beside the Buna River, and the owners do not allow the newcomers to work. And so they sit idle. But for how long? How will these people live in the future? «The trouble began at the beginning,» says one of those present, referring to the first meeting with Mr. Spahia, then chairman of the pluralist committee in Shkodër. He agreed with us. The village agreed with him too. As for the land law, he said, «I voted against it.» After that, the disputes began. Fences went up. The farms were dismantled de facto. Agriculture in the district was destroyed. This year’s produce, such as cherries, is being sold by private individuals, and they have earned ... tens of thousands of lek, only from the cherries they themselves planted earlier, while those who did the work sit in the shade and despair over a handful of fruit. What will happen to these farms? Will they be changed or not? Who is right in this matter, and what does the law say? Naturally, we do not want to oppose the rightful claims of Oblikë’s residents. The scarcity of land and the desire to develop substantial livestock farming as in the past are pushing toward defining the village boundaries, including in places where there were no boundaries before. First and foremost, their claims must be met in accordance with the law. But the others must not be left without a plan or a home either. The law must resolve everything: both the produce of today and the prevention of problems in the future. But this is not the only thing the highlander residents of Oblikë are waiting for. Under the regulations, they should be supplied by Trading and Sales Enterprise No. 1, but many days and weeks have passed since the last delivery appeared. Sugar, oil, soap, flour, etc. have become scarce, while they are plentiful on the black market. They can be found only at higher prices, but their price is going down, not up. As for water and housing, and other problems, there is no point even mentioning them. They have long been forgotten... hope has run out. The 250 families, who voted almost entirely for the former opposition, are waiting for it. They are waiting for everything, because they have nothing. Even those who had something have lost their jobs. Waiting cannot go on forever.

The Platform of purges has begun to be implemented at the United Officers’ School!... As readers were informed through the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” dated 11. 6. 1992, Sokol Ndue Qehaja has prepared a platform of mass purges that will be implemented at the Higher United Officers’ School, or, as this institution has recently been renamed, the Air Force Military Academy. To give it “legal force,” the platform in question was also approved by the chairman of the Democratic Party branch in Lac, Mr. Mal Berisha. Publication of the above fact has not only caused panic among the leadership of the Democratic Party and within the Ministry of Defence itself—which will surely not be allowed to pass in silence—but has also prompted fears that it will be followed by the discovery of some enemy group, which will be accused of revealing the Party’s secret. Despite this, the platform has begun to be implemented. We inform readers that on Saturday, 13. 6. 1992, the school’s Commandant, Perlat Sula, was dismissed from his post, having been appointed to that position about five months earlier. We also clarify that he has never been a party member. Let us wait for the further implementation of the platform!... The Observer

A GOVERNMENT THAT AWAKENS HOPES, OR... The people voted for the «better program»; they voted to change the economy, for ... dreams. The so-called transparency today is a fog that threatens to cloud our vision. The government is gradually putting itself to the test. Every day we see how the objectives of the DP’s electoral program are being fulfilled. The arrival of ships carrying goods has been replaced by a struggle for seats at the top. Will this really feed the people in this turmoil, or will it divide them even more? The DP promised us water and telephone service, but we still do not know when the government will provide us with oil, rice, sugar, soap, etc. People have the right to become pessimistic about promises made. The government is skirting the fundamental problems. A false calm is being served up to the people on television. But reality is different. People are being threatened; no one dares leave their home; production is being damaged in broad daylight, etc. Many former cooperative families have suffered because they have not received land. The agricultural cooperatives are making ... major cuts. The property of the agricultural enterprises is in doubt. Until yesterday, the «red dome» (the Ministry of Agriculture) was accused of implementing the land law. But today, could it be that the blue dome is obstructing things, or some promise made earlier by yesterday’s former opposition? The slogan «we govern, the world helps us» has become the stuff of jokes, like those about Nastradnin. But apparently it was only meant to secure the seats. Just as under monism yesterday, today too there is no talk of transparency. FATMIR HETI Katundi Ri, Tirana