Sources within the Democratic Party stress that the chairman of this party, Eduard Selami, is in Albania. On this occasion, all members and sympathizers of the DP are informed, wherever they may be, but especially those in the villages, struggling to find bread and clothing, those who take to the mountains to cross the border illegally in search of work and bread, as well as the unemployed in the cities who have no way to feed their children, that their chairman is in Albania and, although tired from long journeys, can receive them. All those mentioned above are advised to borrow money, because they need 5,000 lekë for the trip, 20,000 for the hotel, and 10,000 for food, since the Democratic Government took us to Europe ahead of schedule. Members and sympathizers of the Democratic Party, hurry to meet your chairman! Hurry to meet him this week, because next week... Information Office

As we are informed by representatives of the Trade Union Council of the Malësia e Madhe district, yesterday a peaceful demonstration was held, which the police prevented from taking place. A peaceful rally had been planned for today in Koplik. The district Trade Union Council submitted the request and the other necessary documents to the district public order branch in due time, as required by law. The branch gave an oral reply that there was no problem with holding the rally on 27 February and that the formal written reply would be received on the 26th. Yesterday at midday, the head of the public order branch in Koplik summoned Hamza Hoti, chairman of the district Trade Union Council, and the secretary of that council, and informed them of the decision to cancel the rally, on the pretext that «we do not have enough forces to ensure the rally can be held». Yesterday afternoon, the trade union council representatives tried to explain that the sudden cancellation of the rally, which had been planned in advance, would have consequences, because people had been notified. It is clear that in Koplik, too, we are dealing with the same scenario used in Fier to sabotage the rally of that district’s trade union council. The same absurd reasons were used by the leaders of the Mini- (Continued on page 2)

Fier WE WILL USE EVERY MEANS OF TRADE UNION STRUGGLE, UP TO A GENERAL STRIKE Declaration To the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha To the Chairman of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori To the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi To the editorial offices of the newspapers Pasqyra, Kombi, ZP, RD, Alternativa, Koha Jonë, Republika. We, the participants in the peaceful rally held in «Fitorja» Square on 22.2.1993, considering the social and economic situation of workers to be extremely difficult and without a way out, issue this declaration: 1. We demand full compensation of wages in line with rising prices and the liberalization of export goods. 2. We demand that work resume at those enterprises that are profitable and have ample potential to operate, but have been left to their fate. 3. We protest the one-sided implementation of the reform, which has affected our trade union completely and other trade unions in part. For every worker, professional abilities and not political convictions must be the criterion. 4. We demand that the Government put the employment contract into effect, since workers are currently completely unprotected and have even been deprived of the right to strike. 5. To ease the severe unemployment situation, we demand from the authorities at every level the creation of new jobs and legal, organized emigration. 6. We demand that pensions and social assistance be increased by no less than 150 percent. 7. The privatization of housing must begin immediately. From 1 March 1993, the law must be applied to everyone who wants to acquire their home as property, and not postponed indefinitely for specific purposes and to collect three times the rent. 8. The district authorities must respond promptly and regularly to workers’ requests for bread to be supplied from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. 9. National assets must be valued as soon as possible and securities distributed to all workers. To achieve these demands, the District Trade Union Confederation will use every means of trade union struggle permitted by law, up to and including a general strike. By the participants in the peaceful rally FIER Fier, 22.2.1993

Laç PETITION To the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha To the Chairman of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori To the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi TIRANA Laç 20,000 WORKERS AT A CROSSROADS PETITION To the President of the Republic of Albania, Ministers, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi TIRANA Gathered in a legitimate protest meeting, we, residents of the Laç district—workers of various professions, unemployed people, intellectuals, veterans, pensioners and people with disabilities, private-sector workers, farmers, young men and women—in short, have discussed the district’s grave economic and social situation, which is steadily worsening. On 22 March we gave our vote to democracy; we have supported and continue to support the reform. We understand the difficulties and possibilities of this period of transition, but we observe that unemployment is worsening, along with the lack of premises, etc. All this is not only undermining democratization but also damaging its image. In these circumstances, we raise our voice in protest and demand: - Work must resume as soon as possible, limiting social assistance; organized emigration must be secured, since our district lies in the middle of Albania and does not border other countries, unlike the mountainous districts of other parts of our country. - The minimum subsistence level must be established; wages must be indexed to prices; wages and the indexation of assistance for pensioners must be increased, and their status must be defined. - The sword-wielding campaign, guided by party-minded attitudes and political convictions, must cease immediately. The reform must be carried out not by the incompetent and mediocre (favoring preferred regions and party loyalists), but by capable and educated people. - Legislation must be reviewed concerning trade unions, since it strips them of their rights and role; enterprises; labor relations; employment contracts; agricultural enterprises; property, etc. - The problem of agricultural enterprises that are heading toward destruction must be resolved by the workers themselves through a referendum, since they (Continued on page 3) private, former [unclear] and new [unclear], we examined the grave economic and social situation of the district, which continues to worsen. On March 22 we cast our vote for democracy; we have been and remain in agreement with the reform, we [unclear] the possibilities and opportunities during this transition period, but we observed that unemployment in our district is extremely severe. Today, in our district, assistance has affected over 80 percent of workers in various professions, not including discharged soldiers, agricultural middle- and senior-level staff, students who have completed their studies, orphans and others. The enterprises in our district are at a complete standstill because there is no one to manage them; the agricultural enterprises are on the verge of complete destruction, and many educational and health institutions are not operating

- Albanian television, a megaphone in the hands of the police - On 25 February, making use of the television magazine program, Ylli Vasili, head of the public order branch at the Ministry of Public Order, tried to explain (in his own way) to public opinion what had happened in the city of Fier on 22 February concerning the trade union council’s rally. This is not the first time Albanian television has obtained information about events in Albania from police chiefs. That is what happened with the events in Polican, with those in Bulqizë, and now with the trade union rally in Fier. The television journalist tried to justify himself by saying that «we do not have a television correspondent in Fier». That there should be no television correspondent in such large cities as Fier, Vlora, Berat, etc. is natural, given the logic of HAMDI JUPE (Continued on page 3)

At first glance, the journey to Kashnjet seems difficult and monotonous, as if there is nothing new to learn. This feeling has less to do with the winter season than with the desolate scenes that accompany you without interruption from the city of Lezhë. Since there is no longer any factory or agitation and propaganda, you feel free to describe reality truthfully. But there is something that, if you were to adapt two well-known lines from a folk song, would say: «why did you come here»... At the edge of the city of Lezhë, it has almost completely broken away. Shacks, ruined houses, utter misery, and incomes that have been brutally cut off. Beyond them, enclosures have been built, with everyone seizing land according to their means. A segregation that leaves deep divisions within itself. It seems to me that the door has been violated, along with the sacrifices of myself and the hundreds of volunteers carried out by generations of veteran workers of the N. Frontes who were cut off(!) onto social assistance. A little farther on, beyond the city cemetery, the asphalt-concrete factory stretches across the landscape, for which about two months ago I published the report «A factory dying before it is born». There is no movement, no effort by the authorities to bring it back to life, even though the need for asphalt is so great for repairing or even paving unpaved roads. I reminded my fellow travelers, Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, deputy chairman of the PSSH, and Pashk Luka, chairman of the Kashnjet commune, of the published fact that restarting the factory, in whose warehouses there are 1,000 tons of bitumen, requires completing a further 30 percent of the work, and everything needed for this purpose is available on site. And yet, just the day before, RTV had «discovered» that a former socialist MP was apparently being robbed in Italy, while sensitivity to vital problems—the very ones we will face during meetings with the residents we encounter along the way, and especially in Kashnjet—is zero: silence, indifference, (Continued on page 2)

A house in good condition with 3 or 4 rooms is wanted for rent, with a kitchen. We will agree on the rental price. Interested parties should call at: Opera Theatre, Office No. 2, tel. 331 - 18.