THE PARTY STATE IN ACTION DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT, SIR? - Here is a version of the “Blue Bulletin” - DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ALBANIA SARANDË BRANCH OF THE DP No. 157 Prot. Sarandë, 2.3.1993 TO THE PRESIDIUM OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (ORGANIZATION SECTION) TIRANA TO THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE AGRICULTURAL AND DEVELOPMENT BANK Mr. ZHILLIMIT Mr. ZIKO GJOKORECI TIRANA Subject: Appointment and transfer of personnel. In the framework of implementing the Reform and further improving its work, and always taking professional ability and commitment to implementing the Reform as its starting point, the Sarandë branch of the Democratic Party requests: 1) The dismissal from his post of the director of the Agricultural and Development Bank of the Sarandë District, Mr. Ziso Koleci. Mr. Ziso Koleci completed his studies in Agricultural Economics in 1968 and, from then on, was the manager of an agricultural cooperative until 1983. From 1983 until today, he has worked as director at the Agricultural Bank. He was a member of the Party of Labor and is now a member of the PS. He completed the school of Marxism-Leninism and has not supported the Reform or the Democratic Processes. He is incapable, conservative in his views, and does not enjoy the sympathy of the collective. As such, Mr. Ziso Koleci is incapable, unsuitable, and in no way meets the demands of the times. For this reason, we request the dismissal of Mr. Ziso Koloci as director of the Agricultural Bank and that the following person be appointed in his place: 2)2. Vasil Thodhori Llapa, born in 1946. Mr. Vasil Llapa completed his higher education in 1969 and graduated as an Agricultural Economist. He worked for a long time as an economist in the Agriculture Section of the Sarandë District, where he distinguished himself through his professional abilities and conscientiousness at work. He is a non-party intellectual who has supported and backed Economic Reform, Privatization, and the Market Economy. During the three-year period, he has worked and continues to work at the Agricultural Bank branch, has supported privatization in agriculture, and has helped private entities by providing loans to develop their productive activities. He enjoys the respect and sympathy of the broad public in the Sarandë District community. For the Sarandë DP Branch THE CHAIRMAN ... (Illegible writing) [illegible signature]

- Berisha has his job, the DP has its own - Even after the President’s statement calling for an end to purges for political motives, the DP’s Blue Bulletin in Poliçan is still at work, indeed with revolutionary fervor. Here is a brief account of these purges in recent days: At the combine, many qualified specialists have been dismissed, such as N. Ahmeti (former chairman of the Work Group), B. Fata, B. Naska, B. Mucollari, V. Korbi, H. Shahi(n)i, etc. Likewise, 9 young police employees have been thrown out onto the street, including G. Çaka (higher professional education, 26 years old), G. Meçe (police officer, 28 years old), and 7 others, among them the deputy head of SHIK, S. Gode, 28 years old. The head of the Post Office, A. Cane, a senior economist, did not escape the reform either. Likewise, the social democrat A. Lajthia was relieved of his duties as director of education and replaced by Q. Lirza, a specialist whose sole qualification is carrying out the directives of the Blue Bulletin. He lived up to the Party’s expectations by removing capable specialists such as A. Shatro and L. Sako and replacing them with the former DP crier from the village of Zaloshnje, P. Dyrmishi, who has been converted into a DP crier. Announcement All teachers from other districts who wish to take up important posts in Security, SHIK, or various directorates should apply to the Skrapar DP branch, which has promoted its own contingent and has no one with whom to replace the other socialists who remain and “hinder” the reform, so that the DP can stay in power for a long time, as Mr. Spahia said on television. POLI ÇANI

Yesterday, Nikollë Lesi, director of the newspaper «Koha Jonë», was again summoned as a defendant to the Investigation Office of the General Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Lesi appeared without a defense lawyer. The investigation continued for 20 minutes, but was interrupted at the insistence of the defendant, who asked them to specify which article of Law 6942 dated 25.12.1984 and which article or group of articles of Council of Ministers Decision No. 70, dated 11.3.1985, he had violated. Immediately after this intervention, investigators Vaskë Simeoni and Petrit Fusha halted the investigation. On Tuesday at 10:00, the investigation team will determine which article the defendant Nikollë Lesi violated. Asked by our correspondent what he wished to say about these accusations, Nikollë Lesi replied: «Since 16 October 1992, when the criminal case against me was reopened, and up to 16 March 1993, the date on which (Continued on page 3)

- From the speech by NATO Secretary General Manfred Vërner, delivered before the Albanian Parliament - Honorable Members of Parliament, Mr. President. It is a great honor for me to be in Tirana today and to address the Albanian Parliament. As the Speaker of Parliament also mentioned, I was a member of parliament for 23 years. And I feel at home in parliament. Every parliament has its ups and downs. For me, this experience is one of the ups. Thank you very much for the gift, which is a symbol—a sword, a sword in the service of justice and peace. And that is the core of the North Atlantic Treaty. The North Atlantic Treaty is the most powerful alliance in political and military terms, but it is an alliance for peace. It has never used its weapons and will use them only in defense, not in aggression. As I said, it is a great honor Parliament. This is the first time a NATO Secretary General has visited Albania. Only a few years ago, this visit would have been unthinkable, not only because your country was governed by a political system completely different from the one prevailing in the countries of our alliance, but also because Albania had long turned its back on the outside world. Today, a new Albania is emerging after those long years of self-imposed isolation under an intolerant and brutal system. This new Albania seeks cooperation with our alliance and integration into the new Europe. What was once impossible is now entirely natural. So I can add: Welcome to Europe. Why have I come to Tirana? What message have I brought? First, I want to tell you that our alliance values cooperation with Albania, and I want to emphasize that your country is important to ensuring the stability of the Balkans and Europe as a whole. Second, I want to tell you something about the new Atlantic Alliance, about its new roles and missions in planning to ensure stability throughout Europe. Third and finally, I have come to offer Albania the hand of cooperation. (Continued on page 4)

Klement Odriçani welcomed the establishment of the Education Directorate in the Kuçovë district with great joy. Anyone reading this article is bound to ask: Who is Klement Odriçani? Nevertheless, anyone who hears the name Odriçani understands that we are dealing with someone from Kuçovë; and in Berat, Përmet, Skrapar, and further afield, it brings to mind justice and Dhosi Odriçani, a widely respected man, a communist from the earliest days, not only in Kuçovë and Përmet but throughout Albania. Moreover, a few years ago he was a consistent fighter for the cause of communism, the designer of the blocks for every resident in Kuçovë—indeed, this is so true that even the Kuçovë museum is said to have been conceived, built, and administered solely by Dhosi Odriçani. What is this business? It won’t go unnoticed, (Continued on page 4)

While tourism development is being discussed — The axe is sparing not even the Bozdovec National Park — For more than two years, the great scythe of the zero-level transformation has continued to flatten mercilessly everything built through people’s sweat and blood: warehouses, gardens, stables, schools. But the greatest loss, which can rightly be called a crime, is the mass felling of forests. It is painful, because the wound inflicted on the forests will not heal easily. The parks in the Korçë district are no longer recognizable. The surrounding hills, once called the city’s green lungs, have been almost completely flattened. From the outskirts of the city, the axe went deeper and is sparing neither the magnificent national park nor the famous forest of Bozdovec. Anyone, from children to those who are now grown, who has spent happy vacation days there cannot help but be stunned to see that the noble fir trees have been so badly massacred. To see that in places where no person or sunlight could penetrate, there is now not a single patch of shade to cool off in. To see long caravans of mules, horses, and donkeys transporting wood, with no one paying any attention to them in broad daylight. The axe has gone out of fashion there. Everywhere, the harsh voice of the handheld chainsaw roars. The forest is being treated just as a wolf behaves when it falls upon entire flocks of livestock. Everywhere you see trunks cut at the roots, halfway up, or lopped off at the top. It looks as though some cutting maniac has let everything go to ruin and turned it into a sieve. Today, everywhere, people talk about tourism in the so-called forest areas as one of the only ways to cure Albania of its backwardness. But what will tourists come to see in a country with flattened forests?! In the end, everyone has the right to ask: will these destroyers of the economy and ecology ever be stopped? The question remains unanswered, at a time when everything has been left halfway along the road. ERGET CENOLLI

A few months ago, almost half of the actors at the «A. Z. Çajupi» Theatre in Korçë were put on social assistance as a result of the economic reform. For days, bewildered by this unexpected turn, they wandered from door to door at the district and municipal committees, receiving the same overly abstract answer: «In a market economy, everyone will find their place; there’s nothing you can do about reform». And… only a few months have passed, and most of the unemployed actors have now found their place. Forced to earn bread for their children, they have become small stallholders. The customers in front of them keep quiet. Some even hurt them by reminding them of the roles they created with such effort and sacrifice over so many years. The actors keep quiet too, because before this new audience, in a new role, they have to face the grotesque and the paradox better than ever. But the truth is not paradoxical; it remains the truth, as snow and rain fall on their shoulders while they sell hats, dolls, brooches, chewing gum, and chocolates, each at their own stall, far from one another, away from their colleagues’ eyes, crouched in a quiet corner. The actors, grouped under a common label, are on assistance. They were well-known and welcomed on our stages and screens, with more than 20 years of service each, including Dhimitër Lala, Andrea Pepl, Dezdemona Mehmeti, Syrja Meçe; Gjergji Melo... Nevertheless, the variety show and the theatre in the city of Korçë have not closed. Their work continues, albeit painfully, in this cultural institution. The market economy demands new paths. The variety company is currently trying to find its footing because its entire orchestra has been hired at a nightclub in Greece, where it is showered with flowers. The director, Petraq Toto, known as a children’s writer but who to this day has not written even a sketch, let alone a play, continues to have his office in the Palace of Culture in the city of Korçë, whose premises now house the disco-club-café Athina. FATOS SHAMBLLI

STABLE PUBLIC ORDER In Gjirokastër, in this peaceful and stable district, thanks to the merits of its people and not of the specialized authorities, a certain unease and concern related to public order has begun to emerge. House burglaries are on a par with those at clubs and other private commercial establishments. In recent days, the unease and concern have turned into panic for shopkeepers and owners following the theft from a retail outlet selling various goods in the city center, just 10 m. from the designated post of the public-order officer guarding the savings bank branch. A theft in the middle of the bazaar, right under the police’s nose. The thieves broke in, perhaps even using a car, since goods worth 1 million lekë were taken. We do not know what the police are doing or what they will uncover, but some of their explanations are: the police officer’s duty is only to guard the cash register; you do not pay for the police; it would be best for you to sleep inside your shops. After these replies, the new, delicate owners will surely have a sleep full of dreams. THANAS DINO

From 13 to 18 March 1993, a delegation from the city of Safrasbolu, headed by the Mayor, Mr Mustafa Eren, paid a friendly visit to Berat. The city of Safranbolu is one of Turkey’s important tourist centers. Like Berat, it is known for its distinctive houses and is therefore described as a museum city. The visit was organized at the invitation of the Municipality of Berat and the Berat branch of the Albania–Turkey Friendship Association. During the visit, the cities of Berat and Safranbolu were declared sister cities. In order for the residents of these two cities to get to know one another better, it was decided to arrange reciprocal visits and organize cultural and social cooperation activities.

On Saturday and Sunday, on the 10th and 20th of March 1993, at 11:00, a concert by the American singer Lari Doda and the evangelist Dejvid Ranjan will be held at the Lushnjë Theatre. Admission is free.