Open letter to Prime Minister Meksi Mr. Prime Minister! I, who am addressing you with this letter, am the chairman of the commune of Përrenjas, one of the largest communes in our country, which encompasses the homes and problems of more than 18,000 residents of 8 villages and the town of Përrenjas. The concerns in this commune are numerous, not only because of its size and territorial extent, but, moreover, you have increased our concerns by usurping the powers of local government. Specifically, I have addressed you on behalf of the electorate with several letters (complaints, requests, protests and statements), seeking solutions to the many problems which, through your misgovernment, you are preventing us from governing ourselves and responding to the troubles of the people who entrusted us with their votes. I officially wrote to you, Mr. Meksi, on August 21, 1992, in letter no. 315, and even after all this time you have not replied. Nor have you taken the trouble to send me even a negative answer about the problems I raised in letter 325, dated October 2. Likewise, you continue to be stubborn and spiteful about the protests and requests made this year, which are not few; almost every month we have approached you about serious concerns. You, Mr. Meksi, continue to remain silent. How are we to understand your contempt, Mr. Prime Minister? I have no choice but to accept that you look down on me because, after all, you are the prime minister and I am a commune chairman; but you cannot erase an entire electorate from the map of Albania, if you are its prime minister. Since you have remained silent for so long, I decided to address you with this open letter: 1. With the centralization of the sectors of education, health, agriculture, economic enterprises, financial institutions and public order—and other inventions of your government, even concerning bread—we have completely nullified the law of the new Parliament, “On the Organization and Functioning of Local Government.” With the anarchy you have created, you are worsening the situation every day and increasing tensions. Under the law we are called “local government,” but you still do not let us govern. It is astonishing: even the President’s declarations remain just words! 2. Unemployment is the gravest wound. Our town is called “the town of miners,” because the mine gave birth to it, but currently 1,800 people are receiving assistance (which is about to run out). The town of miners is on assistance. The number of unemployed grows every day, since the iron-nickel mine itself is on assistance. So far, we have been given no hope and no alternative for this situation; instead of a way forward, incompetence is being fed. The situation in education is worsening, or, to put it better, being degraded. Qualified teachers are left without work, while unqualified people become teachers (!). The elected body (local government) is not consulted at all about staff transfers and replacements. (!) Thus appointed bodies are abandoning elected bodies. We would say the same about the other departments, which wield full power over legitimate local government. (!) 5. The farmers of the commune of Përrenjas, and especially those in the villages of Rrajcë, are increasingly left standing helplessly in front of the collection warehouses, with no grain. This ritual is becoming a legend. Yes, yes, the thousand-year-old legend of corn is returning. In June you “conducted experiments”: the commune was supplied with only 220 quintals of flour and 370 quintals of grain, whereas the commune needs 2,100 quintals for one month. We have informed you by telegram of this extremely serious situation too, but even here, Mr. Prime Minister, you have not been troubled in the least. What am I to do for the poor farmers who come to the commune offices with tears in their eyes because they have no bread for their children? With this negligence and misgovernment, when you cannot even provide bread for the people, you are increasing social tensions day by day, which makes you directly responsible. 6. We have seen on television that in some communes or municipalities government officials accompany vehicles delivering humanitarian aid, and rightly so. But why have you never taken the trouble to bring such aid to our commune? Is it that God does not love the people of our commune? Or are the associations and the Government following Mr. Selami’s instruction to help communes where there are socialists? 7. Mr. Prime Minister! It is precisely because our farmer cannot afford to pay for mechanized work on the land that you issued a decision stating that the state would cover 50 percent of the cost of the work. We followed this too. We prepared the payment slips, but the farmer has still not received this money because, apparently, the government has no funds. Mr. Prime Minister! Why do you toy with the farmer’s feelings and virtues, leaving him without work, money, bread, or hope for life? 8. We have raised many problems and submitted them to the ministries. But, strangely, their method of working is the same as yours. No answer. No reaction. Neither the Ministry of Education, nor Health, nor Agriculture and Food, nor… has replied to us. After all, Europe and the world have other problems; they don’t have the time. (!) I take this opportunity to thank only Mr. Ilir Manushi for his courtesy, responsiveness and kindness regarding the problems we have raised. Through this open letter, Mr. Prime Minister, I also make a request, although you have never provided a solution to any problem or concern of the community in our commune. I guarantee that the people will take part in a discussion. And there, let the people who elected us judge who is acting in bad faith: the local government or the Big Government. I meet them every day, and the truth weighs heavily on them; more than anything, they now bear the weight of great troubles. The residents of the commune of Përrenjas ask: Is there a Government? MAKSUT BALLA Chairman of the Commune of Përrenjas, Librazhd We don’t want you to govern us. Strange, and that too was declared to be the President’s [unclear]—I’m left with only words! 2. Unemployment is the most severe wound. Our town is called “the Town of Miners,” since the mine once sustained about to end). unemployed people grows every day, since the ferronickel mine is itself only receiving no alternative for this situation. 3. The 6,500 residents of the villages of Rrajcë do not even have 700 square metres per person (and even that is poor land). Not only is the amount of land limited, but pastureland is scarce too. What solution will be offered to their many (and legitimate) demands in order to survive? What investments and new sources of work will be opened to employ them? In the villages, there are many conflicts over the implementation of the land law. And we were pleased by the news on TV that, by a decision of its own, the Government had given local authorities the powers to implement the land law and resolve conflicts, but this Decision has still not reached us. Is politics to live on propaganda, while we announce it on TV? 4. In the name of reform, with 24-1 on their lips, unprecedented transfers and dismissals are being carried out in education, agriculture, healthcare, etc., simply on party-political grounds.

ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE What is your assessment of the President of the Republic’s invitation to return to Parliament? President Berisha made a tactical move, using parliamentary procedures to call on the parliamentary groups that have boycotted Parliament to return to plenary sessions. He thought he had greatly simplified the problem by describing our action as “anger” that should have subsided. If it were merely anger, one week really would have been enough for it to subside. But our boycott of Parliament is the consequence of political logic. We want the rule of law, and it cannot be established without a Constitution. That is why we have decided: first the Constitution, then everything else. In a few words, I can answer the President: one week is enough for our anger to pass. But how long does it take to draft the draft Constitution? How long does it take to implement Parliament’s own decision? Fourteen months have passed with the constitutional issue obstructed. No serious work was done. Now, after the boycott of Parliament, the commission is meeting twice a week. So we can say that serious work is being done. What will be the parliamentary group of the PS’s further position? Everything is clear: we will return to Parliament when the draft Constitution is ready. With deputies from the three parties [serving on it], it seems that the commission’s work is being taken more seriously than before. Several meetings have been held, with generally satisfactory attendance, and commission members have shown a commitment to discuss the draft Constitution responsibly. What has been achieved so far in this regard? The commission has completed the first chapter, which deals with fundamental principles, as well as the second chapter, which deals with human freedoms and rights. These two chapters have generally been approved without many problems. How do you explain the fact that PD deputies returned once again, at the commission’s most recent meeting, to the first article of the draft, when the concept of a parliamentary republic had been approved at an earlier meeting? As was publicly reported by the media, at an earlier meeting consensus was reached on approving the concept of a parliamentary republic. At the meeting the day before yesterday, however, before discussion began on the chapter on human rights, some commission members representing the PD expressed the view that we should return once again to the article in the draft and not specify a parliamentary republic, but only a “republic.” According to them, defining it as “parliamentary” would create difficulties and restrictions in defining the powers of the branches of government in the relevant chapter. The PS, AD and PSD deputies opposed this proposal. Their view was that the commission could continue approving the other chapters of the draft, bearing in mind that the powers of the branches should be defined according to the specific circumstances of our country, and that the type of republic should be determined at the end, after considering whether the concept of a “parliamentary republic” would or would not be an obstacle to drafting a modern Constitution. In essence, most commission members believed that the concept of a parliamentary republic should be retained in framing the Constitution. By a majority of votes from PD representatives, it was decided to remove the term “parliamentary” from its first article. Do you think this is an attempt to delay approval of the draft Constitution? So far I see no signs of further delaying the Constitution. Nevertheless, this possibility cannot be ruled out. PD deputy Leka Toto, a member of this commission, proposed at the last meeting that the commission should meet not twice a week, but only once a week. An AD deputy described this proposal as an attempt to prevent the Constitution from being completed.

How do you assess the statement made to the BBC on June 5 by your party’s deputy Gaqo Apostoli, that we would reconsider our decision following the President’s invitation to return to Parliament? Everything is connected with resolving the issue. The Party Presidium has received authority from the Party Council to decide at the appropriate moment, according to how the issue progresses and when it considers that our demands have been fulfilled. It is all connected with our demands. Do you think that work on the Constitution has proceeded normally so far? There has been a radical change compared with before. We have gone from a commission that did not function to one that has started functioning; it even meets twice a week. Two chapters have been completed. There is consensus on the spirit of a parliamentary republic. But I think the next two working sessions of the commission will be more decisive. If they go well, all the conditions will be in place for the draft to be completed very quickly—that is, for our demand to be resolved. So you will return to Parliament when the draft Constitution is presented? That is another matter; it is always connected with resolving the demand. How do you explain the fact that yesterday the Constitutional Commission returned to its first article, removing the word “parliamentary” from it? It is still that struggle between two concepts that has been going on since December and was one of the reasons work has been delayed until now. What had been done, so to speak, under the table until yesterday is now out in the open. It may have repercussions; nevertheless, we will stand by the concept of a parliamentary republic. Could this be considered an attempt to delay preparation of the Constitution as long as possible? That could be the case, although more important is the dispute or debate about the concept of the state, the realistic relationship between powers, and the competencies of the main branches of government. That is the point. Delay may result from the fact that the version someone wants is not winning. Then they propose postponement.

As a member of the Constitutional Commission, how do you assess the work it has done so far? After the deputies of the three parties boycotted Parliament, the commission’s work seems to have been attendance has generally been satisfactory, and commission members have shown a commitment to discussing [The article continues:] …the argument was that defining the republic The PS, AD and PSD deputies opposed this proposal. These deputies believed determined at the end, after considering whether the con-

According to well-informed sources, the head of the largest branch of the Financial Police, that of the Tirana district, was removed from his post in recent days. This move, as people in the directorate—which has branches and substantial activity in all districts—are saying, precedes a “freshening up” expected throughout the institution’s personnel. The motives and criteria for the “freshening up” are not yet known. The Financial Police is exposed to efforts by corruptors to draw its employees into their net. Naturally, those efforts have not been fruitless. But the greatest danger to financial police officers comes from calluses that have been trodden on. Their pain shakes this institution profoundly. As for the specific case, we still have no information about the reason for the dismissal. Perhaps Shkëlqim Çela (Deputy Director of the Financial Police and head of personnel at the directorate), who has been assigned to run the Tirana branch after its head’s departure, will have some troubling responsibilities. We are ready to publish them.

Meditation You smile, you smile constantly, Mr. President. A character trait, your right. But a smile is also a word, a thought, a message. At its heart, a smile undoubtedly holds peace and understanding. A smile is an invitation to wisdom, to reconciliation, to calming troubled spirits. But a smile is also cynicism, mockery, and a grave insult. A smile can even kill you! You smile, you smile constantly, President. A character trait, your right. After all, you are not the only president who smiles. There, we constantly see President Clinton smiling on the screen; a half-smile always accompanies the face of your friend Ryerson, who is doing so much for Albanian democracy, and especially for the PD. But... you smile too much, Mr. President, in this country of economic and spiritual poverty, where laughter has been forgotten, sir, because there are great troubles. You smile while people’s teeth, left without work, are without hope; you smile when there should be a cry over the endless stream of violence and the thousands of Albanian refugees being forcibly sent back from Greece; you smile even though many families do not have the money to buy their daily bread at twice the price. You smile even though corruption is coming out into the open and is being legalized in all institutions through privatization, where there are some people too, but few or no socialists, intellectuals, or enlightened people. You smile even though thousands of people, because of their convictions, are carrying a burden and suffering in their conscience under the weight of the daily neo-dictatorship, the blue monist regime… I saw you, Mr. President, at the seminar that brought all the parliamentarians together in one hall, when your smile was given a very great mission: you were told to use your inscrutable smile to dissolve the stance of the parliamentary groups that had set the Constitution as a condition for returning to Parliament. Your smile seemed to me almost like two great wings trying to bring together, side by side, the stubborn, strangely heated heads of the parliamentarians. And once again, your special, repeated, ever-admirable smile, in a kind of… Albanians being forcibly sent back from Greece—you intellectuals, or enlightened people. [Unclear text: “Lamanjsh që ziren për dy lastiqe për një biçikletë, për një eketë!”] How extraordinary you seemed to me in those moments! “The Kremlin may bring a humane president’s smile. But no, that smile wounded me. For I had just learned a bitter fact: in the name of the famous law 24-1, dismissals of socialists began again in Korçë, dismissals of children with the ‘wrong’ biographies...” President, do they understand that with this, these gentlemen are once again doing what those others did in the past? Democracy is beautiful. Democracy will bring peaceful smiles. But that will be when faces are no longer branded with revenge and pathological savagery, when the people of this country understand that they absolutely need one another. KOSMAQ DUKA

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THREATENED WITH “ROOF REMOVAL” MAY GROW Citizen Kristo Boni brought in the beginning of a letter for publication, titled “How will the problem of the homeless be solved?” What is troubling him? For 25 years in a row, he has lived as a tenant in a house in the “Manalat” neighborhood, the second one in Gjirokastër. Three other families live in this house with him. The house was repaired and adapted through voluntary contributions by the wood-processing enterprise. The government paid the money. The wood-processing enterprise. The year 1991. That year, the owner of the house appeared and said it was his. I took him to court, using the violation. The case has been in court for two years, and still nothing, after the conditions are dictated to you yourself. Finally, along with the garage coupon. I also took the house. All with behavior. Time passes between them. Before the government… …he wants to buy a plot for a house with the money his son sends from abroad, but at the district community office they tell him they do not deal with this, the municipality does. At the municipality they tell him: the law exists, but the municipality has no urban-planning office. What a heavy burden must be weighing on this poor man in these leaden times! It is a private problem, but also a social one: the municipality and the democratic government, along with many promises, have forgotten those about construction and apartment blocks, housing, and other matters. Property reform brings other demands from citizens… Recognize people’s problems and concerns, without having done anything about them beforehand. The buildings, as can be understood, will mean “with the tip—flat.”