I am writing to you; I was a supporter of the PD and supported the democratic processes from the very beginning. With the PD’s victory, we hoped for justice and honesty. But unfortunately for us, we keep hearing that corruption has the government by the throat. And, as the saying goes, one rotten apple spoils the barrel: corruption has spread its tentacles to every level of PD governance. The cement factory where I work is the most typical example in the district of Krujë, where corruption has spread across the whole field like [?]. The PD faithful who came to head the factory brought with them nothing but a taste for theft and abuses of public office. With the appointment of Mr. Pëllumb Koka, thefts at the factory have reached alarming proportions. With stolen cement, certain officials are growing rich on the people’s sweat, as in the case of Kolë Xheka, who has bought two cars. A license has also been granted to the daughter of Angjelin Xheka, who was found stealing in an inspection, but the matter was covered up thanks to her father, once convicted for such things. Angjelini now presents himself to us as a fervent democrat. The PD’s personnel policy and Director Pëllumbi’s zeal in putting incompetent people in charge, provided they are loyal to the party, have encouraged corruption and mass theft. The appointment of Kadri Kaloshi as an official at the factory, solely because he is the brother of Mr. Enver Kaloshi, head of the district education section, speaks to a personnel policy based on cliques and shady dealings. The height of it is the appointment of Hamid Ballaqemi as an official, once convicted of theft. While the incompetent and the thieves are promoted by the PD, honest officials with higher education, even academic degrees, are dismissed simply because they are members or supporters of the PS. Corruption at the cement factory goes so far that the guards, instead of protecting the cement from theft, guard the thieves so they can steal undisturbed and, in collusion with them, rob the people of their hard-earned labor. Even posting police officers has produced no results; indeed, thefts have increased. The theft at this factory is so obvious that if you go out in the morning in Fushë Krujë, you see people carrying stolen cement. Even when someone is caught stealing, they are not reported; the matter is covered up, as recently happened with a vehicle in Kamëz. The fact is that the thieves are connected not only with the guards and police officers, but also with the factory managers. It is said that the PD director Pëllumb Koka no longer asks for his profits from this filthy “business” in cash, but in dollars. I sincerely regret that the democratic movement put the most incompetent people, shady dealers and thieves in charge of enterprises and production sectors, people who have badly discredited the PD in the district of Krujë. PELLUMB ÇIMENTOJA Varosh Neighborhood - Krujë

In Tetovë (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), installation began on the equipment for the new private television channel A 3. Its signal will cover the Pollog plain, including not only the cities of Tetovë and Gostivar, but also a wider area. The professional direction of this television station has been taken on by a group of intellectuals headed by the director Artan Skënderi. This private television station is opening after two other channels (also private), “TV Super” and “TV MIFL,” which have been broadcasting in Albanian, Macedonian and Turkish for several months, continuously for 24 hours straight. So, in just one city—in Tetovë—there are 3 private television channels. What about here?

The Summit of Seven opened yesterday, led by Japanese Prime Minister Mijazava, at the Akasaka Imperial Palace. At the same time, meetings of the foreign and finance ministers will also be held. Joining the leaders of the major powers at the table will be the current president of the EC, Belgian Prime Minister Dahone, and European Commission Vice-President Kristofersen, who is replacing the ailing Delor. The German newspaper “Sudetshe Cajtung” comments on the Tokyo meeting. The leaders of the major powers have never been able to enter the course of the market economy? Is this democracy? Can a wage earner compete with someone who unjustly acquired property for next to nothing at our expense? In this case, then, it is the laws that polarize people, and not their abilities at all, as the ruling PD had claimed. And, ironically, this is the decisive part: 248 for the member. The property should have been assessed and divided according to contribution.

Yesterday, 7 July 1993, after a long and serious illness, Prof. Aleks Buda died in Tirana, one of the most distinguished figures in Albanian science and culture. Yesterday, 7 July 1993, after a long and serious illness, Prof. Aleks Buda died in Tirana, one of the most distinguished figures in Albanian science and culture, and for a very long time chairman of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Albania. Prof. Aleks Buda was born in Elbasan on 7 September 1910. He completed his secondary and higher education in Austria with very good results. Later, he worked as a teacher in the secondary schools of Korçë and Tirana. During the National Liberation War, Aleks Buda was an active participant, and in 1944 he was elected deputy chairman of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council for the district of Elbasan. After the liberation of the country, Aleks Buda devoted himself entirely to Albanian science and culture. In 1945–1946 he was director of the National Library. Later, he devoted himself entirely to studies in the fields of science and education. His studies focused mainly on the Middle Ages and the National Renaissance. Among Prof. Aleks Buda’s scholarly contributions are: “History of Albania,” vol. I, published in 1959, for which he was honored with the Republic Prize, 1st Class, as co-author and editor-in-chief; “History of Albania,” vol. II, published in 1965. Aleks Buda is the author of a number of studies on other periods in the history of the Albanian people, including studies on the ethnogenesis of the Albanian people and the period of Skënderbeu, etc. His scholarly contribution over several decades was brought together in “Historical Writings,” in three volumes, an extensive scholarly work of an academic nature. He made a distinguished contribution to the preparation of university history textbooks. For his merits in education, he was awarded the title “Teacher of the People.” Aleks Buda was one of the founders established in January 1972. From then until he retired, he was Chairman of the Academy of Sciences. The scholarly contribution of Prof. Aleks Buda is known not only within Albania, but also among the scholarly community abroad. He took part in many scholarly events organized in various countries, presenting Albanian scholarly thought there with dignity. For this, he was also elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bulgaria. A man of great and broad culture, humane in his relations with people and communicative with the country’s scholarly and educational community, Aleks Buda will long be remembered by those who knew him and by many others. With his death, Albanian science and culture have lost one of their distinguished figures, while his friends and family have lost a beloved person. To pay their final respects to Prof. Aleks Buda, his coffin will be placed today in the hall of the Academy of Sciences, where the final tributes will be paid from 10:00 to 11:00. His burial will take place today at 11:00.

Throughout the PD’s election campaign, thousands of people heard you—today’s statesmen—say that all Albanians would be put on an equal footing, and then the race toward a market economy would begin, and society, “equalized” automatically, would become stratified according to ability. The people trusted the PD’s program. We are nearing the end of one third of this party’s term, and not even 0.3 of that promise has been fulfilled. The property of thousands of workers who had poured their sweat into it was, quite “accidentally,” left ownerless; it was stolen and destroyed, and what was saved or left behind is now being sold at auction. Its rightful owners, the people who created it, were turned out onto the streets, onto assistance, without property, security or support (500 lekë is a cruel joke), and without work. In the best-case scenario, when an enterprise is privatized, even as a joint-stock company, its long-serving employee becomes a modern slave, a proletarian. This means that an owner, even a foreign one, sits cross-legged in the chair we built over 46 years. Just as in ’44, when, in the name of the law of socialism and a happy life, the rightful owners were robbed of their property, today the people are robbed of the fruits of 46 years of labor—but this time in the name of “democracy.” Could someone who lived on a salary and with honesty become a major owner? Which working or intellectual family, or person in any honest economic or social position, has not been directly or indirectly affected by this disappointment? Where did the “democratic” government get the right to sell our property back to us legally? And Parliament approved it. After insults and beatings, with a “democratic majority,” it approved stripping us of our property; it approved the electoral distortion of it. So where is our property, Mr. Prime Minister, “democratic” government, and honorable members of Parliament? It was our property, accumulated over 46 years according to each person’s contribution, and it is sacred. As everywhere in the world, it is a taboo, and you, honorable members of Parliament, voted for it too. No law should have been passed against this; otherwise it is a law against the law. Before privatization, and especially before Decision 248 on auctions, contribution. It is precisely because of this violation that people are deeply dissatisfied and cannot enter the course of the market economy. That is why we compared the plunder of ’44 with “democratic” privatization. Where does the money from the sale of our property go if we do not receive it—or is the government’s wish to be “democratic” enough? Just one example. We know there are people in Albania today who possess capital of 400–500 million. We learn this from the auctions. The law on checking the origin of property exists; it has been decreed. The owner exists, and the time when he became wealthy is known—so where did the 500,000 or 1,000,000 lekë a day earned by the owner come from? Even in the USA, business is not presented as so successful. Here, the law remains silent! But when it comes to privatizing the people’s property, it hurries, it springs into action! And what about someone who works as a teacher, in the military, or in the energy sector, someone like me, who, with restrictive statutes and anti-inflationary laws, etc., does not earn in a year what this owner earns in one day, a

SHKODER According to information received from the trade union council of the Confederation in the district of Shkodër, on 6 July 1993 a face-to-face meeting was organized with the heads of the district’s government bodies. The government side was represented by [??], whose true colors have now been exposed. It is known how such face-to-face meetings end. The government deputies, instead of being blamed for the state into which they have brought the city of Shkodër, turned into accusers, claiming that all of this

According to information received from the trade union council of the Confederation in the district of Shkodër, on 6 July 1993 a face-to-face meeting was organized with the heads of the district’s government bodies. the chairman of the district council, Mr. Ali Kazazi, and his deputy, Jozef Busheti. The Confederation’s leaders were represented by Fatmir Smajli and Sandër Fepa, respectively chairman and secretary of the district trade union council. The troubles and concerns that have engulfed the city of Shkodër and its surroundings are now known to everyone. This northern city has more than 32,000 workers receiving assistance (for most of them, it is about to run out); the privatization of the agricultural enterprises and the distribution of land under the law have reached a dead end; restarting work at enterprises is without any hope, not to mention the major problems caused by the local government’s paralysis. The authorities of the district of Shkodër, who are known to be representatives of the ruling party, once again showed themselves to be extremists at this working meeting, politicizing matters to an unbelievable degree. The example was set by the chairman of the district council himself, Mr. Ali Kazazi. He received the trade unionists with open hostility, calling them “anti-reformers,” “partisans,” “certain agents,” “myths,” etc., etc. These stale accusations are made by [??], whose true colors have now been exposed. Such confrontations are known to end as they did. The gentlemen in power, instead of being held responsible of Shkodër, turned into accusers, claiming that it was all done by ill-intentioned, indignant trade unionists in the Confederation. The surprise is all the greater when one learns that Mr. Ali Kazazi was once an inspector in the Confederation’s prime minister’s office [??]. Numerous meetings have been held, from President Alia down to the former district officials. So what is this attitude about? The question is all the more pertinent because the Confederation council has organized several constructive debates with Mr. Berisha, Mr. Meksi and other heads of central departments. But it seems that these government officials, despite being district authorities, with Mr. Kazaz at their head, have undertaken to strongly oppose the broad mass of workers, disregarding all their demands. Naturally, it is up to Kazazi and Mr. Bushati to decide what stance they can and should take as government officials, but it is in their interest that we remind them: Be careful, gentlemen. You may be able to bring two lawful representatives of a lawful organization to court, but you will find it difficult to bring an entire Shkodër to court.

This is the large headline on the front page of «Gazeta shqiptare» dated July 7, with the subheadline «Cigarette smuggling worth thousands of dollars». The article refers to the fact that the chief and deputy chief of Tirana’s financial police have been dismissed from their posts and several customs officers have been sentenced by the court. According to the newspaper, the reason is the outbreak of a scandal involving the smuggling of cigarettes worth thousands of dollars. This issue has also been written about previously in the Albanian press. But nothing had managed to be officially confirmed. The new information presented by the aforementioned newspaper is the existence of cigarette smuggling, which [?] «Customs Scandal Breaks Out» smuggling, which [?]

GOOD NEWS In Arras, in the warehouses beside the Setë in this village on the banks of the Drin, the wheat was unloaded [?]. The trucks were unloaded and the wheat was stored according to all the rules of preservation. The villages of Arras, Cidhënës, Mustafajt, Shtish, etc., on hearing the joyful news, hurried to the warehouse, each trying to get there first. The villagers went with empty sacks and returned with empty sacks. What had happened? The new price of wheat was unaffordable. One kilogram of wheat was being sold for 21.7 lekë. “Interesting,” the villagers thought among themselves as they headed back to their mountain villages; “the state buys wheat for 14 lekë per kilo and sells it to us for 21.7 lekë; that is, 77 old lekë more. The villagers climbed the high mountains and shook their heads. They do not understand this mathematical operation of the democratic state! They cannot figure out where and how they will earn those three billion lekë that, it had been loudly proclaimed beforehand, would come from a mountain village (their village) in the highlands of Tropoja. A. PINI