As soon as Mr. Viktor Gruma was appointed director of the Agricultural Bank in Tepelenë, Mr. Sokol Ajazi, former chairman of the PD and now Director of the District Labour and Social Welfare Directorate, also began his “work” as his understudy. As an institution, the Bank is one, but its directors are two. Seven employees, two directors! Mr. Sokol is even more “punctual” than the director himself. He also keeps the keys to the director’s office. (For the information of the Public Order Department.) Soon each of them will have his own copy. Work is going “well” with two directors, because, as the saying goes, one mind is as good as none. The employees, however, are in a predicament: which director should they take orders from, and to which one should they turn with work-related problems, Mr. Viktor or Mr. Sokol?! But it is no coincidence that they have joined forces. They are from the same village. They belong to the same Party, the PD. They are in the same “camp” and share the same goal. Surely they would do anything for one another?! Mr. Sokol needed 1,800 thousand lekë (new lekë) to buy a truck and become a businessman with economic power. But the loan staff were “standing in the way” of his getting the money as a loan. So the director and his understudy put their heads together. They decided to carry out a “reform” at the institution. They sent the two loan officers, both university-educated, onto unemployment assistance; they sacrificed them for Mr. Sokol, without “asking” what the respected President, Mr. Sali, might say. A green light for a loan was given: the poor citizen Mr. Sokol Ajazi was approved for and granted a loan of 1,800 thousand lekë. Long live the PD! Long live the Government! According to the guidelines and criteria, loans are granted in turn, mainly to farmers for agricultural machinery. But the matter is different for Mr. Sokol. He gets them as a priority, out of turn and in abundance, as an “honorary farmer.” With that much money, nearly three Zetor tractors could have been bought to work the land in the village, but may Mr. Sokol prosper, while the farmers can go on working with donkeys. The PD thinks of the farmers; the Government thinks of the farmers! As I come to the end of this article, I could find nothing more beautiful or fitting than the verses of Ali Asllani in the poem “Hakërrimi.” “The country, from the poor man’s table, is fit for your mouths and throats; you pretend, you raise an eyebrow, each friend gouges out his friend’s eyes. And for one voice you demand five, or better still, twenty-five. Let the swindler live, and let the good man die...” But will the people of Tepelenë allow the swindlers, speculators, Sokolët, Viktoret... and others to exploit them?! LEDIO BENÇA MEMALIAJ

– When will the land distribution be completed, Mr. Minister? – In 1992, agriculture used 25 times less chemical fertilizer and about 5 times less fuel than two years earlier. – The privatization of the NB farms is being carried out without a law passed by Parliament. – Who will be held responsible if, after the farms are dismantled, marshes form again? – When will the land distribution be completed, Mr. Minister? – In 1992, agriculture used 25 times less chemical fertilizer and about 5 times less fuel than two years earlier. – The privatization of the NB farms is being carried out without a law passed by Parliament. – Who will be held responsible if, after the farms are dismantled, marshes form again? A year ago, when Mr. Meksi presented the composition of his government, which included the ministers of police and agriculture as deputy prime ministers, people feared that Albania would become a police-agricultural state and would take important steps toward … to justify it by saying that the objective we had set (June ’92) had not been studied because the figures previously given to us for land distribution were fictitious. Thus, Mr. Minister “forgot” to say how “excellent” the figures are now that he is in power; the pace … those are the forces that are actually obstructing land distribution. The reality is that there are forces (within the governing party) opposed to implementing the law on land distribution. In their replies, Socialist MPs Uglini and Përpali pointed out that the mass information media give more publicity to the forces opposed to the land distribution law than to the necessity of implementing it. From the agriculture minister’s answers, it was not clear when land distribution would be completed. How determined and united the PD group is on land distribution can also be seen from the fact that, in order to declare to those forces opposing the law that it will be implemented to the end, they do not… A year ago, when Mr. Mexi pa-praqi presented the composition of his new government, in which the deputy prime ministers and the ministers of police and agriculture were listed, take significant steps back toward the Middle Ages. The situation in agriculture is deplorable. To obtain information, the PS parliamentary group had requested a question session with the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Rexhep Uka. This session took place on Monday afternoon and lasted four hours. Among the most important issues discussed were land distribution, the issuing of title deeds, policy toward mountainous areas, privatization of the NB-ve, agricultural specialists, livestock complexes, vineyards, olive groves, orchards, chemical fertilizers, water, etc. With regard to land distribution, under the law the government had pledged to complete it in June 1992. A year is nearly up, yet land distribution has not been completed. The minister astonished us by saying that currently 76 percent of the land has been distributed and 45 percent of the title deeds have been issued. Earlier announcements gave higher figures. Mr. Uka tried to justify the unjustifiable delay in distributing the land by saying that the target fictitious. Thus, Mr. Minister “forgot” to say that the distribution rates are now “high” under his administration, and who the beneficiaries are; many villages and areas have been left behind. - The issue of distributing title deeds is at a minimal level. - The announced strategy for reorganizing the NB-ve as joint-stock companies, a component of the PD’s own program, was replaced by the barbaric practice of exchanging an asset of colossal scale. I am referring here to 16,000 hectares agricultural land; more than 1,000 hectares of greenhouses; 12,000 hectares of vineyards; 30 semi-industrial meat and egg production complexes; 60 hectares more than 40,000 head of purebred cattle, and other assets. - The land distribution that was supposed to be completed by June 15, 1992, is in practice blocked, indeed in ... - A very small example, but one with drastic consequences for the areas concerned, is Maliqi. - agriculture, the Government would establish and cleaning from the right), whereas in fact, regarding is unable to establish a partnership with the Ministry of Economy and him is growing heavier. concerned that other products and necessities of village life will follow. Our objections are that the Government’s agrarian policy should recognize the country’s concrete realities and come to the assistance of the majority of the population. Thank you.

On 6.4.1993, at the request of the Agrarian Party, a joint meeting was held between representatives of the Socialist Party, Mr. Fatos Nano and Namik Dokle, and representatives of the Agrarian Party, Mr. Lufter Xhuveli and Resmi Osmani. The purpose of this interparty meeting was to exchange views on the economic and political situation our country is going through today. The discussion focused on economic reform and the unsettled state of privatization; current economic difficulties and ways of overcoming them; the current domestic political situation and certain aspects of foreign policy; local government issues; respect for human rights and political pluralism, in the broadest sense of the word, etc. Both sides expressed their views on these issues and considered such meetings necessary, as they allow opinions to be exchanged and the respective alternatives to be compared. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

BY MP FATOS NANO ON BEHALF OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP I thank the Minister for the broad exposition of the agrarian policy he presented. I will try to express the opposition’s assessment. It seems that the agrarian policy pursued so far by the Government first runs counter to the programme it presented and which was approved by this Parliament, and second, to the interests of the majority of the peasantry, because it is proving to be an agrarian policy in the interests of a small minority in the countryside, while the situation in the countryside generally is miserable. I support this with the following facts, which are only partial. - The distribution of land, which should have been completed on 15 June 1992, is in practice blocked, indeed in ... - The distribution of title deeds is at a minimal level. - The announced strategy for reorganizing the NB farms as joint-stock companies, a component of the PD’s own programme, was replaced by the barbaric practice of exchanging property on a colossal scale. I am referring here to 16,000 ha of land, or one quarter of the country’s most fertile agricultural land; more than 1,000 ha of greenhouses; 12,000 ha of vineyards; 30 semi-industrial complexes for meat and egg production; 60 ha of some of the most modern olive groves and orchards; more than 40,000 head of purebred cattle, and more. - One very small example, but with drastic consequences for the areas concerned, is Maliqi. - It was said that, given the current state of Albanian agriculture, the Government would devise a special fiscal and credit policy to provide support (noise and heckling from the right), whereas in fact, as regards fiscal policy measures, I regret that the Ministry of Agriculture cannot establish a partnership with the Ministry of the Economy, but instead submits to it. The Albanian farmer receives no protection from the state; on the contrary, the tax burden on him is increasing. One could name many areas and villages where people today even get their bread on credit, and I am politically concerned that other products and necessities in the countryside will be next. Our objection is that the Government’s agrarian policy should acknowledge the country’s concrete realities and come to the aid of the majority of the population. Thank you.

In February, a meeting of the Socialist Women’s International Group was held in Athens, at which a resolution was adopted on the situation of women and children in the areas where fighting is taking place in the former Yugoslavia. The resolution states that the situation is deteriorating. Women and children are increasingly suffering the consequences of the bombing of civilian facilities, shortages of food, fuel, shelter and medical assistance; more and more women, children and elderly people are being forced to leave villages and towns and seek shelter in refugee camps. The Socialist Women’s International strongly appeals to all parties involved in the conflict to end the fighting in the former Yugoslavia and supports the efforts begun in Geneva to find a peaceful solution to this conflict and the horrifying process of “ethnic cleansing.” The situation of women is particularly desperate. The Executive Bureau of the Socialist Women’s International has recorded information about thousands of women and children who have been raped by men belonging to military and paramilitary groups, as well as by civilians. The statement of the Executive of the Socialist Women’s International in November 1992 denounced the death camps in which women are held to be raped, and reported that a very large number of rapes had been committed in public places in the presence of eyewitnesses from families and neighbours, as well as cases of mass rape and women who had died as a result of repeated rape. Women who become pregnant as a result of these acts have neither the means nor the right to have an abortion. Thus they are deprived of the right to decide for themselves on this issue. The international press has brought to light the horror of women giving birth to children at whom they do not even dare to look, and the horror women experience while leaving with (Continued on page 2) Socialist Women express solidarity with

- Open letter to the President - ... I am addressing YOU with a letter in ... the press, the opposition, ... and the opposition with ... a good ... to see it ... all. ... MR. PRESIDENT ... I have been a member of ... and ... I am not a member of any ... For me, as an intellectual ... everything is political ... his act, the future ... democratic, AS a lecturer ... I have been, I am ... former ... at the school, because ... education ... an old ... ... this position does not ... it is ... ... it annoys some “hotheads” dressed in party power and some “communist-democrats” who are listening today at our University. They see me as a disobedient person who opposes their illegal actions, which aim to destroy our higher education institution, which is not only for the PP, but is the result of the toil, sweat and brilliant minds of several hundred lecturers, who, though disregarded under the monist regime, worked without sparing anything to raise it to commendable technical and scientific standards. I too belong to this generation, Mr. President, with my modest 26 years of work as a lecturer and intellectual. During this period I have published, as author and co-author, 13 textbooks in 18 volumes, totaling around 3,000 pages, for the Faculty of Engineering; 3 textbooks for technical secondary schools; and two books on production with the “Naim Frashëri” publishing house. I have contributed to the Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary and am co-author of the five-language terminological dictionary prepared at the Institute of Linguistics. During this period I have prepared and implemented 20 projects in production, delivered 12 papers and presentations, written 17 reviews and critiques of dissertations and government studies, and published 3 articles in the Science Bulletin and 12 others in “Shkenca dhe jeta” and “Zëri i Rinisë”. I have led 2 government research projects, where, in addition to the department, together... (Continued on page 3)

In our newspaper on April 3, we also published a short notice about the robbery of the cashier at the cold-storage facility in Shkodër. The Public Order Department of this district, in a notice published on April 5, states, among other things, that it detained four people in connection with this robbery, three of whom work at the cold-storage facility and the other at the Zootechnical Station. They were detained on suspicion of having cooperated with one another to carry out this robbery. The amount of money stolen exceeds 9 million lekë. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

President Berisha patches up the Government by making concessions to the extreme right – The incapable Konfliku!?... Musaraj calls on him to restore order. – Mr. Uka, in Parliament, commits himself to implementing agricultural reform... Uka is replaced by Kalakula. – Was the Minister of Tourism, Osman Shehu, dismissed as corrupt, incompetent, or disobedient?

... for ... the newspaper ... has ... been made ... published ... 1993 ... 1944 ...