— Is Article 2 of this Decree constitutional? — In the President’s Decree on changes to the Meksi Government, Article 2 draws attention. Among other things, this Article states that Mr. Rexhep Uka “...is appointed minister without portfolio for local-government issues.” The question that immediately arises in this case is: Is this part of the article constitutional? Let us refer to the Constitutional Law: In Chapter Two of the Constitutional Law (The highest organs of state power), point 13 of Article 16 expressly states: “The People’s Assembly has the following principal powers: 13. It decides on the creation or abolition of ministries and other bodies equivalent to them.” Likewise, in Chapter Three of this Law (The highest organs of state administration), paragraph seven of Article 35 states: “The composition, powers and organization of the Council of Ministers shall be regulated by law.” Article 2 of the President’s Decree is nothing other than a change to the structure (composition, ‘organization’) of the Council of Ministers. It creates a new ministry within the structure of the government. Viewed in this light, Article 2 of the President’s Decree appears unconstitutional. In such a case, the President should first have submitted to Parliament a draft law changing the structure of the government (adding a ministry), and then appointed the relevant minister. In fact, the President’s Decree contains an expression (“without portfolio”) that gives the President’s legal advisers grounds to defend the aforementioned article of the decree in question. But the expression “without portfolio” and the expression “for local-government issues” represent two concepts that contradict one another. They have been attached to each other either deliberately to create confusion in the legal interpretation of Article 2, or as an expression of an attempt by the President to reach a political compromise on the occasion of the dismissal of the deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture. On the one hand, he seeks to “caress” the pride of the dismissed minister (and the group he represents) by telling him, “Look, you have a portfolio too” (even if it is without a portfolio). On the other hand, he “muzzles” those criticizing the obstruction of local government by telling them, “Now we have solved the problem because we appointed a minister for this job.” These are political aspects of this article that allow for different interpretations. But its legal aspect must not allow for equivocation. It must be clarified plainly. Is Mr. Uka a minister without portfolio, or is he the minister for local government? So far, we have no law providing for the establishment of a ministry for local government. Therefore, Article 2 of the President’s Decree appears constitutionally questionable.

On Friday, near Velihtërnë, a large stand of about 2,000 plum trees was cut down. The trees were cut down by residents of the village of Velihtërnë, who claim that this was grazing land for their livestock; it was an act of protest against delays in the distribution of land. The issue concerns 80 hectares of land taken by Zvirina, which it refuses to give up (Zvirina and Velihtërna used to be in the same sector). The Council of Ministers promised that the residents of Velihtërnë would be compensated with land from the military enterprise. On Saturday, law-enforcement forces intervened, but there were no open clashes. On Sunday, during the night and in the morning, the chief of police and six other people were arrested. Afterwards, the residents of Velihtërnë blocked the national road in retaliation. Meanwhile, law-enforcement forces intervened and there was a fierce clash with the residents; women and children were injured. Comrades from the district Socialist Party called on the district’s local-government authorities to clarify the situation and calm things down. Yesterday, such a meeting of government authorities, law-enforcement bodies and political forces was organized to calm the situation. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

Yesterday morning, quite a number of people had gathered outside the Ministry of Agriculture building; judging by their outward appearance, they seemed very enthusiastic. “Who are these people?” others asked. The answer to that question was that they were friends of Mr. Kalakula. To be more precise, they were members of the association “Property with Justice.” These former property owners had come to congratulate the new minister of agriculture and to advise him to speed up the program of “their association,” of which Mr. Kalakula is undoubtedly also a member. Will Mr. Kalakula respond to this association’s wishes? His manner suggests that he will adapt to circumstances, taking his own interests into account as well. Nevertheless, this will be difficult for him, because the DP’s program has been, and remains, in favor of distributing land according to the law approved by the pluralist parliament. Kalakula is at a crossroads. Let us see which path he will take! A. C. Ç.

An outrageous act took place in recent days. A priest who had come from Italy to the city of Shkodër was returning from a Mass he had celebrated in a village in the Nënshkodër area when the car he was travelling in was shot at and he was wounded. According to information received in Shkodër, the act was committed by two people. The person who fired fled in an unknown direction. The information available so far about the circumstances of this terrorist act indicates that the individuals involved came out of a roadside buffet and gestured for a car approaching them to stop. The car did not stop, but continued on its way. They then fired at it with a pistol, and the bullet struck the priest in question, who was inside the car. They were carrying the weapon without a permit. We emphasize that this incident has outraged the citizens of Shkodër. It has nothing in common with the Albanian traditions of hospitality and loyalty. This priest’s mission was humanitarian; he also contributed to securing humanitarian aid. After he was given first aid at the hospital in Shkodër, we learned that he was later sent to Italy. A representative of the Catholic sect in this city told us that he had made inquiries and learned that the priest’s life was out of danger.

There are 68 people in all, one man and 67 women, who on 16 March 1993 were sent to the “Big House,” as social assistance is being called. They are women who, through their work and dedication, built a great [institution] for the little ones and earned the name and place of a “second mother.” They are the nursery mothers, those women who, for anyone with children who raised them in a nursery, were “members of the family” every evening. They are women with children. Some have grown-up children who “can support them” at home. Most have young children. So young that any reduction in the food ration at home affects their tender bones and frail bodies. They are women with secondary education—pedagogical and nursing—midwives, nurses and teachers. With long work experience. In the countryside. In hospitals. In maternity wards. Children’s nurseries—on welfare! In Peshkopi, out of 97 people, 68 were laid off. They were sent to the “Big House,” to the “asylum...” ABDURRAHIM ASHIKU ABDurrahim ASHIKU They are women who, through hard work and dedication, and their great love for the little ones, earned the name and place of “second mother.” They are the nursery-school mothers, those mothers who, whoever...

The Liqenas area in the district of Korçë, with a population of approximately 4,000 Macedonian people in the villages of Gorricë, Gollomboç, Goricë e madhe, Bezmisht, Pustec, Shulin and Lajthizë, can currently be called a forgotten area. The difficult days of transition, which are being felt painfully in many other mountainous areas of the Korçë district, are also being felt here, where this national minority lives by the shore of picturesque Lake Prespa e madhe, amid a landscape many foreign investors envy. The lack of money is felt even in the midst of this natural beauty! The Pustec hospital is closed for lack of staff and funds. One striking fact: it has not been disconnected, the word comes from the residents. The land is worked by hand. The shortage of food, and especially of bread, forces heads of household to walk many kilometres to buy wheat in the villages. The price, of course, is that of a market economy. The residents of this area, who speak Albanian as beautifully as their mother tongue, Macedonian... saw it as an encouraging sign of hope, understanding and support, thinking that someone might now remember them too—perhaps the district authorities or the MP Bari Bregu, to whom they gave their vote on 22 March. The lack of drinking water has forced the residents of Shulin for two years to fetch it from a place hours away. There is no telephone connection. Likewise, no state bus goes up to Prespa, except in April, and it seems that recently its fare has been... and especially of bread, forces heads of households to walk for miles to buy wheat from the farmers. The price, of course, is set by the as beautifully as their mother tongue, Macedonian, share their troubles with anyone—a companion, a friend, a passerby; with the district authorities, certainly. But the gentlemen of democracy have not shown up in these parts to ease the burden of their hardships, just as they have not made their way up to Opar, Gorë, Vithkuq, or the entire suffering mountain region of the Korçë district. And the late president stresses that the minority must be respected, that it must be loved, and that it must speak for itself, reach out, and love of its own accord. Right, very right, because only in this way will we be able to light a torch of justice on the road to Europe. FATOS SHAMBLLI

The Meksi government appointed some officials to district councils, municipalities and communes, giving them the title of secretaries. In other words, secretaries of a powerless administration. I say this because power is given to you by the people, not by the government or a party. So what do these people represent, and in whose name do they speak? Obviously, they represent the parties, and speak in their name. Secretaries of this kind are simply apparatus employees. As such, they have no right to speak in the name of the people or to represent them. The secretaries appointed by Meksi have no legal accountability to the people, because the people hold their representatives accountable—the people to whom they gave their vote. The secretaries, meanwhile, are completely beyond scrutiny, yet, by occupying key positions, they also cause problems. Who knows when Mr. Meksi will get the chance to control his cadres through such appointments? We have often heard and read that the secretary of the council or commune also took part in and brought about this delimitation. Is this not a bastardization of legitimate power? These kinds of secretaries bring to mind the secretaries of the Labor Party’s Bureaus, who all took hold of positions of power. Even now, little by little, power is being undermined and pushed aside in favor of party appointments. This does not mean that even in a democracy power should not take its proper place, but rather be led around by the nose. Could this be a democracy without power and without oversight? This kind of power benefits only the Government and the PD, not the people. So return power to the people, gentlemen!

Each year, more than 3,000 workers are added—people who need work Every year, more than 3,000 workers are added—people who need work Dibra is a district with little land. With the separation of the chrome industry into the new district of Bulqizë and the near-total shutdown of other branches of industry, such as chrome mining in Selishtë, marble and food production; with the drying up of investment in urban construction and the turning of a blind eye to tourism associated with the well-known Peshkopi thermal baths and the enchanting beauty of Lurë and other very beautiful places, Dibra is currently on the fringes of contemporary attention: a province where winter and distance from the center, the lack of roads and the dense population (around 90 percent of whom live in villages) dictate the absolute impoverishment of this region. Look at Peshkopi’s boulevard, crowded with people as on rally days; leaf through the long, very long lists of social assistance recipients, the lists of those who, after a year of assistance, have in many cases been left with both husband and wife unemployed. This is a reality, a wound that cannot be concealed, which no political force can cover up. For Dibra, the city of Peshkopi is a problem, but the village is a problem on top of a problem. There is an opinion that the village’s problems have been solved because it has land and livestock. “People can live on the income from the land and from livestock.” The villages of Dibër have neither enough land nor enough livestock to provide a life at even the subsistence minimum. This applies to the Driti lowlands, but especially to the high mountain villages, which make up the majority of Dibra’s population. Every year Dibra grows by 3,000 people, adding 3,000 new workers. The district’s ninety agricultural enterprises have no jobs for them. They have only one option: emigration. Emigration... (Continued on page 2) ...without any plan or rules, risking lives. Recently I have walked through the villages in the areas of Lurë, Dardhë, Cidhën, Muhurr, Selishtë, etc. Thanks to remittances from abroad, televisions and other household appliances have made their way into these villages. Thanks to remittances and loans, trucks and private cars have also arrived in these areas. There is no doubt that these are fruits of democracy, of the opening-up Albania has undergone in recent years. No political force, and least of all the Democratic Party, has the right to claim an absolute monopoly over these new sources of prosperity in the countryside. They are the fruit of the initiative of young men from Dibër who, risking their lives, have taken the roads of emigration, especially toward Greece, with the grim prospect of very long and exhausting journeys, the heavy burden of police batons, and the risk to their lives. But reality must be faced. There are many families who do not have their daily bread secured, the minimum needed to sustain life. Healthcare is lacking in the villages. In some areas of the district, such as Lurë, Rec, Dardhë, Cidhën, Fushë-Cidhën, etc., telephone service is lacking even in the commune centers. This year, most irrigation canals are expected to carry not a single drop of water to most villages. Water-supply systems have been destroyed and continue to be destroyed. In Selishtë, Dardhë, Rec, Fushë-Cidhën, Kala e Dodës, etc., passenger transport services have been discontinued, and people are forced to walk for 5–10 hours to take care of a family matter. With the division of the land, the village of Dibër achieved its own [unclear]. It has been opened up to...

POLICE ROB TWO CITIZENS Late in the evening of April 5, at the police roadblock at the entrance to the town of Kavajë, an operation was carried out by the duty team. Taking advantage also of the darkness of the night (it was 11:00 p.m.), they pressured the drivers of a “BENZ” car with license plate TR 1356 A. After threatening them (they handcuffed the vehicle’s main driver), they took a quantity of clothing and a tape recorder. Readers may find this incident unbelievable, but it seems those in power have taken it upon themselves to astonish people. Those who heard about the incident said this “operation” was carried out on the occasion of the departure from office of the Minister of Public Order, Mr. Bashkim Kopliku. A. Ç. On the occasion of Mr. Konik’s departure...

There are several shortcomings that have shaken things up. In front of the Tirana Variety Theater, the place is packed with people. Men and women, brides and young men, with bags in their hands and under their arms, stand chatting with one another. What is troubling them? Who are these people? We make inquiries and learn that they are village schoolteachers. In addition to the many hardships they face throughout the winter, in rain and mud, in the cold and for laughable salaries, now that spring has arrived, here is another piece of “good news.” Their bus passes have gone up from 540 old lek to 1,800 lek. That is why the teachers are not going to school. That is why the pupils are left without lessons. And that is why we rejoice at the bright days the Democratic Party has brought us. BEQIR SKRELI

...without any plan or rules, risking lives.

The land is worked by hand. The shortage of food, and especially of bread, forces heads of households to walk for miles to buy wheat from the farmers. The price, of course, is set by the market economy.

Politics in the village of Dibër...