«Thank you, Shkodra»! «Grazie Shkodra»! It is the middle of the night; Saturday gives way to Sunday. And yet, so late, the city of Shkodër is aglow. Lights in the streets, lights in the houses. There is singing and joy in the lounges of the «Rozafa» hotel. Fellow travellers who have come from Albanian areas in Yugoslavia, from America and other countries are celebrating together with French, Greek, etc. journalists, who in a few hours will cover the holy visit of Pope John Paul II to this city. Thus, too, in dozens of homes of Shkodër residents, where nobody slept, where they rejoiced with guests who had come from various countries around the world, especially for this day. (Continued on page 3)

The party of Blerim Çela and Sali Berisha refuses to let the interpellation also be a question session that would pursue the issues to their conclusion. Their aim is to cover up the real corruption and the PD’s scandals.

— From the meeting of the Presidium of the Socialist Party — Yesterday, under the leadership of Fatos Nano, chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, a meeting of the Presidium of the Socialist Party was held. The meeting discussed the political situation in the country in recent days and the new escalation of attacks and slanders by those in power against the leadership of the Socialist Party of Albania. In this attack, an engagement of state information media, and especially RTV, is being observed as rarely before, with these media placed at the service of the ruling party’s day-to-day politics. Putting them at the service of amplifying unprincipled and immoral attacks against the Socialist Party is a flagrant violation of the statute of this political entity and an unfair political struggle. Following analytical and responsible discussions, the Presidium of the Socialist Party concluded: — The current campaign against the Socialist Party and its leaders continues the ruling party’s familiar course, but marks a new escalation along these lines. Faced with failures, scandals, corruption, inability to govern, demands for the Government’s resignation and a change in the way the country is governed, and the rapid decline in the ruling party’s credibility at home and abroad, etc., today’s authorities are trying to construct banal spectacles to divert the people’s attention. The corruption accusation, based on articles in a foreign newspaper written by a known fascist pseudo-journalist who has also been reported to the Italian Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for prosecution on charges of slander and deceiving public opinion, and made official through a plan signed by the chairman of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano, is from beginning to end a politically motivated attack directed against the Socialist Party. Such attacks, slanders and fabrications are neither the first nor unfamiliar to the Socialist Party. We are used to hearing official statements by PD leaders even about outlawing the Socialist Party; we are used to hearing threats of prison and the gallows, not only from the mouths of rally-goers but also from PD MPs. We are also used to MPs’ one-minute sessions; such staged performances are now worn out and have lost their colour. But, ...

in themselves they show panic, as well as aggression and fear of a serious and constructive opposition such as the Socialist Party, which those in power do not dare to face in a normal manner. The Socialist Party, it was said at the meeting, is interested in and has called for—and continues to call for—corruption to be genuinely exposed, wherever it may be. But it is clear that today’s authorities are using the corruption card only for demagogic and political purposes, and no concrete effort is being made to eradicate and combat it. Dozens of cases remain unresolved, and dozens of special parliamentary commissions have been established, but their work is being deliberately sabotaged. The special commission on corruption involving aid was established four months ago, but until now it has been nonexistent. And not without purpose, the chairman of the State Control Commission has been summoned to appear for an interpellation in Parliament without the matter first going through these commissions—in other words, they are being ignored. The violation of procedures, the haste, and the refusal by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly to accept the PS parliamentary group’s request to attach a question session to the interpellation, which would have helped confront the issues and bring the truth to light, speak clearly of this kind of politics. Condemned to Machiavellian survival —shipi, as dika do të mbetet— the PD and today’s authorities will not stop in the future from fabricating slanders and false accusations against their political opponents, when they see no other way to save themselves. Public opinion is now laughing at Çeku i Bardhë, at Xhon Mekgou, at Blerim Çela’s 270 tons of gold, at the lifting of immunities, etc., etc. The Socialist Party has known how to withstand these attacks and slanders. It will know how to face them in the future as well, with composure but also determination. The people’s confidence in the Socialist Party, which has unquestionably grown, cannot be shaken one bit by the soap bubbles blown up by Blerim Çela or by the scriptwriters who inflate them. The conclusions of the Presidium meeting were presented by the chairman of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano. Press and Information Office of the Socialist Party 26. 4.1993

The more the clique that has usurped the leadership of what is called the Democratic Party realizes that its end is coming, the more irrational and overbearing it becomes. To satisfy its lust for power, it stops at no violation of laws or ethics. It has been since 18 March that the PS parliamentary group submitted a request for a question session with the prime minister of Albania; on that same date a question session was requested with the interior minister (two children have been abducted and still have not been found); a group of Democratic Alliance MPs has also requested question sessions with the prime minister, the interior minister and the chairman of the People’s Assembly; more than 10 days ago several changes of ministers were made in the government, etc. Nevertheless, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, with its chairman Arbri and deputy chairman Tomor Malasi, behave like obedient puppets who, as the SPA and their associates know, do not care to ensure that Parliament functions normally and according to the rules. By law, a presidential decree announcing changes in the government must be submitted to Parliament within 10 days. * Deputy chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly Tomorr Malasi works «kurdësu». — The PD parliamentary group does not care about any rules or laws. — The majority’s overbearing attitude seriously threatens the normal continuation of Parliament’s work. Legally, the new ministers appointed recently are unlawful because they have not received a vote of confidence in the Assembly. Such violations

of this kind by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly are innumerable. It was in this climate of arbitrariness and recklessness that the interpellation requested by several PD MPs with the chairman of the State Control Commission, Mr Blerim Çela, concerning corruption involving aid from Italy, was also cooked up. For the first time in the history of the Albanian Parliament, the public learned of the interpellation requests through state television—that «independent» television which has repeatedly shown itself to be a rusty pistol in the hands of the PD’s extremist wing. The Socialist Party has clearly stated in its programme, and has backed up in practice, its commitment to legality in the fight against corruption. For this reason, it initiated the creation of a special commission of the People’s Assembly to tackle this problem at its roots. It was this commission that was directly responsible for this work and that should have had the final say. In these circumstances, the group— (Continued on page 3)

— Peaceful rally by the Association of Free Property Owners — Yesterday morning, in the square in front of «Dinamo» stadium in Tirana, the Association of Free Traders of Albania organized a peaceful rally to protest against the law on the return and compensation of property to former owners, recently approved by the Albanian Parliament. New owners in trade, services and social catering from Tirana and most of the country’s districts took part. Participants held banners condemning the Law on the Return and Compensation of Property as an anti-democratic and unconstitutional law, and the organizers called on the state authorities to repeal Articles 12 and 17 of it. First, the chairman of the Association of Free Property Owners of Albania, Mr Qirjako Noti, addressed the rally. In his speech he called the law in question unjust and anti-national, because it pits Albanians against one another. Acknowledging the ownership rights of both groups of owners, he said that the properties of the new owners are legal and that the state is expropriating them unlawfully, depriving them of their rights and dignity. Representatives of the Association of Free Property Owners from the districts of Mirditë, Elbasan, Fier, Shkodër, Kavajë, Skrapar, Korçë, Berat, Durrës, Vlorë, etc. also spoke at the rally. They read statements and petitions expressing the property owners in their districts’ refusal to accept the law. Calls were made at the rally to close the shops until the issue was resolved fairly. Among the slogans raised at the rally were: «Down with the law that legalizes our properties.» «The President is deceiving us,» etc. At the end of the rally, a statement was read on behalf of all Albania’s new property owners, expressing their determination to oppose the law in question by all democratic means and avenues. It was also requested that a delegation from the association meet with the President of the Republic. The rally then ended, and the participants dispersed without causing any disturbance. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»

— Meetings in Shkodër district by MPs Namik Dokle and Musa Ulqini — As yesterday in Shkodër district, MPs Namik Dokle and Musa Ulqini, accompanied by the chairman of the parliamentary group ..., held several meetings ... of the group ... in ... At the meetings ... it was emphasized ...

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA

Tomorrow you will read: «Blerim Çela — The stick with which the PD strikes its political opponents»