Concerned about the exposure of corruption on television, journalist Arjana Qatipi asked the chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, Fatos Nano, for an interview in which he could comment on the accusations surrounding the “Levante Con” scandal. He immediately accepted the request for public information, and Mrs. Qatipi asked that the interview take place on 28.4.1993, at 9 o’clock. But Mrs. Qatipi did not come at 9:00, nor at any time during the day, and she did not notify us either. Why? Who made you change your mind? Naturally, Fatos Nano was not given the floor in Parliament, and Mrs. Qatipi could not act any differently either. This happened while Tomorr Malasi repeatedly said during the interpellation session: You may speak in the press, on the Radio and on Television as much as you like, Mr. Nano; they are free to speak, but here you will speak on topic and for only two minutes. In any case, we do not wish to blame Mrs. Qatipi at all. She received an order. Press and Information Office of the Socialist Party

Slander plus scandals plus arrogance and partisanship equals today’s governance

Meeting of the General Steering Committee of the Socialist Party Yesterday, under the chairmanship of Socialist Party chairman Fatos Nano, a joint meeting of the General Steering Committee and the Socialist Party parliamentary group was held. At the beginning of the meeting, Fatos Nano, explaining the situation in which the Steering Committee meeting was taking place, said that situations such as the one that had emerged in recent days were not unexpected for the Socialist Party, because it had continually analyzed political developments and warned of the escalation of the authorities’ revanchism against our Party. Dealing with such situations requires the commitment of the entire Party. This is a matter of defending the Socialist Party and Albanian democracy from attacks against them, under conditions in which the DP has completely lost credibility among the people. Then Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, deputy chairman of the Socialist Party, gave an extensive analysis of the current political situation and set out several directions for the Party’s work to deal with it successfully. Our country, Servet Pëllumbi said, is gripped by a deep economic crisis, which is even more severe when compared with the political struggle taking place between the main protagonists of the transition we are going through. The fundamental indicator of the crisis is the paralysis of social production across almost all indicators. Officially, the decline is said to be 58 percent. Of the 850,000 workers counted in 1992, 306,000 receive assistance and 123,000 (September 1992) are registered as unemployed. The two price liberalizations (July 1992 and January 1993) and partial wage compensation at a rate of 3:1 in favor of prices have caused people’s standard of living to fall catastrophically among the disadvantaged groups, especially workers and the peasantry. The consumer price index (December 1990–March 1993) reached 771.9 percent (an average of 11.1 percent each month). A 25-grade wage system was introduced, with a difference of more than ten times between the lowest and highest wages. The external debt is 624.8 million dollars. The economic crisis has not eased, and it will not stop even by mid-1994 as long as no measures are being taken to put people to work and stabilize the economy, which has already been destroyed. We are witnessing a tense political situation, he went on, in the new developments and crisis in the Albanian Parliament, which has deepened and taken concrete form in the decision to assume the features of a general political crisis. Parliament as a whole has been placed under the tutelage of the president and a special DP scenario; the legal game is being played by the extreme wing, the revanchist wing, which is being put into effect, along with several anti-democratic moves. But fortunately, Parliament is being used as an arena for a fierce political struggle, as a platform for attacking and denigrating the opposition, the SP and its F. Erysekjan. What happened yesterday in Parliament cannot in any way be separated from the overall background of the political struggle, from the continuing diversity of efforts to divide us as a party, once again to label some as reformed and others as incorrigible conservatives, some as [unclear] and others as excessively moderate, some as future social democrats and others as exponents or radicals and representatives of the old order. With the latest insistence in Parliament, where, under the guise of an intolerance that in reality was not such, but rather an indictment of the Nano Government and the Socialist Party’s ability to govern, the President and the chairman turned against the past, seizing on the issue of corruption—a subject that had been brought up—while impoverishing and exhausting people, and keeping them agitated; they therefore thought they would find support in it. Immediately, they all tried to escape... (Continued on page 4)

— Statement of the General Steering Committee of the PSSH In recent days, the political situation in the country has been subjected to artificial and deliberate tension. The authorities, while ostensibly attacking the leadership of the Socialist Party, and Fatos Nano in particular, in fact aim at much more: they seek to strike at and liquidate the Socialist Party, the only powerful political force in opposition defending democracy. But that is not all. Their attacks and actions are shameful and deliberate, irresponsibly and diabolically orchestrated in order to divert public attention from the many hardships and difficulties, from the lack of hope and prospects for the future, which continue and become more threatening with each passing day. At a time when the attention of the state and the entire Albanian public should have been focused on the killing of our young people by Serbian soldiers, the dangerous situation in ... Kosovo, and the violent expulsion from Greece of thousands of Albanian economic migrants, Berisha’s party continues to set Albanians against Albanians. The General Steering Committee of the SP reiterates its conviction that the corruption accusation leveled against Fatos Nano is, from beginning to end, a slander. This repeated provocation aims to continue the diversion, already unsuccessful, against the SP and its stable and ever-growing electorate; it seeks to attack the leading figure of the SP, who has unquestioned authority among its members and supporters and a recognized reputation in international political circles. The General Steering Committee, fully appreciating and supporting the principled and resolute position of the party leadership and parliamentary group, the genuine commitment of the broad mass of Socialist Party members and supporters, and of all honest people, believes they will defend without fear the true democracy now more threatened than ever by the revanchist policy of the leaders of the Democratic Party. It is convinced that, as they have done up to now, the majority of Albanians will once again know how to say no to neo-dictatorship and a police regime. The Socialist Party remains convinced that the only alternative for overcoming today’s crisis is to set aside revanchism, thereby opening the way to reconciliation and national reconstruction. General Steering Committee of the PSSH. Tirana, April 28, 1993. tist Party and are directed at Fa-tos Nano, in reality they aim for much more: they aim powerful political opposition force actions in this panic, as usual in defiance of the laws and under the constant pressure of revanchist forces, are an expression of the profound and all-encompassing crisis gripping the Democratic Party in its internal struggle for the highest state offices, a struggle that also reflects the clash of interests among anti-national clans at home and abroad, which have financed today's totalitarianism. Such a thing is neither accidental nor unexpected, since the entire period of the Democratic Party's rule, instead of being characterized by a spirit of understanding, constructive dialogue, and honest cooperation for the good of democracy and Albania, has had—and continues to have—as its most fundamental features intolerance, coercive imposition, rejection of differing opinions, flagrant violations of laws and of people's fundamental rights and freedoms, revanchist-Ballist attacks, and the liquidation of political opponents through a new class war. Following the Socialist Party's denunciation of the Democratic Party's disastrous, incompetent, and adventurist governance; following its legitimate demand for the resignation and change of the course of today's PD-led government; following its repeated denunciations of corruption and the many financial scandals involving PD officials, its leadership headquarters, whose location is well known, pulled from its files one of the few ready-made scenarios it may have left, which we have been denouncing for a long time. The General Steering Committee of the Socialist Party of Albania considers this attack a

SENT BY FAX TO: - Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. - European Parliament. - Council of Ministers of the European Community. - International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.. We would like to draw your attention to the current situation in Albania, convinced of the importance of your contribution to the positive development of democratic processes in our country. Recently, the situation in Albania has deteriorated further and economic difficulties and social and political tensions have increased. Problems in every field, instead of being put on the path to resolution, have grown more difficult, and the lack of prospects is evident. The party in power is experiencing a deep crisis of confidence, and the masses of the people are disappointed as a result of anti-democratic laws in Parliament. Under these conditions, the Socialist Party of Albania has also called for a change in the course of government and the removal of this incapable and corrupt government. It has called for political actions and solutions that would contribute to true democracy and its full institutionalization, as well as national understanding. Under these conditions, the ruling Democratic Party assembled a political montage based solely on articles in foreign newspapers, representing a new escalation in the authorities’ struggle through scenarios involving ... For 3 hours during the parliamentary interpellation, the Chairman of the SP was not given the right to speak to make a statement to Parliament and public opinion to clarify the issue, thereby provoking the beginning of a parliamentary crisis. We are sending you as well the statement by the chairman of the PSSH, Fatos Nano, published in the press, trusting that, as you have done up to now, you will know how to use your authority to judge and contribute to putting an end to these anti-democratic actions, inspired by revanchist sentiments, and to institutionalizing a genuine rule-of-law state in Albania.

MOTION No confidence in Mr. Tomor Malasi It is well known that, for the proper conduct of the People’s Assembly’s proceedings, the Assembly elects its Presidium. But Mr. Tomor Malasi, as Deputy Speaker of the People’s Assembly, has not justified his position since the time of his election. This has become evident on occasions when he has chaired plenary sessions of the People’s Assembly. In these sessions, his incapacity and incompetence have clearly emerged. Almost all of them have been characterized by flagrant violations of the rules of procedure of the People’s Assembly. During this period, tense situations have often arisen. The most flagrant case was the plenary session of 26.4.1993, when the Democratic Party parliamentary group demanded that an interpellation with the Chairman of the State Control Service be held immediately. Such a request, being contrary to the requirements of Article 90 of the Rules of Procedure, was opposed by deputies of the Socialist Party parliamentary group. It was also requested that, since a temporary parliamentary committee had been established on the issue for which the interpellation was sought, the interpellation be held together with that committee’s report or afterwards, and that it would also be appropriate at that time to answer the questions asked by Socialist Party deputies. Mr. Malasi, disregarding every legitimate request made by the Socialist deputies, puts to a vote the Democratic Party parliamentary group’s proposal to hold the interpellation session

GENERAL STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE PSSH SOCIALIST PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Tirana, 28.4.1993 new escalation in the authorities’ struggle through scenarios involving banal slander and fabrications, accusing the chairman of the Socialist Party and member of the People’s Assembly Fatos Nano of alleged corruption involving Italian aid during the short time he was Prime Minister of the Albanian Government. In response to an accusa[?]

- After he was not allowed to speak, MP Ndre Llogasi went up to the podium and handed Mr. Malasi the motion of no confidence submitted by the PS parliamentary group. - Mr. Malasi labels this lawful action by MP Legisi a threat and, like Pinochet once did in Chile, shouts at the top of his voice and orders armed guards to enter the chamber in the most blatant and unlawful manner. - The fiercest one, the first of the armed servicemen to charge at MP Legisi, his hand on his pistol, was himself a former prisoner who, some time ago in Parliament, called for the PS Parliamentary Group Chairman, Namik Dokle, to be shot without any cause. - In this way, the sovereignty and dignity of parliament were gravely violated. - Television commented on this genuine military coup d'état, which took place in the sacred temple of democracy, the Albanian parliament, in a completely different way, deliberately disinforming public opinion. - The fascistization of the country's life culminates in the deployment of military forces inside the parliament chamber. What is happening in parliament? What is happening in Albania? The genuinely democratic forces and the people must tell the dictatorship to stop.