— Speech by Socialist Party deputy Leonidha Çuçi, delivered in Strasbourg — Honourable Mr President, Honourable Colleagues, It is a particular pleasure for me to speak at this Second Parliamentary Session between the European Parliament and the Albanian Parliament, on my country’s commitment to the processes of European integration. I would also like to offer my sincere congratulations on the admirable organisation of this meeting and my warm thanks for the interest you are showing in Albania. Albania is the country with the youngest democracy in Europe, a democracy born after half a century of totalitarian and fanatical dictatorship. We are living at the beginning of a post-communist society. But the old psychology, the old social mentalities and the cultural distortions they carry with them are still very much present and strongly felt in many aspects of the country’s political and economic life, in relations between the State and the citizen, in respect for human rights and freedom of thought, as well as in the right to be in opposition to the government. The fact is that genuinely democratic political and social forces, such as the Socialist Party of Albania, are calling for and striving with all their strength to establish a truly democratic order, but their efforts still encounter the State’s intolerance of opposition alternatives. Instead of being separated and independent, the powers are once again being concentrated in one hand, and political tutelage over democratic institutions continues, even including State violence (economic, legal and political) against those who dare to think differently. We quite rightly acknowledge genuine democratic developments in Albania and hope that further civilising steps will be taken compared with what has been done so far. But I have the impression that there is an excess of euphoria and enthusiasm beyond what Albania’s post-communist realities permit. Today’s Albanian government is doing a great deal to show that we have political stability, instead of reflecting on and assessing the factors that actually undermine this stability and create social tensions. Politics. The same thing is happening in the privatisation process, where licences are controlled and issued by the State. It is unacceptable for State institutions once again to be merged with personal power, or for today’s party leaders or government officials to act to the detriment of the independence and separation of powers. Otherwise, revenge and political persecution will once again replace the rule of law and legality in Albania. Tolerance and dialogue with democratic opposition forces have not yet taken root in Albanian society, because of the forces that currently hold and control power. This has also meant that respect for alternative opinion is lacking; indeed, in many cases such opinion is labelled with offensive epithets that now dominate the language of the press. The political offices of the party in power have also taken upon themselves the sovereign prerogatives of the judicial power, criminalising every political opponent without cause. In socialism, we have consistently insisted on a round table between the parties. But, unfortunately, Albanian democracy has so far lacked a spirit of dialogue, tolerance, compromise and cooperation among opponents who are, nevertheless, brothers. In many cases, politics and official positions have incited hatred, sown division and set Albanians against one another, at a time when the need for national and social reconciliation is extremely urgent. In this climate, there can be no avoiding political tensions that upset democratic reasoning and prevent one from clearly seeing violations of human rights, of the dignity of freedom of speech and of the press, and of human personality, as well as cases of unlawful violence, and the prevention or forcible dispersal by the police of lawful protest demonstrations. All this happens because the parliamentary majority and the government lack the political will and hesitate to present and urgently adopt the fully completed Constitution of the Albanian State, which would definitively enshrine constitutional relations and legal mechanisms to guarantee respect for ... unequivocal respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. (I am opening a parenthesis because I wish to emphasise that the Chairman of the Council of Ministers is currently also President of the Parliamentary Constitutional Commission, and that even six months after the deadline set by his decision, the State still does not have its Basic Constitutional Law.) Deliberately forgetting that we are all jointly responsible for and have all suffered from our past, today in Albania not only are artificial political divisions being created, but, worse still, passion clouds reason and truth, leading to unfounded attacks against opposition parties and their leaders. Moreover, these attacks are becoming an organic part of the parliamentary majority’s political programmes, to encourage further imbalances and social tensions. Local government, in whose elections the Socialists won 54 per cent of the vote at every level, continues to be paralysed because of the intolerance of the party in power and the legislature’s obstruction by the executive. I consider it my political duty to state officially (Continued on page 3) [?] democratic in Albania, and we want new civilizing steps to But I have the impression that we are overly euphoric and enthusiastic about the mass demonstrations permitted by the post-communist realities in Albania. The current Albanian government does instead of reflecting on and judging tensions. There are many examples showing that, in reality, a monist mentality exists and is unfortunately very active: manifestations of unprincipled imposition; the thinking of a party that seeks to preserve, at all costs and by undemocratic means, its monopoly on drafting and implementing laws; a marked lack of tolerance, apparent in the arrogant use of the voting mechanism in Parliament while disregarding consensus; and other increasingly frequent instances of violating the freedom to express opposing views and denigrating their legitimate representatives. This is why we should be concerned, if Albanians are to belong to a new political generation. By this I mean that repeated manifestations of subordination must be opposed, as must the subjection of institutions to political control, as happened yesterday; the manifestations of an administrative dictatorship that breaks the law and seeks to impose the political will of the apparatchiks. Genuine administrative reform must be carried out so that no one is hired or dismissed from public institutions or state enterprises on the basis of their convictions. [?] presents politics every day, which is the fundamental evil that weighs on social stability.

IN THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY After the proceedings of the People’s Assembly were suspended at the request of a deputy—the suspension lasting about as long as the usual break on any working day and relating to the anticipated amendment to the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure—the Assembly resumed its work on Wednesday afternoon by approving the work programme for the next two weeks. On this occasion, Socialist deputies made several proposals. NAMIK DOKLE First, he requested that the question session, requested by the PS parliamentary group, be held as soon as possible. Second, that the motion of no confidence requested against the deputy Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mr Tomorr Malasi, be placed on the agenda as soon as possible. Third, he requested that the temporary commissions established by the People’s Assembly be properly put to work as soon as possible, emphasising the commission set up to verify Italian aid to Albania, as well as the one tasked with clarifying the “Hot(i) Arsid(i)” scandal. Fourth, that the PAD deputies’ request to be recognised as a parliamentary group be considered as soon as possible. ANASTAS ANGJELI Fifth, that the Government submit to the Assembly a detailed programme for continuing economic reform. Sixth, that the agreement with the IMF be presented. Seventh, I request that the law on dual employment be presented to Parliament; according to him, this would help bring intellectual input into a fairer distribution of taxes and duties, etc. THEODHORI BEJO Ninth, I request that the government take urgent measures to unblock some of our products, which are being ruined by the entry of foreign goods. He mentioned five soap factories that are not operating because imported soap has put them out of business.

PORTRAITS OF P.D. MEMBERS: PJETRI’S TRUE FACE ... — Not just to satisfy curiosity? — They say Pjetri escaped the death sentence because there was powerful intervention from above to save Petrit Kallaku’s brother, even though his death sentence had initially been decided. The dictatorship had deserved what, from which it had, that the «efalia of life had to be compensated by “involvement in service to the system”.» His fellow prisoners have spoken openly in the press about what they saw with their own eyes. Pjetri, whose life had been spared, was favoured under this system, although he had in reality been sentenced for political reasons. Pjetri was entrusted with identifying secret materials for State Security, where, with his Jesuit nature, he tried to take advantage of them and use them in the jungle of the prison. Pjetri spent most of his time in prison in the library. His contemporaries and fellow sufferers also say that whenever there were surprise inspections, neither Pjetri’s actions nor his belongings were disturbed. Pjetri was also privileged when it came to the “storeroom” of food reserves; so much so that, more often than not, people would judge these reserves insufficient for feeding the others, and this gave rise to such preferential treatment of Pjetri, along with what people say here and there about him being a collaborator of State Security. One thing is certain: Pjetri’s diet was rich in vitamins and calcium, so much so that American dentists are said to have been astonished by the “marvellous condition” of the teeth of a prisoner who had spent 28 years in prison. Apparently, the «Koromania» hoax circulating even in the Assembly chamber had absolutely nothing to do with Mr Pjetër’s inadequate diet. This phase of his life in prison explains, to some extent, his lack of desire—or his demagogic claim—to open politicians’ files. One may conclude that Pjetër Toma (Arbnori) has something to hide, even though both the “fly” and the “cap” were put there by the dictatorship. This conduct in prison, in order to escape the death sentence, is firmly fixed in the memories of those still alive, regardless of the fact that the current authorities will try to erase it officially. Wearing such a mask, Pjetër Arbnori did not meet the elementary moral requirement for becoming a politician in a democratic society, where the minimum requirement concerns character and moral conduct. It seems that Koromania had not provided enough nourishment for Pjetri’s brain to judge his involvement in politics alone as immoral. In reality, Pjetri, son of Filip Toma, a collaborator of fascism, had a strong sense of revenge; he had accepted «koromana», thereby compromising his moral character, while securing his own life through those hardships so that one day he could take revenge, in a highly sophisticated way, as the Jesuit he is and a specialist in State Security methods. Democracy is being established in Albania, and this is precisely the right moment for the “prisoner” with senile sclerosis to join the democratic movement in the city of Shkodër as a baxhan. But the deep roots of hatred and my father’s advice “push” him to seize the leadership of the PD in Shkodër by Byzantine methods and get elected as a deputy. The PD’s defeat on 31 March frightens Pjetri, whose mask dates back to prison. He senses the danger of “opening the files of the lakror”, among which was «Koromania». Consequently, a sense of revenge and fear drive him to commit all his strength to the events of 2 April. Shkodër is talking; the walls in Shkodër are covered with denunciations of Pjetri, and someone dares to state openly, even at the Shkodër trial, that he was actively involved in the events of 2 April. The Shkodran says, «where there’s smoke, there’s fire». Articles discussing the “Arbnori-Broçi disagreements” make you think that this mask is very likely real, regardless of what Pjetri himself says or the current circumstances that prevent it from being seen. Normally, with these two masks

Yesterday, Parliament approved a presidential decree granting citizens of certain Arab countries the right to obtain a visa at our border crossings. This is one aspect of the previous decree, approved a few months ago, which granted citizens of the countries of the European Community the right to obtain a visa at Albania’s border crossings. Nothing appears in the k... of the decree. It is good to provide consular facilities for foreign citizens who come here for investment, trade, etc., etc. Without prejudging this right, today in Albania both the good and, where they are wanted, the bad are coming in. This is one of the aspects on which the Socialists have long insisted that the new democratic Albanian State should pursue a dignified open-door foreign policy, but not a policy of “wide-open doors”. In this case, we would emphasise a more important aspect of the issue. The Socialist parliamentary group, as did its representatives on the Foreign Policy Commission where this matter was discussed, requested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the bodies initiating such measures—which are useful in principle—up to and including the President’s Cabinet, secure the necessary guarantees from other states that the principle of reciprocity will be applied in granting consular facilities. This is especially important in light of the priorities our policy entails. (Continued on page 4)

— Mr Çela, together with investigators Marenglen Rrapi and Llambi Bako, are conducting supplementary investigations in Italy. — The Chairman of the Albanian State Audit meets privately with the Italian judge Evelina Canale and hands her the case file against F. Nano. — In the lawsuit involving the Lezhë newspaper, the case against the editor-in-chief was left hanging across the Atlantic, while, for the charge against Nano, Blerimi crossed the Adriatic. A few days ago we heard biographical reports that Mr Blerim Çela, Chairman of the State Audit Commission, had gone to Italy with a group of specialist investigators to seek documents relating to the lawsuit against the chairman of the PS, Vatos Nano. Since Mr Blerim holds ministerial rank and is among those about whom Albanian ministers themselves repeatedly provide information regarding an official’s visit, this report seemed inappropriate to us. But yesterday «Gazeta Shqiptare», published in Italy, wrote across the top of its front page, in large letters: “Blerim Çela’s secret trip”, with the prominent subtitle “Meeting with Italian investigators in Rome”, in the section “The Tirana Prosecutor’s Office requests fur...”. From the outset, the article reports: “A secret mission in Italy for the Chairman of the State Audit, Blerim Çela. A trip that began on Monday morning in the utmost secrecy.” Further on, the article continues: “In Rome for the first time SEDAT BRAJA BEQIR SKRELI (Continued on page 4)

GOOD NEWS: The gold hero and friend of Blerim Çela and Tritan Shehu, Sali Berisha’s unappointed consul and a classic swindler exposed in several countries, but crowned with glory for his war against the people of Vietnam, John McGough has arrived in Albania. This time, however, no announcement was made about him. He was not interviewed on TV. Because he has come to take, not to bring. On 26 May, John McGough was ushered through the corridors and offices of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He wanted to meet Minister Ruli, but they say he did not receive him. Why?! Will President Berisha meet the Anglo-American-Swiss-Albanian Mek-Gou? Because he has tasked him with finding the gold? Does the State Bank know about this, since Berisha could suffer the same fate as Ilir Hoxhi and have his signature stolen, because John McGough is entitled to ten per cent of the gold found... BESNIK MALI

GJIROKASTËR: A few days ago, leaflets were found in the narrow lanes of Gjirokastër’s neighbourhoods, calling on the people of Gjirokastër to distance themselves from “those destructive, Enverist, communist and Enverist forces who, in the name of the Enver Association, tried to defend the dictator and the dictatorship, and who now, with the same malicious, destabilising purpose and intent to hinder democratic processes, seek to defend the PS and Fatos Nano”, continuing with insulting words borrowed from RD and Eduart Selami. In Gjirokastër, speculation continues about the authors and distributors of these leaflets. The information available so far clearly points to some infected bats. The residents of Gjirokastër immediately took protective measures: they burned the leaflets with kerosene, while disinfecting with chlorine and whitewashing the places where they had been found. In any case, this leaflet too has been added to the city’s “chronicles”. The Disinfector

On Saturday, May 29, at 18:00, in the main square of the city of Gramsh, the district PS’s KDI is organizing a peaceful rally to protest against the policies of the PD government. The deputy leader of the PS and chair of its parliamentary group, Namik Dokle, will also take part, together with other leaders and MPs of the Socialist Party.

At 18:00 at “Flamurtari” Stadium, a rally of the workers of Vlore, organized by the PS Committee of Vlore, will be held. At 18:00, a rally of the workers of Vlore, organized by the PS Committee of Vlore, will be held at “Flamurtari” Stadium. Fatos Nano and other leaders and MPs of the Socialist Party will take part.