CHRONICLE The Second National Conference of the Socialist Party successfully concluded its proceedings If we were to sum up the Second Conference of the Socialist Party in one essential phrase, it would be: New parliamentary elections and the immediate release of Fatos Nano. In more than 30 speeches, the need for elections was argued as a historical necessity under present conditions. “Parliament is being kept in the hall of renunciation,” said Gramoz Ruçi, so that today’s rulers themselves have time to see their corruption. If the PD rulers began their three months of governing with the slogan “We govern, the world helps us,” today, Namik Dokle said, the slogan that would suit them better is “We steal, the world hears us.” Dritëro Agolli described the government’s… (Continued on page 4)

(Greeting by the Chairman of the Socialist Party and MP FATOS NANO at the Second National Conference of the PSSH) Sisters and brothers, delegates! Dear members and supporters of the PSSH! Honored friends and well-wishers, wherever you are! It is good to be with you! I could not help breaking through the encirclement of the police state once again, on the 192nd day of my physical imprisonment, in order to be with you today as well, to wish the Second National Conference of the PSSH “Success in your work,” and to greet you all on this memorable day. I am in excellent condition thanks to the healthy condition of the Party itself and of the entire Albanian democratic opposition; I am strong because of the growth of our political strength; I am clear-minded and unyielding thanks to the responsibility and effort you are all demonstrating for the good of democracy, and thanks to the pan-Albanian solidarity generated by our honest struggle to defend the rights of the majority and the highest national interests. I consider it a great moral and political obligation to thank you, in my name and that of my family, for the warmth with which you have all surrounded it; to greet you also on behalf of the other political prisoners who seek justice; and to assure you that I have always kept the image of the Chairman of the PSSH and my own moral and civic dignity unblemished, even under the harsh conditions of prison and state violence. Its shackles not only failed to separate us, but brought our hearts even closer together. The holding of the Second National Conference of the PSSH is an indisputable victory for the socialists and for the Albanian opposition as a whole over the fervent efforts of all those who want to destroy democracy and pluralism in Albania. The new political choices for governing Albania’s democratic transition enjoy my full support and are the fruit of the collectively developed thinking of the PSSH’s lawful representative and statutory structures. On this basis, I express my unshakable conviction that all the proceedings of our Second National Conference will be imbued with a sense of civic and national responsibility for the fate of the country and democracy, and with the intellectual, political and social seriousness of the solutions we propose, and will be crowned with complete success. The Socialist Party of Albania, in opposition since the elections of March 22, 1992, has contributed with political responsibility, national devotion and a democratic intellectual outlook to the defense and development of democracy and its institutions, to achieving social peace, and to the drafting and adoption of modern democratic legislation. During this period, our Party has clearly shaped its profile and affirmed itself as a Western European-style left-wing party; as a committed supporter of the underprivileged strata of our society; as a serious and wise evaluator of the material and cultural heritage that forms our national identity; as a determined defender of the indisputable values of our people’s National Liberation War; and as a determined fighter for the fair treatment and resolution of our national question along the path of our country’s European integration. Before the people, it has appeared as an unwavering fighter for raising Albanians’ fundamental freedoms and rights to contemporary democratic standards. The PSSH has always been measured and mature in its positions and actions, and a determined opposition… …of state intolerance among Albanians, of the division of power among cronies, and of violence and mafia-style corruption at home, as well as political adventurism abroad. Politically, the PSSH has definitively chosen the path of struggle by democratic means, as a loyal opposition that alerts domestic and international public opinion to the arrogance, arbitrariness, and political and police violence that today’s government inflicts on the majority. Only along this path—which does not merely accommodate but requires interparty and pan-Albanian dialogue—can intolerance be eradicated, political apartheid, state corruption and the plundering of national wealth by a handful of people be brought to an end. Only in this way can the opposition front against the anti-state and its blocking of democratic reforms be broadened; today’s nationwide silence of protest can be turned into a peaceful, democratic social-resistance movement against anti-people rule and political crime; and international solidarity for our just struggle can be strengthened—a struggle that in recent days has also found an echo in the U.S. State Department’s annual report on the state of human rights in Albania. There is now no doubt that resolving today’s political crisis and the tangle of contradictions that expresses it, caused by the blind intolerance of the current leadership of the ruling PD, requires new early elections. But although the “roosters of power” themselves are imposing this solution on our more emancipated people, they are demanding time to erase the traces of illicit enrichment and political crime, whereas early elections would shorten their political lives and free citizens from the yoke of a power that has played with their interests. Therefore, they must submit ahead of schedule to the will of the electorate and public scrutiny. The closure by police of the path to early elections, which are democratic and constitutional, would only deepen today’s crisis, plunging the country into chaos as a result of state violence against the spontaneous revolt of the poor, the abandoned, the homeless, the unemployed, and unprotected taxpayers. Meanwhile, we are fully aware and responsible in recognizing that the formula of resolving today’s political crisis through early elections is an aggregate formula, not a simple procedural act or the signing of a decree. It can and must be achieved and worked out only under the conditions of a peaceful pre-election pact between the government and the opposition, with contributions from all sides at the Albanian interparty conference table, in order to determine optimal and lasting solutions for: — Adoption of the Constitution; — An anti-crisis program; — The priorities and pace of institutional reforms and the market economy; — Stripping military, police, executive and judicial headquarters of powers to intervene in the legal political struggle, and their genuine depoliticization; — Mechanisms for restoring justice and addressing past injustices in property ownership, privatization, employment, education, housing, social protection, etc.; — The genuine unblocking of local government, and decentralization of decision-making and public property at the district, municipal and commune levels; — The immediate release of political prisoners, an end to the legal persecution of opposition members, and the implementation of a broad amnesty for the victims of the disastrous transition government; …and my moral and civic dignity, whose the fervent efforts of all those who want to break away from democracy and pluralism in Albania. It is an affirmation of our Party’s political and organizational strength, of its principled positions in defense of the freedom and sovereignty of European Albania. It is a victory for the ideals of the majority that the PSSH represents and defends. It is undoubtedly a hope that genuine democratic processes and bajraktarism! Success in your work! I consider it necessary to affirm to you that, even under the entirely abnormal conditions that today’s government has created for the Socialist Party and the entire opposition, for alternative thought and political pluralism as a whole, the Party leadership has continued to lead and work with great responsibility and collegiality, strengthening the Party itself and its political role, and broadening its support among the Albanian electorate and progressive democratic forces in Europe and beyond. Therefore, being fully up to date and in solidarity at every step with the political assessments and positions of the Party Presidium, its General Steering Committee and its parliamentary group over the past six months, I emphasize that the political proposals and initiatives undertaken, as well as the PS program alternatives presented to this conference, are intended to overcome today’s crisis and achieve the country’s comprehensive and democratic development. its positions and actions, and a determined opposition, with national resolve, constructive alternatives for developing reforms, and no tolerance for any action that infringes democracy, freedom and human dignity, our national question, or the identity of a European and civilized Albania. Comrades, The domestic and international situation of our country has deteriorated considerably and is moving toward general destabilization, unless state adventurism and arbitrariness in domestic policy and relations with the civilized world are halted. The grave socio-economic situation, the political crisis and the many injustices that accompany them must not frighten us or leave us hopelessly dispirited. On the contrary, they should make us more conscious of the need to take greater responsibility for emerging from the crisis and putting reforms back on the right track. This is with the noble aim of affirming the dignity and national values of the new citizens of this ancient country, of healing Albania and definitively distancing it from the influence of sultans, kings, dictators and oriental bajraktars, so that it may become a worthy member of the democratic community of civilized nations, whose neighboring doors we still cannot open, because of the cultivation country’s European integration. depends on many factors, among which an essential one is evident that education tends to Parliament only one bill concerning the … our education reform is… …The resolution of the crisis and the tangle of contradictions expressing of the PD in power, requires new early elections. But although they themselves are imposing these elections on our more emancipated people, the “roosters of power” are asking for The alternatives for market-economy reforms and the social state presented to the Conference are serious, competitive, considered and firmly grounded in Albanian reality. Of course, there is no going back for us, because the totalitarian system, the command economy and the mechanisms by which the party-state controlled civil liberties have ended once and for all. The future, therefore, can no longer be built through class struggle, political revenge by the state, or concepts that restore the socio-economic conditions of the distant or recent past. At the point we have reached, the future can no longer be built with “anti-communist” slogans. Only the sieve of new political elections can free democratic institutions in Albania from the remnants of totalitarianism and the revanchist mindsets it cultivated, which are kept alive today by the PD leadership through a philosophy of domination rather than pluralist governance. The broad social consciousness of today’s Albanians no longer accepts authoritarian adventurers, even when they deceive people by claiming to “uproot communism by methods”… …; — The genuine unblocking of local government, and decentralization of the process of decision-making and public property at the levels of districts, municipalities and communes; — — Effective mechanisms to fight organized crime and corruption, and the political protection afforded to them; — Political, legal and practical guarantees for the protection of human rights, civil liberties, pluralism and the opposition and, in general, for the social protection of the priority interests of the persecuted, past and present, the unemployed, the homeless, the propertyless and the poor in town and countryside; A unified policy, based on broad consensus, for resolving the national question and setting priorities for partnership and openness to the world; — Genuine depoliticization of RTV and the state mass media, and full public transparency in the state’s relations with its citizens and with other states. These are the challenges; time is running out. The Socialist Party of Albania, with all its recognized political, intellectual and patriotic potential and seriousness, is ready to work and cooperate to meet these challenges while upholding the national and democratic interests of the Albanian people. Success and good work! Tirana Prison, Cell No. 47, Representative FATOS NANO.

Speech by PS Vice-Chairman NAMIK DOKLE Expressing full agreement with the conclusions of… In expressing complete agreement with the conclusions of… Albania is indeed in a comprehensive crisis, a maze of contradictions, conflicts that are increasingly focused on narrowing the political space and, even more, freedoms. Of democracy, conclusions which…

Speech by PS Vice-Chairman LUAN HADARAGA The future of democracy and the market economy in Albania depends on many factors… The future of democracy and the market economy in Albania depends on many factors, among which one essential factor occupies a primary place. But what is its actual state and outlook according to our vision? Albanian education is experiencing great difficulties during this period of transition. The emergency continues to be burdened by numerous organizational, financial, pedagogical and school-related problems. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Education and the Education Sector have not made their programs public for overcoming the emergency and carrying out a comprehensive and fundamental Albanian reform. Many of the basic indicators of educational development have not been set in continuous motion. The decline in the numbers of preschool children, pupils and students; the serious shortages of textbooks and technical-didactic resources; the lack of teachers and school facilities in rural areas; the economic difficulties of teaching staff, etc., have caused the education system’s effectiveness to fall considerably. It is evident that education is inclined to be reformed on the basis of modern legislation and medium- and long-term programs. The Ministry of Education has submitted to Parliament only one bill concerning the … of those who compare the eight-year compulsory education system. Many countries in Eastern Europe are pursuing intensive studies and cooperation with Council of Europe bodies, and have begun implementing medium-term reforms, whose programs have been approved by parliament; whereas here our education reform is… …being carried out through bureaucratic orders for mechanical changes to school structures and documentation, with the opening and closing, without criteria, of certain tracks and even of a private school established under the law. These ongoing actions, unsupported by a genuine reform framework and dictated instead by immediate needs or particular political interests, are leading to further centralization and politicization of education. The Socialist Party’s alternative for education has as its fundamental objective the creation of a complete education system, with all its stages and levels, open and democratic, secular and modern, decentralized and autonomous. Implementing this alternative requires a comprehensive reform that will be designed on the basis of a multifaceted study of our most positive developments, our failures, and the experience of the most developed countries, of the… (Continued on page 2)