For another 2 years, Albania and the Albanians will go on breaking their fingers knocking on Europe’s doors - Meksi gives no deadline for submitting the draft constitution to parliament. On this, he received the approval of Selami and Co. - The Albanian Prime Minister: surprised by the noise the PS is making about the constitution, something that does not happen in any parliament! Given the objective and essential nature of a constitution for every people and every democratic country; the concern that both the first pluralist parliament and this parliament have consistently shown over drafting a new constitution; the demands made by international bodies and organizations of the Albanian state authorities; and the fact that parliament and all the relevant branches of state power regard the issue of a new constitution as one of the basic factors in Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe; given the unanimous view of all Albanian political forces on the necessity of this fundamental act of Albanian legislation, and the demands of all Albanians inside and outside the country—this was how, on behalf of the PS parliamentary group, MP Fehmi Abdiu justified his request for Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, in his capacity as Chairman of the Council of Ministers and of the Special Commission for Drafting the Constitution, to appear for an interpellation concerning the much-discussed and much-demanded issue of drafting and adopting the constitution. After this justification, Mr. (Continued on page 3) For years, Albania events and everyone’s attention; the country’s leading authorities have spoken about the necessity of a constitution, including you. The first pluralist Albanian been concerned with it; politicians and journalists have spoken out—all own constitution. Europe, too, is interested in our constitution. Unfortunately, on this very important issue, the group of Socialist Party deputies sees considerable and wholly unjustified delays, some of which we will briefly outline: 1. Immediately after beginning its work, the first pluralist Albanian Assembly decided that the new Albanian Constitution should be adopted as soon as possible. To this end, it appointed a special commission, divided into several subcommittees, and to some extent achieved its objective. of the most serious drafts from the countries of the bloc [?]. That draft reached Parliament, but, as is known, Parliament was dissolved prematurely for reasons that are already known. 2. This Parliament, the new constitution itself; it therefore established the Special Commission for its drafting, chaired by you, and set the task of submitting the draft for discussion and approval in December 1992. December passed unnoticed, and no one, apart from a few deputies, remembered this task or this decision of the People’s Assembly. 3. At the initiative of deputies from all parliamentary groups, in March 1993 you were summoned to and reported to the People’s Assembly, Mr. Meksi, as chair of the commission preparing the constitution. That day, after much criticism from deputies of several groups for failing to fulfil the… once, in March. At that specialists had been removed and others appointed. These changes raised suspicions among foreign experts, who said that the move was deliberate: young people with academic aspirations had been removed without cause and several practitioners had been brought in. From then on, the commission worked on two drafts without any methodological criteria for dealing with them. To everyone’s surprise, by 14 June 1993 the commission in question had discussed and approved only its first two chapters. 5. On 14 June 1993, Albanian television announced the sensational news that Mr. Meksi had that very day submitted the draft constitution to the constitutional commission of the People’s Assembly, and that a copy (Continued on page 3)

The issue that is the subject of this interpellation with you has rightly been at the center of political and legal events and everyone’s attention for years. The country’s leading authorities have stated their views on the necessity of a constitution, including you; the first Albanian pluralist parliament and this Parliament, elected on 22 March 1992, have been concerned with it; politicians, journalists and all those who cannot conceive of democracy in Albania without its own constitution have expressed their views. Europe’s— objective. In November 1991, the draft Albanian constitution was officially approved by the relevant body of the European Commission in Venice, Italy, as one of the most serious drafts among countries of this line. That draft did not reach the Assembly, since, as is known, the latter was dissolved prematurely for reasons that are now known. 2. This Assembly, elected on 22 March, decided to prepare the draft of the new constitution itself, and therefore established the Special Commission for this task. A decision was approved that the draft constitution be submitted by 16.6.1993. 4. From March to June 1993, the commission met only twice, both times in March. At one meeting, several changes to the commission were presented after some specialists had been removed and others appointed. These changes were also noted by foreign experts, who stated that this was a deliberate act, since young people with scientific aspirations were removed without cause and some pract—

Dritëro Agolli’s “The Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo” published in Greece Dritëro Agolli’s novel is in circulation in Greece, alongside Kadare’s. Last night, our correspondent in Athens, Mr. Robert Goro, met with the editors of this book, the scholar Elena Huzura, and prepared the following report. The simultaneous publication in Greece of two major authors of Albanian literature, and the extensive publicity the local press gave the event, underscore the meaningful message that people here are beginning to seek and find points of connection with their neighbors, regardless of the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries. The foreword to Zylo was written by the most important postwar Greek prose writer, Antonis Samarakis, known to Albanian readers from the Albanian edition of the novel “Gamit”—The Mistake—as well as from a large number of stories published from time to time in periodicals. “‘The Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo,’” Samarakis writes, “unfolds through many episodes embroidered with the quiet humor of my friend Dritëro, who also displays this rare talent in life. One thing is certain: readers will draw their own conclusions, feeling revulsion toward every kind of totalitarian system, and they will not be bored on any page of the book. On the contrary—and this is thanks to Agolli’s heroes, who are caught up in absurd events involving the abuses and tyranny of all totalitarian systems.” The Greek scholar Elena Huzura is in charge of the publishing house “Pataqis” and edited Dritëro Agolli’s book. I met her and asked her why the publication of Albanian literature by this publishing house was inaugurated with the novel “The Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo.” “One of the aims of Pataqis publications is to include writers from former communist countries, and within this framework we also took an interest in Albanian literature, which I, like all other Greeks, knew only through Is— “In a radio interview I did with Telemak Kocia, a writer from the Greek minority in Albania who has appeared in Greece with a collection of stories, he told me that, besides Kadare, another important personality is Dritëro Agolli. He told me about his work, especially Zylo, and from then on we began to take an interest and obtained the novel from the French publishing house ‘Gallimard.’ I read it and liked it because it stigmatizes the former regime with a strong vein of humor; it portrays Comrade Zylo’s situation without exaggeration and without propaganda, in a simple and very comprehensible way. Through humor and parody, he creates a caricature of the senior official in the Albanian party-state apparatus, who ultimately becomes the victim of all his own exaggerations and utopian preconceptions. The book was translated from French by Viki Demo because it was difficult to find a translator who knew both Greek and Albanian well. Thus Dritëro Agolli’s book was published, and Greek readers discovered another excellent Albanian writer.” “Mrs. Huzuri, are other publications from Albanian literature included in your plans?” “Certainly. We aim to continue this Greek-Albanian literary cooperation. There is a possibility of bringing Dritëro Agolli to Greece, and we will not stop with him. I learned that there are other important writers in Albania as well. We are also interested in Albanian writers from Kosovo, and perhaps the next publication will be the novel ‘Death Comes from My Eyes’ by Rexhep Qosja, which has been in circulation in France for some time and is a very interesting work. We wish to give a new impetus to Greek-Albanian friendship, at least in the literary field.” (According to the BBC)

At the session of the CSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonia Martino, Chairman of the CSCE Council of Ministers, took the floor and called for the CSCE to play a more active role in the process of resolving the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, reports the “Bujku” correspondent from Vienna. Martino called for the re-establishment of CSCE missions in Kosovo, Vojvodina, Sanxhak, Serbia and Montenegro. (ATSH.)

DURRËS — We must convince the Albanian electorate that our alternative is the fairest and most social DURRËS We must convince the Albanian electorate that our alternative is the fairest and most social - The PS conference for the district of Durrës was held at a time when the country is gripped by an all-encompassing political, economic and social crisis. “During these two years,” said the Durrës socialists at the conference, “we have managed to organize and enliven the life and activity of the party, gain many supporters and establish ourselves as a strong and constructive opposition. If we compare the present situation with that of two years ago, we can feel a more humane life and the presence of elements of our communities in these communes or zones, including those communes or areas where we did not win. The general crisis of the PD and the growth of the PS’s strength brought about the latest reversal of the previous order in the district. This greater strength is also evident in the elections, and the discontent is felt not only because the Democratic Party has failed to keep its promises, but also because of the economic ruin its policies are bringing. Today there are around 15,000 unemployed throughout the district, not including the number of workers from privatized agricultural enterprises. The number of families receiving social assistance in the city alone for the month of… (Continued on page 2)

- Objectively, Albania is heading toward early elections - Albanians will always appreciate Nano’s professionalism and commitment in the first post-communist governments. MALËSIA E MADHE Human rights are protected by standing united ILIR META The PS conference for the district of Malësia e Madhe was held on the day of… Delegates and guests, members and supporters of this party, also included the Deputy Chairman of the PS of Albania, Ilir Meta, and member of the PS National Council, Fatmir Zanaj. Gjeto Çutaj delivered the report on the two-year activity of the PS in this district on behalf of the district committee. He stressed that this period had been characterized by tension… in the district of Malësia e Madhe as well. As the best-organized opposition party, we have not failed to make our position known through democratic means regarding the causes and factors behind this tension. To the leaders of the party in power, our voice is like a voice in the wilderness, as they disregard the rules of democratic play. In particular, violations of human rights have been the main feature of their leadership to date. Not only leaders and specialists, but ordinary workers too have been dismissed from their jobs because their beliefs differ from those of the ruling authorities. Thirty highly qualified senior specialists are unemployed, and party loyalists have been put in their places, even though some of them have only eight years of schooling. The effectiveness of the party loyalists is now clear: of the 20 enterprises we have, only two are operating—the water utility and the electricity company (and even these only partially)—since almost all villages have problems securing drinking water and some have problems getting the electricity they need. What the fishing enterprise (without fish), the forestry enterprise and the others like them actually do, I believe even their managers no longer know! As for implementing the land law, except in the Commune of Gruemire, where we have socialist power and, despite opposition, have made clear progress, in the other communes this law has almost been completely forgotten. Four hundred and fifty families in Bajzë have neither land nor economic assistance. The crops in the fields are burning for lack of water; working collectively, they produce very low yields. Some may think that marketing the goods [?] is the answer; it is a deception. The Socialist Party in this district has not been at all complacent in the face of difficulties created by the authorities themselves. It organized itself better, including its branches in villages where it had previously had no organizations, such as Bajzë, Kastrat, Kelmend and others. In these two months, 120 applications for membership were made… (Continued on page 2)

— Despite the euphoria, the PD’s governance has failed: it is politicized, unprofessional and spontaneous. TEPELENË Let us work out concrete and detailed alternatives for the districts and areas SERVET PELLUMBI The national road at the entrance to Tepelenë has recently been paved, and now and then you also see stone railings installed along it. We enter with a feeling of joy and relief. But it looks as it did before, with a new café and “asaceve” (TV antennas) on the balconies, with which some are crowned. Fine, our interlocutors tell us, but our mothers in the village still spend all day over the bread-baking saj. Life is still difficult, particularly in the rugged and remote areas. People want and hope for the market economy. The Socialist Party has many members and considerable support, but everything needs to be administered and governed well. Tepelenë boasts of the coal it has, but the mine in Memaliaj produced in 1993 only one ninth of what it did in 1900, and production is halved every year compared with the previous year. It once produced meat and dairy products, which were sent to Tirana and Durrës; now livestock has disappeared from the private villages, but they have put in place the coal and cheese at home. In the villages people themselves tell you: will we harvest this year or not, with the greenhouse? The villages of the South have it easier to … … mica, which is mountainous, seems isolated from it. The places, the people, the problems are concrete. They deserve our consideration; we must think about democracy and the well-being they deserve. The Socialist Party is strong here; it has been elected, has grown, and is active. Its conference proved this once again. During the two-year period of the election campaign, 212 new members were admitted; 10 people attended the conference. There is no village without an organization and, in some cases, a party organization; the district’s membership totals 1,800, while its entire population is around 52,000. As Damashmir Kamberi and Perlat Meçe reported, there has been a development in the thinking of members and supporters; the party’s work has set people’s minds in motion. Many of the communes, municipalities and the district are run by Socialists, comrades such as Hamit Gjini and Skënder Hasan, more moderate people who are politically acceptable democrats. But problems are problems, and people’s needs must be supported. Their demands should be the priorities. The efforts of the local authorities and of… (Continued on page 2)