Constitution on the agenda What does the constitutional law say? Constitution on the agenda A GOOD CONSTITUTION CANNOT BE BUILT BY VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW What does the constitutional law say? ARTICLE 16 The People’s Assembly has the following main powers: 2. It approves and amends the Constitution and laws. A proposal to amend this law may be submitted by the President of the Republic of Albania, by the Council of Ministers, or by one quarter of the deputies. ARTICLE 43. Amendments are approved by the People’s Assembly by a two-thirds majority of all deputies. From Law No. 7491, dated 29. 4. 1991,

A constituent assembly cannot be appointed Bashkim Çaka, deputy Under the law “On the Main Constitutional Provisions,” adoption of the Constitution falls within the exclusive competence of the People’s Assembly, which means that until this law is amended no other body can ... of a new one, which, among other things, should have a powerful effect in establishing fruitful political dialogue among all Albanian political forces, so as to enable Albania’s acceptance into European organizations and consolidate a real democracy. In this context, adoption of the Constitution by an Assembly, followed by its development and expansion—as would be the case with a popular referendum on its most fundamental issues—would be acceptable. To achieve this, first and foremost the People’s Assembly must decide, by a two-thirds majority of the deputies, whether its competence includes adopting the Constitution or whether that authority belongs to the legislature. A special constituent assembly. Even after this step, it is solely for the People’s Assembly, as the representative body of the people’s will, to enact a constitutional law governing the method of electing the Constituent Assembly. This act, therefore, cannot under any circumstances be carried out by presidential decree. The Constituent Assembly cannot be appointed. It must necessarily be elected, in accordance with the provisions in force that I mentioned above. of the President. mentioned above.

Rustem Gjata, President of the Constitutional Court. As for the commission, it has decided to draft a constitution and submit it to parliament. The technical side of how the procedure will proceed, the examination, is not the commission’s job, and I, as a judge of the Constitutional Court, cannot make a statement ... about this. The best of all would be for the draft constitution being prepared by the appointed commission to be approved by consensus by all parliamentary groups. (From the newspaper “Republika”)

Auction announced for the sale of large enterprises A notice from the National Privatization Agency, published in several newspapers, announces an auction for the sale of 10 large enterprises. They are the Instrument Factory—Korçë, the Electrical Factory, Tiranë, Hotel “Iliria”—Korçë, the Wood Processing Enterprise—Laç, the Vorë Brick Factory, the Antibiotics Factory in Tiranë, the Plastics Factory in Lushnjë, the Carpet Enterprise in Fier, the Mechanical Factory in Tiranë, and the Margarine Production Enterprise in Fier. These are the enterprises that will open the first chapter in the privatization of the country’s large enterprises. The notice in question also provides, alongside the enterprises, information about their age, the district where they operate, their annual output as reported by the relevant ministries, and their value in millions of lekë. The state has decided to sell these enterprises. But what was the decision to put them up for auction based on? What criteria were followed in selecting them? Does this auction represent a deviation from the Privatization Strategy for the national economy? Who will participate in the auction to sell the enterprises worth tens of millions of lekë? And... Could it be that once again the workers will be relegated to the spectators’ seats, watching the assets they themselves created slip from their hands? Since they themselves created them, with so much hard work and sacrifice? At the National Privatization Agency, we learn that the selection of the 10 enterprises mentioned was made by the relevant ministries, specifically the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Territorial Regulation. On the basis of this selection, the Central Privatization Board decided to put them up for sale by auction. “It was said to be an experimental measure at a time when perhaps there is a market,” Mr. Niko Glor... [?], a director at the NPA, told us. He then explains that the auction sale of the 10 enterprises is based on Council of Ministers Decision No. 28, dated 25. 3. 1992, which was renewed by Council of Ministers Decision No. 234, according to which all enterprises valued at over 500 thousand dollars are to be sold at auction. Regarding the Central Board’s latest decision on privatizing the first 10 large enterprises, we learn at the NPA that all our embassies abroad, foreign embassies accredited in Tiranë, the Albanian Chamber of Commerce, and the Center for the Promotion of Foreign Investments have been notified. Judging by this fact, as well as by the declared value of the enterprises to be privatized, it is clear which parties the aforementioned 10 enterprises are intended for. Experience with the privatization of small and medium-sized enterprises has shown that workers find it difficult to manage them, let alone pay all those zeros that make up the value of the assets put up for sale. Are the NPA’s own specialists aware of the capacity of the worker in question? He also places on the table an instruction which, in Article 12 of one of its chapters, confirms that the tax authorities are obliged to keep information confidential and that such information may be provided in writing only to judicial bodies and the control- (Continued on page 2) SOKOL GRUDA

Librazhd Several families go up and down the steps to the district council’s mouth. Most of them have members [unclear] regarding the taxes they have to pay. Another complains that the land assessment has not been calculated correctly, and a family whose land is above water [unclear], while one pays the association as much as a ... The employee in question also puts control-

Several villagers corridor. Most of them have members [unclear] about fertility of the land has not been calculated correctly and that a family whose land is above water has to pay approximately as much as another family whose land is below water. Someone else says there is no way to pay the taxes, because last year’s drought and lack of water damaged the harvest, and they are left either to sell their livestock or to wait for the compensation from Greece to arrive. To learn more about these concerns, we went to the tax office. Right from the start, one of the office employees explains that they are forbidden to provide any kind of information. “We can provide the information,” he continues, “only to the state inspectorate and the judicial authorities.” To convince us of what he is saying, the employee in question puts on the table an instruction whose Article 12, in state inspectorate. While continuing to preach “transparency,” the state is increasingly casting a veil of secrecy over everything. Apparently the secret that envelops everything that could come out of the tax offices includes every social problem revealed by these records; and it is no secret that, besides interviews, foreigners can be told the number of automatic weapons, cannons and tanks. The state is the state; it knows what it is doing. It has decided to keep everything secret from its citizens. SEJDIN CEKANI

Dr. Muharrem Kushe: Given the importance that the new constitution has and will have, I believe it should be approved by a Constituent Assembly. This should have nothing to do with whether the People’s Assembly we have is or is not capable of approving the Constitution. To think that the elected deputies cannot be entrusted with approving the Constitution would mean denying the people’s vote that they received. This seems unfair to me. It may be that the People’s Assembly cannot secure two-thirds of the votes needed to approve the Constitution, and this may not be because of the many needs [unclear], since one of the highest indicators of democracy is respect for the highest opinion [unclear], but also because of the position taken by the Constitution and the position taken by the elected deputies. The Constituent Assembly. To achieve this, I believe our deputies should, by consensus, amend Article 16 of the law “On the Main Constitutional Provisions” and transfer the authority to approve the Constitution to the Constituent Assembly, specifying the number of members elected to this Assembly, the election procedure and its activities. This concerns whether the deputies should have a special time-limited mandate or not; in my opinion, it should be the same. The President could also do this by decree, but that decree must necessarily be submitted to the People’s Assembly for approval, not only because of its importance, but because this is not a constitutional obligation. Thus, the decree cannot be implemented without the relevant approval. (Continued on page 3)

Prof. Dr. Hulusi Hako No Albanian is indifferent to the Constitution today. We should have had it long ago, because you cannot truly be a state governed by the rule of law without a Fundamental Law. Now we will have it “of our own accord,” because it is a vital necessity, but Europe is also rightly asking us for it, having spelled it out clearly to us. But why has there been such a “highly critical debate” when the legal provisions, responsibilities, accountability and trust concerning the way the Constitution is approved are at issue? What aims does the ruling side have, and what are the opposition pacts seeking? It is known that the manner in which the Constitution is approved is not a simple procedural matter, but the most significant material expression of the sovereignty of the people, of the great idea that «Power springs from the people and belongs to them». What value will this sovereignty have if it is not expressed and given substance in the Constitution’s content and its manner of approval? True democracy does not hesitate or resort to tricks, but remains faithful to laws, procedures, forms and methods, and to self-government in the most democratic, transparent and acceptable manner, so as to leave no pretext for anyone to seize control of it. Approval of the Constitution by a (Continued on page 3)

The 51st international film festival will soon be held in Venice, where the Italian film «L’America» by Xhani Amelio, with a theme drawn from Albania, will also compete. Three children from Europe were kidnapped on Saturday in Greece for organ trafficking by several traffickers. They were rescued from the criminals’ hands after police intervened and arrested three traffickers.

There has been an uproar and discussion in public opinion in Shkodër; in recent days, 7 officials from the law-enforcement agencies and SHIK have been dismissed, including the chief of the district police station, Sulë Petku. Zagora, the area most heavily affected by the severe wound of emigration, has around 537 emigrants who are expected to return to their home countries; they are 6- and 20-year-olds who are in Greece.

In Gjirokër, Elbasan, a villager was brutally massacred. The motive for the killing was local interests, while the killers are still being sought. Of the approximately 8,000 unemployed workers at the Metallurgical Combine, around 70 percent no longer receive assistance because their eligibility period has expired. It is not known exactly how many have found work in the private sector and how many have been left to the mercy of fate.

Official sources report that land distribution in Berat Prefecture is 90 percent complete, but the issuing of title deeds is still pending. In Kuçovë, meanwhile, 05 percent has been distributed. Every year, 15,000–20,000 undocumented migrants arrive in Italy from Albania—not all of them Albanians—Italian Ambassador to Albania Paolo Foderi says. The daily average seems to me to be at its highest.

Around 4,000 foreign books have been added to the Shkodër library this year, while the History Museum library in the same district has also received 2,500 books from A. Pipa’s library, brought from the USA. It is expected that several schools in the district of Lezhë will close because they do not have enough pupils. The National Albanian Association of Mayors met in Tirana

of Municipalities, which discussed the organizational concepts and structure of the association, with the aim of increasing cooperation and protecting common interests. The international humanitarian organization «Médecins Sans Frontières» has allocated 230 million dollars for the reconstruction of the hospital building and the center in Hadbihisht, in the district of Durrës. A delegation from the Hungarian railways visited our country in recent days and signed a cooperation protocol with the Albanian side.

READ ON PAGE 2: «WE REMAIN FAR FROM A SOLUTION TO THE ALBANIAN QUESTION» Interview given by Prof. Rexhep Qosja to «Voice of America» radio