— Interview with Namik Dokle, Deputy Chairman of the Socialist Party, given to editor Hamdi Jupe — Comrade: Namik, you were at the round table of political parties organized on Monday to discuss the problem of the constitution. Could you tell us more specifically what was the subject of discussion at this round table? As a continuation of the many political contacts between parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties, on Monday a round table of parliamentary parties was organized, initiated by the Democratic Alliance Party and the Social Democratic Party, once again to discuss the problem of the constitution. At this second meeting there was a concrete proposal, which has also been submitted to Parliament as a constitutional bill, concerning the clarification of Article 16, paragraph 2, and Article 44 of the Law on the Main Constitutional Provisions, in order to avoid ambiguities that open the way to misinterpretations and politically damaging actions, as happened on 6 November, when, contrary to the constitutional provisions, a referendum on the constitution was declared. This is for two reasons. First, in the referendum of 6 November, the people voted, among other things, against the unlawful procedure used to approve the constitution: putting it to a referendum without it having been discussed in Parliament. The proposed bill clarifies that Parliament approves the constitution and that, after its approval in Parliament, it may also be put to a referendum for approval. It also repeals Article 44, which prescribes the constitutional draft commission. This commission produced a draft and submitted it to the referendum, and now this commission… The Socialist Party’s position at the meeting was that this amendment to Article 16, paragraph 2, should be made, so that the procedure for approving the constitution is definitively established and Albania can have a constitution. We believe that the draft constitution should be prepared by our commission, submitted to Parliament for approval, and then may be put to a referendum in order to respect the will of the people. More or less the same view was shared by the Democratic Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, and the Party for the Protection of Human Rights. What was noted was a further move by the Republican Party toward this solution. Although the Republicans hold other positions, they are more in favor of this solution than the alternatives put forward by the DP and the Democratic Right Party. The latter favors an elected Constitutional Assembly, while the DP wants the constitutional draft to go from the commission to a referendum, as on 6 November, or is asking for something else, which we still do not [?] understand, because they do not speak openly: what they say today, they do not say tomorrow. Do you think Monday’s meeting made any progress in resolving the constitutional problem compared with the first meeting? The progress is that the positions of each political force are becoming clearer, and the alignment of those forces that will vote “no” in the referendum is becoming more clearly defined. We see [?] that the discussion… How do you explain the DP’s insistence on a second referendum on the constitution? I explain it by two things: If up to now we have been dealing with crises in the DP, its government, and the institution of the presidency, the situation is now complete; we can see that they also have a political alternative for resolving this crisis, because the crisis cannot be resolved solely according to this party’s opinion and by insisting on [unclear], without listening to the people’s voices. When it said that when the sovereign people speak, you… [the following text is partly cut off] The proposed draft law specifies that Parliament adopts the constitution and that, after its adoption for approval. It also repeals Article 44, which provides in advance for the constitutional-drafting commission, whose task is to prepare a draft and submit it to a referendum; this commission is now nonexistent, because its proposal was rejected by the people. What was the position of the parties participating in the meeting toward this specific proposal put forward at the meeting? Was there any progress last week in resolving the constitutional problem? The progress is that the positions of certain political forces are becoming clearer, and the stance of those forces that support «no» in the referendum is taking more definite shape. Meanwhile, as I noted, we are seeing the Republican Party move closer to this position. On this basis, there may be hope for further progress at today’s meeting of the parties that the crisis of the DP is complete. But the worst thing is its inability to resolve this crisis. I think this inability stems from the DP’s intransigent attitude toward the opposition’s alternatives. By taking such a position, the DP harms itself, but more importantly, it harms Albanian political life, since the opposition’s alternatives today are the alternatives that have the greatest support among the people, as the referendum showed. Thus, through its actions the DP goes against the will of the sovereign, even though at press conferences it makes a show of—

— HUNGER STRIKE ENTERED ITS FOURTH DAY Those barricaded in the hunger strike in the district of Kukës entered their fourth day yesterday. Their health is steadily deteriorating. Many of those barricaded in the strike have headaches, fever, fluctuations in blood pressure, cracked lips, etc. Nevertheless, they are determined not to leave the strike until the demands they agreed on with the government are met. The night before last, at around 10 o’clock, the prefect of Kukës, Selman Agolli, asked to meet the strikers, together with Mr. Hasan Halili, the Minister of Agriculture, who had gone to Kukës to talk with them at the offices of the Directorate of Agriculture. “We did not go there,” Jariz Trota and Besnik Oruçi, respectively chairman and deputy chairman of the hunger strike, told us by telephone. “If they want, they can come and meet us here, where we are barricaded. Finally, we have decided not to meet with any government officials, except President Berisha, and that this meeting should take place here in Kukës. We say this because the President himself instructed the Government to meet our demands immediately. But the government has done nothing so far; it is only keeping silent. That is why we ask the president to make a statement and meet with us strikers.” So far, more than 3,000 people from 24 villages flooded by the Fierza lake project have gathered around the Palace of Culture, where the strikers are barricaded, as well as about 240 people who came yesterday from Has and have signed up to join the hunger strike. But because the hall where the strikers are barricaded is small, only some representatives have gone inside, while the rest remain outside. Correspondent of “Voice of the People”

For more than a week, four families in Grizhanë, in Malësia e Madhe, have been anxiously waiting to learn the fate of their relatives. The four men set out by boat across Lake Shkodër to go to the home of an acquaintance on the other side of the border, in Montenegro, in order to collect the money for fuel they had sold. This involved thousands of liters of fuel and millions of lekë. But they set out and have not returned, although normally they should have been back within a few hours. Their families and relatives are anxious. Their thoughts turn to the lake or to the mafia network of fuel smugglers on both sides of the border. Reports from across the border say that they collected the money from their acquaintance, but it is not known what happened on the return journey. Two [unclear] reported the matter to the prosecutor’s office of Malësia e Madhe. We were told there that no report has been filed so far. Correspondent of “Voice of the People”

This question is now obvious, since the former governor of the National Bank of Albania climbed the career ladder in giant strides, as an undiscovered talent in the Albanian economy. A talent who, I might say, keeps a wallet in nearly every pocket and a fountain pen in every pocket for signing. Now, let us leave him be and wish him well in the post he was given, a post that was yielded to him by a former deputy prime minister, head of the government’s economic reform, and a minister whose silence and lack of public involvement cannot be called silence due to incompetence, much less corruption in the Meksi government. Dishnica’s chair has not been left empty. On the contrary, a governor, a deputy prime minister, will sit there. But the post of governor of the BKSH is still vacant, and it is no small matter in terms of the “weight” or “value of the signature” of the person who signs. So the question naturally arises: Who will sit in Mr. Vrioni’s chair as governor? Will we see “break the barrels and make cans,” or “break the cans and make barrels”? In any case, the questions are even more concrete. The market economy did not make politicians into politicians, liberal financiers into liberal financiers, economists into economists, or bankers into bankers. It is enough to be a loyal party member; it is enough to be an “intellectual” who writes this party’s manifestos, and then you can receive diplomas and titles that qualify you to run any ministry or central institution in this government. That is why conjecture about ministers and senior state officials blurs the boundaries between fields and specialties. That is why speculation about the Bank’s next governor spreads and grows, and people call for strikers. So far, more than 3,000 people are barricaded, coming from 24 villages flooded by the construction of the Fierza lake, as well as around 240 people who came yesterday from Has and signed up to join the hunger strike. But since a few representatives have gone inside, while the rest remain outside. —a spectacle. Will he be an engineer, following in the professional footsteps of his predecessor, who for most of his life knew a company’s board as a «specialist in economics»? Or will he be a distinguished doctor in his profession, eager nowadays to get involved in politics and economics? Will he be an agronomist from the large army of unemployed agronomists, or a mathematics teacher unpaid in his trade who aspires to a political career? The practice so far gives the right and fuels the ambition to climb the hundred steps toward the Bank governorship even for a biologist, a forester, a geologist, a psychologist, a lawyer, any graduate who has signed a manifesto and made a statement at a rally—even one who has raised fingers and shouted at rallies. Although the «right» has its limits: there are many people seeking positions and responsibilities such as that of governor of the Bank of Albania, while the person who gets it will be only one. Who will it be? Will it be a former governor who has climbed the career ladder to the post, or someone higher-ranking, like Mr Vriont, or a former governor for whom the prison doors might open over corruption and financial scandals originating in the bank? Everything is still up in the air. But amid these guesses and candidacies, various sources do not rule out the possibility that a former minister in the Meksi government, specifically Mr Ruli, may take the helm of the Bank of Albania—if so, it is unclear what need would bring him back to this important post. EHRMAL KODRINA

Yesterday morning and evening brought fresh grief to the city of Shkodër. Citizens gathered around, quickly reading the announcement that three young men had died in an accident on a road in this city. They were three friends, almost the same age: Arben Gjyzezi, 22, Artur Troshani, 22, and Bardhyl Miloja, 27. They were traveling by car on the Koplik–Bajzë road in the district of Malësi e Madhe when they suddenly collided with a truck. The tragic incident occurred at around 8 p.m. on Saturday. Hundreds of citizens from Shkodër and Koplik, shocked and in tears, attended the funeral of these three young men, whose lives came to such a tragic end. MUSA KURTULAJ

A long list of layoffs has been drawn up at the Bulqizë mine. The report concerns a wave of [unclear] in the mine; at the head of it are the most active specialists… …The highest priority at the Bulqizë mine is “the production of lists of workers and specialists to be laid off.” This “production” is expected soon to replace the chromium concession entirely, and then chromium itself.

The mystery of Kosovo’s representation in Tirana: The magazine «KOHA», published in Kosovo, wrote in one of its latest issues: «Has Kosovo’s representation in Tirana closed?». Could it really be true? In any case, to learn the truth we wrote to Albania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the various officials we met were unable to give an accurate answer. Indeed, one of them said that, as far as they were concerned, it exists and is functioning. Several department directors who could have clarified things were not in Albania. Likewise, the deputy minister is abroad for health reasons, while the minister continues to be ill. We then called the editorial office of the newspaper «RILINDJA», where two former ambassadors of the Kosovo government in Albania—or its representatives—currently work, namely gentlemen Mehmet Kraja and Shkëndër Zogaj, and got this reply from the voice on the other end of the line: «Yes; It Is True that It Has Closed». Despite this answer, the author of this article went in person to the headquarters of Kosovo’s representation (the former Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo) in the embassy district, but all the doors were locked and there was nobody there. The magazine «KOHA» has written that Kosovo’s representation in Tirana has closed. So far, nobody has denied this news. Could it really be so? AGIM KOSOVA

For two days in a row, officers released as a result of the reform in the Ministry of Defence apparatus have not been receiving their early-retirement pensions. The excuses for this are among the most absurd: «There are no funds for payments, the bank’s accounting work has become complicated, etc.», and the poor fellows are told to come back the next day, the day after, or whenever the funds are released... It is clear that this is not merely a question of funds, because the number of officers being released was known when these funds were allocated, just as it is known that these funds cannot be used for any other purpose. Behind this action are those who, for two years, have deliberately refused to draft and approve the social security law for military personnel. Behind it are those who have left these officers stranded, without any income. The culprit himself is behind it, perhaps now restraining himself more forcefully than ever. This is not the first time this has happened, with former officers being made to beg for the bread their families and children need. This is a «message»—a warning: I grant you your pensions by government decision, but I can cut them off whenever I want, even without a government decision. And Zhulali has an additional reason, given that most of them, he believes, said “no” to Berisha’s draft constitution. In any case, whether Zhulali and his close associates like it or not, the released military personnel are waiting to receive their payments, which they have earned through their work and dedication in their ranks in the army. A former officer released as a result of the reform

In tomorrow’s issue of “Voice of the People” will be published: “PROGRAM OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF ALBANIA” In tomorrow’s issue of “Voice of the People” will be published: “PROGRAM OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF ALBANIA” The new program is based on the text approved at the first Congress of the SPA and contains substantial improvements approved at its second National Conference. The program will soon also be published as a booklet, in Albanian and English.