— Reportage on those who dance with Europe’s 12 years — The Albanian Eurosocialist left sent a wonderful message of strength, culture and tolerance—through an “overdose” of enthusiasm—on Sunday at midday in the country’s capital, Tirana. More than 4,000 young people drawn from all over Albania, who had headed toward Tirana from the early hours of Sunday, demonstrated a shared identity: Eurosocialists, with a light and current “cheer”: Freedom-equality-solidarity. They came, leaving behind in their cities and municipalities thousands of others, also with the same identity: Eurosocialists. But why did these young people come to Tirana? Today is 15 January 1995! Three years ago, on a day like this, sunny, in a situation like this, with high political tensions, at a delicate moment like this, more than two thousand young people of socialist convictions headed for Tirana to found a political youth organization here: the Albanian Eurosocialist Youth Forum. Everything went well. “A fortunate birth for the Albanian social-democratic left,” some comment today, having followed the events that came afterward: “...They were the most lively force on the Albanian left; they gave life to the Socialist Party”—another opinion today. And so they appeared then to tell the Ballistoid right that “Socialists will survive in Albanian politics.” And the wonder would not stop with them, even just a few days ago, when the Albanian Eurosocialists danced together with Europe’s 12 years. It is 10:30. Buses, cars and the sacred boulevard “Dëshmorët e Kombit” have brought thousands of young Eurosocialists to the same building as three years ago. They are here, (Continued on page 4)

The Albanian Helsinki Committee expresses its regret at the troubling turn the debate between political forces is taking. Hate speech is pouring unchecked onto the pages of newspapers and into television programs. A civilized confrontation of views and opinions is an essential and primary condition for the normal development of this debate. It is never superfluous to recall that the broadest possible consensus, one that would ideally express the will of the entire spectrum of actors in political life, is the key to lasting solutions that can ensure the uninterrupted progress of democratic processes and the consolidation of social peace. Providing the country with a constitution is one of the most sensitive issues. The result of the 6 November referendum has made the need for this fundamental legislative act even more evident and placed it among the most urgent problems. Unfortunately, the way the political forces are addressing this issue at this moment does not seem very constructive. After a period of relative silence, the public is once again faced with a new, heated, wide-ranging confrontation, in which insults, abuse and foul passions stand out instead of reason and a free exchange of opinions. The impression is being created that the issue of the Constitution has currently been reduced to a conflict over powers and procedures. There is room for discussion on this, but it does not seem appropriate to block political thought altogether, including qualified legal opinion, which is trying to suggest the most precise formulations for what is acceptable. They are here, What is particularly troubling is the harsh, nervous reaction to individual initiatives that seek to contribute by providing supporting materials and alternative draft proposals, without in any way prejudging Parliament’s prerogatives, since it remains the decisive authority in any case. It is important for the Constitution issue to move off dead center. It is natural that it should be a concern of all sectors of society, and not the monopoly of a single party or even of a narrow circle of leaders. In this sense, the request that the discussion take place at different levels, with the participation also of organizations and associations that have no parliamentary representation, seems justified. The Albanian Helsinki Committee calls on all political forces to lower the tone of their propaganda, abandon hate speech and stop constantly creating new conflict situations that lead the debate into a dead end. Moreover, it is wrong—and must indeed be considered a violation of human rights and dignity—for the debate to degenerate into a campaign of personal attacks. Global nihilism is not the best adviser. Legal scholarship in our country is not starting from zero. The country has intellectual potential with adequate qualifications, capable of addressing the problems of building a state governed by the rule of law with competence and a strong sense of responsibility. The Albanian Helsinki Committee

It is reported that last night at 18:00, the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori, handed to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mandates and Immunity, Fehmi Abdiu, the request from the Prosecutor General, A- lues Dragoshi, to lift the immunity of MPs Genc Ruli and Rexhep Uka. The content of the Prosecutor General’s request states that ... they are accused of abuse of office in connection with the export of walnut wood. It is also reported that the Parliamentary Committee on Mandates and Immunity will meet today at 11:00 to review the Prosecutor’s request. It is this Committee that will decide, after its deliberations, whether to submit the Prosecutor’s request to the Assembly

— The weapons museum has been robbed 6 times, the ethnographic museum more than 3 times — A civic alarm from Gjirokastra A group of intellectuals met yesterday to try to put a stop to the ruin of this rare city. They had considered holding a press conference organized by the Democratic Alliance Branch, but the meeting took the form of a consultation. Nevertheless, alarm signals were sounded, the kind the newspapers had been reporting some time ago. Those who called for the meeting described the situation as “endangering the city’s identity, deforming it, making it ugly and leaving it neglected”; they called it an abandoned and forgotten city, and so on. The inventory of cultural assets and values is being depleted; there are violations and favoritism by the state, including with regard to categories and monuments of this kind; there are houses in a state of disrepair and neglect, and parts of the castle are crumbling. “The castle has been allowed to fall apart piece by piece,” they said, comparing it with a year [?]. Things that once could not even be [unclear], and genuine works of value, have disappeared and been sold abroad for next to nothing: “The weapons museum has been robbed six times, and the ethnographic museum has been robbed more than three times. There is no longer a single original in the collections of the cultural institutions, because more than 100 such items have been looted. The whole city feels attacked and endangered.” Asked by journalists whether the authorities had not come, or whether it had been decided not to invite them, the organizers replied: “It wasn’t for them; it would have been pointless, because the situation now calls not for an appeal, but for a scream. The government of (Continued on page 5)

To the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha To the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori To the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi Devoll The socialist councillors of the Devoll district are protesting over a very important issue, because while we speak its representatives act in accordance with party interests. A few days ago, the district council chairman was elected in Devoll, after the first chairman had been dismissed by the President of the Republic by a special decree. As socialist representatives, relying on the rights guaranteed to us by law, we requested clarification as to why the district chairman, Mr. Vladimir Kello, was dismissed. It is not that we want to defend corruption; we want to know how extensive it is in our district. Likewise, it is our right to demand accountability from the district council presidium, which allowed the chairman and others to break the law. But while we were waiting for a response to the statement we made on behalf of the socialist councillors’ group, the Prime Minister’s representative, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of the socialist councillors—that is, without an alternative candidate, as the law requires, and with only a PD candidate—appointed the new chairman, insulting us as councillors, since we were deprived of our right to elect. We protest this “appointment” of the district council chairman through an unlawful procedure. We therefore demand that the rules of state law be observed and that the above action, which wholly serves the interests of the party in power, be annulled. The socialist councillors of the Devoll district. Agim Kacani, Astrit Seferi, Barcia Xhaho, Bedri Rrepa, Dashmir Mersuli, Haki Ajce, Mehmet Kacan, Milhallag Grazhdani, Sefer Hoxhallali.

The myth of high security at Tirana prison is shattered 1 million lekë offered for every reliable piece of information No fewer than 20 people managed to escape yesterday at around 10:30 in the evening from the high-security prison in Tirana. All the individuals involved had been sentenced for serious crimes to terms of between 4 and 25 years. The alarm was raised by the guards of Unit 313 after the prisoners broke through the prison’s inner door, passed through the canteen and, without being disturbed, sawed through the bars and wooden frames of the prisoners’ food storeroom, making their way outside. It is thought that the prisoners scattered in different directions. According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, by yesterday at midday, two of the escapees had been captured in the outskirts of Elbasan. The law-enforcement forces are offering 100,000 new lekë for any reliable information. The state’s response so far has been to arrest several service personnel suspected of having enabled the escape. A quick comparison of the list of the 20 escapees with the list of prisoners convicted in Tirana and their families, prepared for them to vote on the Berisha draft constitution, shows that most of the escapees also appear on the list of supporters of the draft constitution. This has prompted several well-known experts, who for now wish to remain anonymous, to declare that these prisoners escaped in protest against the rejection of the constitution.

(On the day a police anniversary was being celebrated) Lushnje We were unable to learn much about the motives behind this extraordinary murder. The Interior Branch was in a state of real alarm, and no one had the time or inclination to deal with journalists or curious onlookers. Nevertheless, the crime’s toll is clear: four killed in a burst of automatic gunfire; as usual, the killers disappeared without a trace, while the victims remained at the scene. That same day, the city of Lushnje had celebrated in Fier. These five killings took place precisely on the day when Musaraj and Berisha were solemnly celebrating a police anniversary, at which a 22 percent decline in crime was declared. Do you think Mr. Musaraj is joking? The number is very high, considering that from May 1 onward—and even fewer since January 1, 1995—around 30 people have been killed. For the sake of fate, the real war in Bosnia and Cesenia perhaps did not take place in the year that Albania became democratic. Vëzhguesi

For crying and laughing Until now, we have known that quite a few foreign companies have come to our country and are searching for oil on land and at sea. There is even considerable optimism about the expected results. But these days, during a rally, the newspaper RD discovered larger oil reserves in Shkodër. We all saw Mr. Pjetër Arbnori on TV, ending his historic speech at this rally with an exaggeration involving sh., u.r. The newspaper, perhaps after asking Mr. Pjetër’s permission, replaces it with the text it printed on Sunday, “shp-” with oil. Well, who knows whether this is the same thing. In the past, we’ve had plenty of this, and so has Mr. Pjetër, but we haven’t managed to discover oil for 20 years. For some time now, we have grown used to receiving the jokes from RD. And there, at last, it has given us this discovery... C. E.

Let us make use of the opportunities created by the law In recent days, the deputy chairman of the Socialist Party, Dr. Luan Hajdaraga, held several meetings with Socialist representatives in local government in the districts of Tirana and Elbasan. The need for laws and the obstacles our government has encountered in municipalities and even in individual villages were at the center of these meetings. Particular emphasis was placed on difficulties in implementing the land law and providing farmers with the necessary title deeds, and on the failure to fully implement the law on the revaluation and distribution of the assets of the former agricultural cooperatives, etc. At these meetings, Dr. Luan Hajdaraga also presented the conclusions of the meeting of the General Governing Council of the Socialist Party, held in December of last year, on local government issues. Better governance by the Socialists compared with governance by the Democratic Party was emphasized. This was also borne out by the results of the November 6 referendum, which demonstrated the superiority of the Socialist alternative. Hajdaraga also called for more intensive contact between local government representatives and the people, in order to learn about and resolve the difficulties and problems that they are able to address. As for the new issues that we are unable to resolve, they should tell the people openly that these are in someone else’s hands, such as the Government and its various bodies, from the department down to the famous privatization boards. Finally, Dr. Hajdaraga stressed the need to make use of the opportunities created by laws and various decisions to put the Socialist Party’s alternative into practice in addressing problems of social support, making use of any opportunities for employment, and improving the operation of public services, especially drinking water, electricity supply, heating, etc. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»