Daily note The madness of our rulers never ends. In their struggle to hold on to power at any cost and by any means, they have lately activated the Serbian card as well. Relying on the “discoveries” of a madman called Xanone, the ruling party’s press has for several weeks been trumpeting the so-called secret Serbian funding of the Socialist Party of Albania. These hallucinations are not worth taking seriously at all. The fact that Tirana’s official press is openly engaging in the struggle among political forces in Belgrade, making its own cards out of the anti-Albanian Sheshel one moment, Milošević’s UDBA the next, and Serbian ultranationalist Drashkoviç another time, shows that our rulers’ dark dealings, to the detriment of the national cause and the unity so essential before its just resolution, are now bearing fruit. On this occasion, we cannot help recalling that throughout all the years of communist dictatorship in Albania, the Serbian card was used to strike at the regime’s political opponents, beginning with K.Xoxe and continuing through M.Shehu. Today, too, the plot is very simple: according to “trusted source” Xanone, the Albanian socialists have been bribed by Belgrade for a few million dollars, and therefore must not come to power in the next elections, because that would mean selling Albania to Serbia. No more and no less: this is how the greatest national crime is supposedly being carried out—the more than 100-year-old dream of Serbia is to become reality thanks to the treachery of N.Dokle and the staff of the newspaper “Koha jonë.” The naivety of the authors of this plot is below the level of feminine logic and makes fools of all those who have genuinely worked over the years in the service of anti-national interests. Even plots involving supermen are more realistic and less fanciful. But what else can one expect in the political struggle on the eve of an election campaign, when the propaganda of a party in power is in the hands of butchers? Having given birth to such madness—that is, concocting a game about the leaders of the country’s largest opposition party serving Serbia’s interests—the aim is to divert attention from the legitimate question every Albanian asks: What did the Democratic Party and President Berisha do to bring about a just resolution of our national cause and determine Kosovo’s fate, those major issues on the basis of which they received the votes four years ago? The just resolution of this issue has scarcely moved forward by a single centimetre during the Democratic Party’s rule. Now, when it is time to account for this national objective, which has put every Albanian political force to the test of seriousness, and which the Democratic Party’s rule also demonstrated—despite what may be said—with unprecedented amateurism, they invented toy-soldier games and a few agencies, claimed the leaders of Serbian nationalism, and brought the charlatans of boulevard journalism onto the stage of the political struggle. This plot, too, will fade into dust, leaving its authors in disgrace.

For Mr. Sali Berisha, pluralism was useful and good before he took power; after taking power, however, it is harmful, brings misfortune, and creates a “red front” against democracy. Pages 2–3

Shpresa Nikolla denounces “He wanted to

A kiosk is stolen

Durrës — Shpresa Nikolla denounces Durrës Shpresa Nikolla denounces “My brother-in-law, Luan Malltezi, wanted to poison me” Page 6

Tirana

Interview with Merited Artist Lazër Filipi Page 9

The election campaign and the duties of the press and propaganda As part of the organization of the election campaign, on 16.02.1995, an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the Socialist Party was held, attended by invitees and intellectuals specializing in propaganda and press issues. The discussions analyzed the diverse propaganda activity of the Democratic Party through its newspapers RD, Albania, TD, and through RTV’s anti-opposition activity. The ongoing attacks by the current authorities, in the political and, more recently, financial spheres, against the opposition press in general were considered dangerous escalations in the political struggle waged by the authoritarian government against the opposition. Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, who chaired the meeting, assessed the prepared materials and the discussions held, and drew the meeting’s conclusions. He reaffirmed the idea that propaganda in general, and the press as one of its elements in particular, carried out through the newspaper “Zëri i popullit,” should be conceived as one of the powerful tools of the upcoming election campaign. It will be integrated more flexibly with all the political activity of the Socialist Party. The SP’s propaganda, unlike that of the DP, will be serious and intellectual because the socialists’ alternative is superior, while the Democratic Party is morally stripped bare and tries to prevail by using propaganda based on slander, deception, and subversion. The Socialist Party’s propaganda will be raised to a new level, both in terms of quantitative expansion and improved quality. Measures and specific tasks were also set out to establish a more optimal balance among the elements of the press during the upcoming campaign: information, analysis, counteraction, and political-journalistic marketing. Specific tasks were also assigned to the socialist press to offset RTV’s anti-opposition activity. In this context, a special organization for the election campaign was tasked with achieving more flexible coordination among the activities of the Socialist Party’s sectors, through the direction of all propaganda by the central election headquarters.

SP representatives—the MPs Ylli Bufi, Chair of the SP Public Economy Commission; Dr.Shkëlqim Cani, Chair of the SP Privatization Commission; and Anastas Angjeli, Chair of the SP Financial System Commission—met with the IMF Ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Franz Drees. At the meeting, they discussed and exchanged views on the progress to date and the future continuation of market-economy reforms in Albania. SP Press Spokesperson