National Conference of the Socialist Party of Albania. A civic debate, a clash of ideas CHANGES TO THE PARTY PROGRAM AND STATUTE ARE APPROVED D' Alem at the conference: Italy considers Albania a friendly country MORE DETAILS ON EVERYTHING RELATED TO THE CONFERENCE IN THIS ISSUE PAGES 2 - 8

This wording ran through all the developments of the four months of our Conference, as well as its arrival at the Party Congress and beyond. The opposition and its role in a democratic society occupy an important place in this discourse, despite the fact that the signing of this part of the Program belongs to the conditions and circumstances created in our country by the developments of the last six months. Even so, we want to promise all Albanians that the Socialist Party of Albania does not consider yesterday’s opposition its rival; its only rival is that part of itself which it must relentlessly overcome in order to be a political force capable of governing the country, a responsible opposition, and a constructive political factor in the life of the country. In this sense too, the Albanian time will no longer stop. I conclude my speech with the wish that the work of this National Conference of the Socialist Party of Albania, the first of its kind in the conditions of our country, may realize the broad political dimensions of an event, and that its conclusions may be valid for the Party’s upcoming Congress at the end of February 1998. May it realize the broad organizational dimensions of a process of organizational emancipation within our party. May it realize the broad moral dimensions of human communication and understanding among socialists with different convictions, currently imposed not so much by arguments as by the atmosphere of irreconcilability into which the country’s deep political and social crisis has thrown us. It is precisely this atmosphere that we do not want to impose on the Socialist Party or on tomorrow’s Albania. If the country is calm today, it is the new calm before the old storm, which cannot help but break out again in three or four weeks with all its force if political hatred is not replaced by democratic tolerance and if politics does not turn its eyes toward economic and social reforms. If today’s calm is based exclusively on the armed horrors of the fratricidal struggle for power of the past six months, then it is the false calm of what has happened and of what may happen tomorrow, not the necessary calm of reforms and a normal democratic life. If this calm is based on a difficult agreement with the opposition and on efforts to create the necessary climate for normal communication with it, then this calm is a real peace, one that Albania needs. To see realistically where we stand, to do as much as we can to prevent a destructive spiral of political war, and to understand that the mission of the Socialist Party among Albanians cannot be separated from a mission of National Reconciliation, explicitly declared but not yet translated into our daily political objective. This is my conviction and that of the overwhelming majority of socialists. This conviction leads to the necessity of creating a more forward-looking vision for the Socialist Party and for the history of Albania as a whole than the heated moments of day-to-day polemics create, even when they involve an acute conflict like the one we are experiencing. In closing, I think we must thank the European Union here for having done our country a great service, and we must understand that political hatred is a curse. It is what has brought us and keeps us in the state we are in. Thank you!

Bllshi: The Presidium of Mjeldon takes part in the funeral ceremony for the three murdered policemen PAGE 9

The conference approved the following — with 22 votes in favor and one abstention: 1. K. Arapi 2. Mark Nikolli 3. Ben Blushi 4. M. Bode qe 5. T. Janku peshk[?] 6. Gëzim Reçi 7. E[n]lumuz[?] Z[?] 8. Buni Hushi 9. Kote M[?]aj 10. Skodi Y. Vangjel Tavo 11. Vangjel Tavo 12. Bendi Matikal[?] 13. Skerdari 14. Shemë Zekaj 15. Merita Neko 16. Sokol Hal[o] 17. Vlora Ibro 18. Pirosta Skula[?] 19. Adriani Kaça[?] 20. Gazmend Kaçi 21. Valbona Pera