Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 96-11-23

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From: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] FLUX OF DIVORCES IN TIRANA COURT

[02] LMP CONGRESS INTERRUPTED BECAUSE OF MANIPULATIONS OF MANDATES - LMP chairman -

[03] FOR A NEW UNITY IN THE SOCIALIST PARTY

[04] ALBANIAN FORMER INTERIOR MINISTER ACCEPTS MISTAKE FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DOCUMENTS WITHOUT KEEPING PROTOCOLS

[05] PRESIDENT BERISHA GIVES WORKING LUNCHEON FOR IMF DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE

[06] AUSTRIAN CARITAS ACCORDS $200 000 FOR MIRDITA DISTRICT HOSPITAL

[07] GERMAN PROJECTS IN BOROVA MATERIALISED

[08] SEMINAR FOR YOUNG WOMEN POLITICIANS HELD

[09] SERB SHOOTS AT ALBANIAN SCHOOL OF GJAKOVA

[10] BALKAN CONFERENCE ON ART AND CULTURE OPENS

[11] ITALIAN FRIGATE VISITS ALBANIA

[01] FLUX OF DIVORCES IN TIRANA COURT

What strikes one's eye is the fact that the "initiators" for the divorce are, in most of the cases, women. During the third quarter of 1996, 73 out of 134 indictments bear the signatures of the women and 61 of the men. Most possible reasons leading wives to such a point today are their demands for a more consolidated status in the family which would help them in their social and family activity. But there are cases in which divorce is requested for narrower interests, simply family reasons, for instance, the problems arousing when one of the partners has emigrated, a frequent phenomenon this for the Albanian family today.

Annual statistics show that for 1996, the new couples are less capable to solve marriage conflicts as compared with older couples, for whom many problems emerging during the marriage are considered natural and may be solved without the need of the court. Hence, during the third quarter of this year, 36 couples married during the last five years have been divorced, whereas among the couples with over 10 years of marriage, there are only 22 indictments for divorce. jz/xh/sh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[02] LMP CONGRESS INTERRUPTED BECAUSE OF MANIPULATIONS OF MANDATES - LMP chairman -

After holding the first two sessions, the Congress did not finish the third one which had to do mainly with the inner problems of the party, including also the election of the new chairman, by postponing the proceedings to an unlimited period of time.

Another reason for the interruption of the Congress, according to Durollari, was that some of the participants asked to act against the statute.

"A commission is working to verify the mandates and I think that the Congress will finish the remained proceedings on Sunday or on Monday", LMP chairman Guro Durollari told ATA. /kei/mt/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[03] FOR A NEW UNITY IN THE SOCIALIST PARTY

-SHOULD BOYCOTT TAKE PLACE ON MAY 26? This issue began to be discussed in the party right after May 26. Not because the violation of elections is called in question but for the fact that the aftermath of every political action should be considered. There is no doubt that the state power was prepared to violate the elections. But would it be better to win, despite the conditions of violation, some 40 or 50 deputies in parliament, or to be without representatives at all as we are today?. This should be considered well when the decision to withdraw from the elections was taken.

It is also important to make clear the fact how this decision was initiated and encouraged. Because separate talks with party people, beginning with its leadership down to the grassroots, arouse doubts and comments on the motives and authors that initiated and encouraged the boycott of the elections and the withdrawal of our people from the ballot boxes.

It is no secret to admit today that also members of the Party presidency and Permanent Leading Council say in talks in corridors or coffee-bars that the boycott was initiated and encouraged by those party people who were deprived of the right to candidature in the May 26 elections. According to this version, these people, hoping that the boycott would annul the elections and in the new eelctions the law against genocide would as well be annulled, initiated and encouraged the boycott of the May 26 elections.

I would not today cast doubt on the then decision of boycotting the elections if other factors had not emerged to add to that doubt. It is about the events that took place on the eve of the party congress. For this reason, an objective inquiry into the factors and individuals who initiated and encouraged the boycott of the May 26 elections, would help analyse correctly the situation of the party and brush away all doubts linked with this problem. However, the political assessment of the decision, considered from today's viewpoint, would be valuable when taking other decisions of this importance in the future.

THE MOTION AND THE KILLING OF BELIEF

When the second stage of the Congress which would make the necessary analysis, changes in the documents and people and would raise the morale of the party on the verge of new polls, was nearing, the Motion of the Party chairman, Fatos Nano, arrived. This motion, which claimed to encourage the reformation of the party, consequently its consolidation, did practically become, in my opinion, a factor for strong shock to the faith within the party, a faith created by great toil during the five year existence of the party.

I, personally, supported the demands of the Motion for the changes in the basic documents of the party and in principle, even the necessary changes in its leading figures. But I did not agree with the way how the Motion was directed and its requests to undermine the main party leaders.

The movement with the so-called Motion, judged from the present situation, resulted to be a wrong movement with fatal consequences. This is not related simply with the loss in the October 20 elections, but with the much greater loss and rather difficult to be mended. It is connected with the loss of faith of the party members and its forums in one another. The Party's spirit of sincerity, mutual confidence and solidarity which are the fundamental conditions for the existence of a political formation which unites people on voluntary basis and which claims to take the power and direct the country's life, were killed.

In the extremely long debate which, in many cases, went beyond the accepted norms, , the shadow of "a general enemy," of "Berisha's man in the party," the shadow of "traitors" and of the "sold out," the shadow of "dolphins" and of the "party-marsh" took its place, at least for the present political mentality of the Albanian public.

The shadow of "the enemy" appearing everywhere within the party pervaded the whole debate held on the eve of and during the congress. This is the greatest damage caused to the party and which is continuing more and more at present.

The party congress held in this climate, although it adopted all the important documents planned to be approved, encouraged the spirit of splits and disbelief to the extend that it could not be eliminated in the short period of time that remained up to the local elections. The new leadership which was elected by the congress and the General Leading Committee, was formally legitimate because it emerged from secret voting. But in fact, it was a leadership imposed by pressures, coercion and emotions resulting from the atmosphere created by the Motion. This leadership could not become solid up to elections and could not calm down the party in its grass-root organizations, moreover its electorate which was disorientated by the scenes on television and articles in papers. The party men, who for one month in succession had accused one another of being "enemies" and "agents" at a time when elections were approaching, contrary to their spiritual state, tried to appear together in rallies and tribunes, wanting to give the people the impression that nothing bad had happened in the party.

But now, nothing could help it. The SP electorate had already formed a bad impression and it was difficult to change its mind. And this was manifested in the October 20 local ballot.

Someone may consider out of place and unnecessary this retrospective and the connection of the October polls with the developments in the party prior to elections. I think that without analysing and mending the mistakes made at that time, the party can never feel calm, on the contrary, it will take other irreparable cracks. The theory, according to which "we must no deal with ourselves" has cost us dearly in the past, and its usage now as an effort to close the debate in the party, sounds ironical in the mouths of those who pronounce it, because they dwelt with the party precisely in those moments when it was not proper to. We must publicly accept the points where we have made mistakes in order to heal the wounds in the party and those created between the party and our electorate.

The situation the party was facing before local ballot made it unable to conduct a successful campaign. It could not create confidence among the electorate and could not convince it to go to the polling boxes. Some of the weak points of SP were those noticed in the transmission of messages, the selection of candidates, organization of electoral structures etc., which resulted from the situation created in the party prior to and during its congress. I think that the low participation of the electorate in voting, without denying manipulations of a new, more sophisticated type, was the main factor for the loss in the local elections and the responsibility for this rests on the present party leadership. It also is responsible for not drawing the proper lessons from the May 26 polls and consequently, being unable to adopt the necessary measures to defend its vote. The case of Shkodra showed that other political forces could realise such a thing, while our party could not.

-Resignation as a moral act

Following the elections, no matter what the causes of the loss were, the Presidency of the Socialist Party should have performed the most normal act a really serious party performs in such cases: to resign and ask the general steering committee to consider its responsibility. If the whole committee should necessarily resign, the party's congress should convene and do this because the situation is such that really justifies this action.

But neither of these was done. Even the requests for the presidency's resignation, despite their motives, met with prejudice and blasphemy. The convention of the committee "for information" was invented instead, as if information had been lacking! This kind of "information", I believe, intended to provide the presidency with "arguments" to say that "even the district leaders say that the elections were violated, therefore we of the presidency are free of any responsibility".

The meeting was organised in a way that it would bring about a justifying statement, which would then be used to "calm down" the party members in the analyses carried out in the grass-roots, alleging that "the committee was unanimous in its stand and statement, with only two votes against and an abstention", as it is actually happening with some party leaders.

In fact this is a lack of will to accept the responsibility. This is the worst thing, worse than the loss. This approach of the presidency makes the party members and its electorate understand that this leadership is irresponsible for its activity; that in this leadership, whatever happens in the party also in the future, no one bears responsibility. This adds to the doubts that the socalled "movement for reformation" on the eve of the congress was nothing but a plot to remove people from the party leadership and replace them with others, who won't let these posts go whatever happens in the party. This is another blow against the democratic moral of the party and its Presidency is responsible for this. With such a leadership, few are those who believe in victory even in the years 2000./lm/xh/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[04] ALBANIAN FORMER INTERIOR MINISTER ACCEPTS MISTAKE FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DOCUMENTS WITHOUT KEEPING PROTOCOLS

Hysi and former chief of the National Information Service (NIS) Irakli Kocollari has ordered on Dec. 24, 1991, the elimination of some secret documents which were for permanent storing.

In the previous session of the trial, experts said with regard to the order by Hysi and Kocollari that "the head of the institution had the right to set up commissions of expertise and not to order for the elimination of documents."

Hysi told the court that the burning of documents "was served from the kitchens of NIS and from in the Interior Ministry."

Vladimir Hysi, former Interior Minister and Irakli Kocollari, NIS former chief, are accused of abuse of office and crimes against humanity by the Forum of Independent Intellectuals. kei/xh/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[05] PRESIDENT BERISHA GIVES WORKING LUNCHEON FOR IMF DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE

Attending the luncheon were Minister of Finances Bode, Governor of the National Bank Luniku, advisers of the President and senior officials of finance.

Lipstic conveyed to President Berisha the cordial greetings and a message from the IMF executive director, Michel Camdessus in which he expressed the aim of the fund to conclude a new agreement, hailed the liberalization of prices, the application of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the drafting of the privatization strategy, estimated the higher independent authority for the informal market and insisted in the further narrowing of the budget deficit, promotion of the privatization of banks and gladly accepted the invitation to visit Albania and see the progress of historical initiatives of the Albanian government.

During the luncheon, they discussed in a spirit of understanding the fruitful cooperation between Albania and IMF, the budget deficit and its increase this year, as well as the narrowing of the deficit through the increase of income.

They also discussed the informal market, privatization of banks and other main sectors.

President Berisha stressed that the narrowing of the budget deficit is the main objective of the government program. We think that the main way to narrow this deficit is the increase of incomes and not the increase of taxes and levies, because we are in favour of low taxes and levies, but by improving their collection, in which unacceptable weaknesses have been noticed and which have gravely damaged the free competition and the state budget.

With regard to the privatization of the banking system we have decided by law to separate from this system all the non-profitable branches as a premise to make more attractive and acceptable for privatization the branches which have had no losses in the banking system, and the government will approve within December the respective decisions.

Regarding the informal market, President Berisha stressed that the peculiarities of this market, which have accompanied the development of capitalism in West and East, for Albania are: Different from other countries, in Albania this phenomenon is completely private and, not excluding the casual speculations or sporadic irregular influences, we may say that the money of the Albanians, considering the saga of the sacrifices in the most difficult jobs through which it is earned, is the money gained in the most ever existing honest way.

Big companies of the informal market have great investments in important and profitable sectors of the economy, beginning from trade, processing and producing of food products, tourism, mines,etc.

The law approved by the Parliament and its execution will guarantee the full transparency of this process.

The macro-economic stability, after a slight electoral shake, is moving towards the progressive consolidation, stressed Berisha.

Expressing the determination of IMF to continue cooperation with Albania, Lipstick highlighted as very important the measures taken to narrow the budget deficit, to increase the incomes, the transparence in the informal market and the preparation for the banking system to be privatized, and ensured President Berisha that the IMF and many European countries admire Albania's efforts and achievements. /s.sh/mt/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[06] AUSTRIAN CARITAS ACCORDS $200 000 FOR MIRDITA DISTRICT HOSPITAL

The hospital, which will soon be put at the disposal of 15 villages with 9 700 inhabitants of this commune will also serve for light surgeries. The hospital will include the outpatient clinic, the pharmacy, child consultation, infirmary and the dental clinic. The latter will be equipped by the "Skenderbej" Association based in Florence of Italy. An "Eco" apparatus will also be installed in this hospital.

Father Winsaner from the Austrian Foreberg land has also contributed to securing aid to set up this hospital. s.sh/jz/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[07] GERMAN PROJECTS IN BOROVA MATERIALISED

German ambassador to Albania Hans Peter Disdorn, present at the inauguration of the aqueduct works several days ago, said that the German government had helped this village reach a developed and modern stage.

"Not always are we, the Germans, pleased with our history. Some are responsible for this history, whose authors are our grandfathers and fathers. The sons and nephews of those soldiers are now helping so that the past does not serve only as a painful memory but fresh impulses emerge from that history," Disdorn said.

"We consider the Albanian-German relations very good", the German ambassador added.

The participants at the ceremony were also greeted by Uran Butka, deputy of the people's Assembly and chairman of the Commission for the Evaluation of the Figures Martyred by the Communist Dictatorship.

"From a backward village Borova has been turned into a small flourishing town thanks to the German government aid", Butka said. kled/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[08] SEMINAR FOR YOUNG WOMEN POLITICIANS HELD

Women deputies of Albanian Parliament and leaders of local governments, presided over by Nuala Fennell, renowned political figure in the Irish Republic, met at a seminar on Friday, organised by the Woman Centre and State Secretariat on Women.

"The aim of the seminar was to exchange experience in formulating politics and planning elections", the directress of the Woman Centre, Delina Fico, said.

Fennel was deputy of the Centre-right party and first state minister on the Woman's issue in Ireland.

In this seminar she provided her own experience in the ways of structuring politics on problems important for the electors.

"To make politics means to work out directions", she said. eva/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[09] SERB SHOOTS AT ALBANIAN SCHOOL OF GJAKOVA

In order to avoid the tragedy, the Albanian teachers removed the pupils from the classrooms that were targets of the Serb civilian, Sllobo Kastratovic.

Besides the Serb police, army and paramilitary formations in Kosova, Serb civilians are as well massively armed by the Belgrade installed Serb power of violence.

Gjakova is an Albanian ethnic city near the border with Albania. The Serbs in the Gjakova commune make up less than one per cent of the population. They are armed like elsewhere in Kosova and continually provoke, attack and threaten Albanians. b.j/l/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[10] BALKAN CONFERENCE ON ART AND CULTURE OPENS

The support of joint activities and creation of institutions of cooperation among countries in culture are among the main objectives of the conference.

Experts of art and culture coming from Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania attend the conference.

The Albanian minister of Culture, Youth and Woman, Teodor Laco, hailed the initiative for the creation of the inter-Balkan cultural network and pledged that "the Albanian Ministry of Culture will support any decision emerging from the Tirana meeting".

Experts, who greeted the participants on behalf of the Ministries of Culture of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, stressed the ancient traditional cultural relations among the Balkan countries, pointing to the indispensability of strengthening these relations in the future.

On behalf of the respective institutions they said that they "will unreservedly help the creation of the Balkan Cultural Network".

Further on, the floor was taken by Emmanuel Billis from Greece, the creator of the Balkan Centre on Culture and Economy and the initiator of the Inter-Balkan Cultural Network. He familiarised the participants with his goals and ideas for a closer cultural cooperation in the Balkans.

The conference is sponsored by the Salonica based Balkan Centre of Culture and Economy, as well as the Albanian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Woman. s.sh/jz/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[11] ITALIAN FRIGATE VISITS ALBANIA

Present at the reception ceremony were representatives of the Maritime Defence Forces, of the District and the Captain's office.

The captain of the Italian frigate and other members of the crew were received in meetings at the Captain's General Office, at the Durres prefecture and municipality as well as at the Defence Ministry.

The Italian frigate was visited by Albanian militaries whereas the Italians will visit various cities of Albania.

The military exercises by Italian frigate and the Albanian warships in the Durres port and open sea were a concrete manifestation of the bilateral cooperation. a.ke/jz/lm/Z/

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