Letter to Ramiz: “The Deputy Director of ATSH tells jokes about Haxhi Lleshi and Rita Marko and mocks Dritëro Agolli, the director of ART…” / The event where 20 journalists were fired

Dashnor Kaloçi

Memorie.al publishes the “secret” report dated January 22, 1976, where the secretary of the Tirana Party Committee, Sotir Kamberi, informs and denounces to Ramiz Alia, everything that happened in the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, which at that time was headed by Fiqri Vogli as director and Nasho Nathanali, as deputy director, where among other things it is said: “Nasho Nathanaili said:” Today is given coffee hawk “, (word for a Chinese delegation),” now that the President is gone, the Bishopric is saved “,” today the king is waiting “(For comrade Haxhi Lleshi),” let us not darken the past, because the world will laugh at us “, (it is about a news that in the district of Saranda today there are 6 pharmacies from one that was in the past), Rita Marko with which did not appear in the newspaper, the groom went and put it on television “(when comrade Rita Marko received a delegation)”. The whole event that happened in the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, as well as the note of Ramiz Alia for the sentence of the deputy director and the dismissal of 20 journalists and their replacement from the working class!

The document we are publishing in this part of the book is an information report with the logo “Secret”, dated January 22, 1976, where the secretary of the Tirana Party Committee, Sotir Kamberi, denounces to Ramiz Alia, everything that happened in the Telegraphic Agency Shqiptare, which at that time was headed by Fiqri Vogli as director and Nasho Nathanali, as deputy director. Given the great importance of that political-informational institution of the communist regime’s propaganda, the document in question seems to be of great interest, which is also evident from the notes put there by Ramiz Alia, regarding the problems that had caused the leadership its two main executives?! Mainly the deputy director, Nasho Nathanaili, who told vicious anecdotes against “comrades in the leadership”, and also mocked other senior members of the propaganda institutions, such as the Albanian Radio and Television. And this seems to have cost Nathanail dearly, to whom the top leadership and Ramiz Alia himself, took appropriate measures, making no concessions to him. For more about the “ATSH problem” and its leaders, we know the secret document, which we are publishing in full and without any cuts.

Secret information report for Ramiz Alia

ALBANIAN LABOR PARTY               Secret

PARTY COMMITTEE                       Copy No. 1

TIRANA

Nr. 100. Prot.                             Tirana, on 22/1/1976

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF ALP

friend Ramiz

 TIRANA

Attached we send you the information: “On the situation in ATSH”

SECRETARY OF K.P. TIRNANES

(Sotir Kamberi)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SITUATION IN ATSH

Bureau of the Tirana District Party on 23.12.1975. reviewed the report of the Party Committee of the Region No.3

“On the situation in the organization of the Party in ATSH”.

This report of the labor control and the team of the Party Committee of the region. The Party Bureau of the institution, the secretaries, the basic organizations of the Party and the comrades of the directorate were summoned to the district Party bureau.

1. The grassroots organization has not been in its leading role and the organization’s focus has shifted from fundamental political and ideological problems to gossip, to attacks on each other in long and empty discussions. There has been stifling criticism in the organization.

There was no self-criticism that neither the bureau nor the cadres set an example. The bureau and the collegium consisted almost of the same people. So, the bureau was moved by the collegium.

In the basic organization of the Party and in the collective, there were rumors, quarrels, and divisions until the creation of tariffs. One side alongside director Fiqiri Vogli and one side in support of Nasho Nathanail. The control and accountability for the implementation of the decisions against both the

communists and the directorate have been very weak. The Party organization has never called on the administration or sectors in the report to recognize the situation and set tasks.

Not only that, but the bureau has become a partner with the collegium by holding joint meetings where they led and gave conclusions to the leaders of the institution. The organization of the Party has been underestimated because the basic problems of the institution, as well as those of friction between the director Fiqiri Vogli and the deputy director, Nasho Nathanaili were not solved in the organization, but outside it and up and down there was no ideological debate in the organization. This happened because there was opportunism and liberalism. The cadres instead of being accountable pointed out their merits. Special employees have expressed that the national character ATSH has taken with the arrival of Fiqiri Vogli an opinion which Fiqiriu has not opposed.

1. There was a lack of vigilance regarding the use of the press of Not working enough in terms of political and ideological education of the cadre to explain to them the orientations of the Party and the basic criteria for using the literature of foreign bourgeois-revisionist press agencies for drafting of our news and counter-propaganda, and without exercising strict and continuous control over this, so there have been copies of the news of the revisionist agencies and the Soviet revisionist press as from the magazine “Krasnaja Zvezda” and others. These facts have not become a problem of the organization at the right time and consequently no measures have been taken in time to stop these actions!
2. The basic organization of the Party and the directorate have not bothered to stand up to the expressions and jokes of a political character with hostile content which, according to the communist discussions, were said by Nasho Nathanaili, but which were considered as jokes: “Today a coffee hawk is given”. (the word for a Chinese delegation), “now that the President has left, Peshkopia is saved”, “today the king is waiting” (for comrade Haxhi Lleshi), “let us not darken the past, because the world will laugh at us” (it is a news that in the district of Saranda today there are 6 pharmacies from one that was in the past). “Since Rita Marko did not appear in the newspaper, the groom went and showed it on television.” (When Comrade Rita Marko received a delegation). Such expressions have been spread by others as; “If you go after the leadership, what do you think”, “in Yugoslavia life is better”, “in Zog’s time the newspaper was distributed by plane”.

These statements circulated in the internal editorial office, but have also spread to the external editorial office. It is clear that the responsibility for this sick condition weighs primarily on the grassroots organization and its bureau, and on the two main cadres: Fiqiri Vogli and Nasho Nathanaili. Fiqiri Vogli instead of drawing conclusions and tasks for this situation, sometimes insists that ay is not guilty, that ay has worked and fought for order has demanded accountability, sometimes it was justified that ay has been ill for a while and from this have taken advantage of confusing elements to create discord.

With the control that was exercised in ATSH with the conclusions, measures and tasks left, of course the situation has started to change, but more slowly, after starting from the director and other communists, they did not fully agree with the conclusions, even Mersin Seitaj, I oppose them, rejecting the fact that there were two parties, etc.

Party Committee of the Region no. 3 has taken the following measures:

1. He reprimanded Fiqiri Vogli on the registration card and decided to propose it to the relevant nomenclature.
2. Nasho Nathanail, was severely reprimanded on the registration card and left outside the Tirana district.
3. It was decided to leave ATSH 19 people, of which 10 party members as troublemakers dealing with gossip. Three cadres were sent into production as intriguers.
4. Some non-partisan cadres with labor backgrounds were sent.
5. To strengthen the collegium, to include a number of external workers.

The bureau of the party committee after analyzing the situation on dt. 23.12.1975 took the following measures:

1. As the members of the party bureau did not fight resolutely against this sick situation in ATSH and that they did not take quick measures to change the situation, it was decided to dismiss the entire Bureau and to hold elections of the Bureau, where come uncompromising communists of working-class descent.
2. Nasho Nathanaili, former Deputy Director, Bureau demanded that measures be taken against him and deepened. For this he was summoned by the Party Committee of the Region and on 29.12.1975, he was expelled from the party for the following reasons:

As Deputy Director at ATSH, he is responsible for the sick condition and the created disruption. In the internal editorial office, which he followed directly, there was debauchery, liberalism, gossip, intrigue, slander, banal expressions, Allazogist reverence and even hostile slogans. He has maintained a contemptuous and contemptuous attitude towards people and cadres.

He has tried to impose his thoughts on the organization, he has become the cause of the breakdown of unity in the organization and in the collective. No account required. He has been dealing with gossip, he has created parties, he has taken cadres by the mouth, saying that; “Dritëro Agolli opens his mouth to you”, “he spoke openly”, for Veiz Lelon, etc.

He used statements of a political and hostile nature

• Since some cadres whose movement has been decided have not yet left, it was decided that by January 15, 1976, their movement and the bringing of new elements would be completed.
• It was decided to propose to the relevant nomenclature that Fiqiri Vogli be dismissed from the post of director, as he is responsible for the serious situation created in ATSH. He has been shown to be arrogant, vindictive and supportive of the parties. Instead of solving the problems in the organization, he has moved it away trying to solve them outside it. It has allowed vigilance to decline and allowed cases of copying foreign literature. He lacked the vigilance to capture and make hostile slogans a problem.
• Despite the criticisms and calls made by the Party Bureau of Tirana to understand and evaluate the mistakes, he did not make sound self-criticism, but rather noted his merits, openly expressing that he did not agree with the attitudes held towards his.
• As the employees of ATSH are at all times under the pressure of foreign ideology, the Bureau ordered to strengthen the work of the Party organization and the directorate for ideological education of employees and especially the work for training new staff who have come to ATSH. /Memorie.al

Tirana, on 20.I.1976

SECRETARY OF K.P. TIRANA

(Sotir Kamberi)