Dashnor Kaloçi
Part thirty-two
Memorie.al publishes some documents issued by the Central State Archive (fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP), where there is a voluminous file with archival materials which bear the logo ‘Top secret’, which belong to the period of years 1981-1982, with reports, reports, evidence, information, minutes of the meetings of the Politburo and the secretariat of the Central Committee of the ALP, etc., starting from what was held to review and analyze the self-criticism of the former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu in December 1981, because he had allowed the engagement of his son, Skënder, “with a girl who had some political fugitives in her family circle”, the marathon meeting of the Politburo on the afternoon of December 17 his year that lasted until the late hours of that night, where that problem was discussed with the debates and discussions of all members who “crucified” former Prime Minister Shehu, the meeting of the morning of December 18, after the news that Prime Minister Mehme Shehu had killed himself, the marathon meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the ALP on September 20, 1982, with the topic: “Analysis of serious mistakes of Kadri Hazbiu, committed during the period when he was deputy minister and minister of Internal Affairs “, where Enver Hoxha initially launched accusations against Kadri Hazbiu, luring him as a” loyalist of the Party “, (in order for him to” open the heart of the Party “, speaking against former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu) , where at the beginning of his speech, Enver said: “After the coup in the army, we discovered the traitorous group in economics of Abdyl Këllez, Koço Theodhos and Kiço Ngjela with friends. We also discovered this group here; it was not discovered by the State Security. The same can be said about the discovery of the group of Fadil Paçrami, Todi Lubonja and a number of other people connected with them, such as Ismail Kadareja with friends, the Security did not reveal, but that hostile work was discovered by the Committee Central, etc. ”! All these and other documents with the logo ‘Top secret’, will be published in several issues in a row, exclusively by Memorie.al.
Continued from the previous issue
ALBANIAN LABOR PARTY
CENTRAL SECRETARY COMMITTEE
-General Sector-
PROCESS – VERBAL
OF THE MEETING OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL AFFAIRS OF THE ALP DATES
17 E 18 DECEMBER 1981
Agenda: Analysis of the serious mistake made by the member of the Politburo, Mehmet Shehu, regarding the engagement of a boy with a girl with a very bad political composition.
This meeting is attended by all members of the Politburo, with the exception of Comrade Hekuran Isai, who did not come because his mother died last night.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No, I thought the Party would not punish me.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Here, Comrade Mehmet, all these questions that are being asked, are intended to help you to properly realize the mistake you made.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: When I say that I thought he was right at the time, I thought that the Party would not condemn him, but would accept him.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: And would the Party accept this?
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: But why would the Party accept this from you and another simple communist, it would not accept it. Here’s the issue. Simon says rightly, why did you put yourself in the position that for you, there should be another discipline?
COMRADE QIRJAKO MIHALI: Would the Party accept this, or did you think that I am Mehmet Shehu, a cadre with merit and others.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: This complex, this mess of contradictions and mentalities, pushed me to make this mistake.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: That mess of contradictions, Comrade Mehmet, does not explain anything, does not explain why. He may be the instigator, the detonator, but he is not the cause. The cause is elsewhere, it is in what you thought the Party would not punish you, so you are right and so it is.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I am asking a question: Do you think that I am the one to create two lines in the Party?
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: No, I am not saying that, but the action you did would create two lines in the Party. I am not saying that you wanted to create two lines, but your action would create two lines, I am convinced of that.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Yes, he would create two lines and the Party, if I was wrong, would not allow me.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Were you aware, were you convinced of that?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I was convinced that I was right, but at the same time I was convinced that even if I was not right, just as I am convinced that tomorrow, for another action that I will not be right, the Party will not to allow me.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: No, this is very alambic, you make it simple, but it is not so. You, as a party member, were convinced that the Party would admit this mistake, that you thought it was right, you were convinced that you were doing well. But why would the Party accept you for which you were stunned and you knew how to create two lines, and you know that for a woman who had a confused grandfather, a party member, musician, was expelled from the Party? How do you explain these things like that? Why were you allowed not to think that?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I thought so at the time.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Well, what do you think now, Comrade Mehmet?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Now I think what I did was completely wrong.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Okay, now think a little: How could this phenomenon happen that the Party would not say anything to you? Would he think, well, this is Mehmet Shehu, a cadre who has given great evidence, so we can forgive his mistake?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No, no, the Party does not forgive you.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: I do not know, but he wants an explanation.
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: I also say this, Comrade Mehmet; you all have friends, based on the function entrusted to us by the Party. Inevitably, you have Comrade Enver as an even closer friend, not only as the leader of the Party, of the people and of all of us, but also because work and functions have connected you so closely with him, I think in life as well regular intimate, communist talk. You have had and still have these opportunities to communicate more freely with him. Then why not ask Comrade Enver in this case?
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Hysni Kapoja asked me and we immediately resolved his case. Mehmeti did not ask me.
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: I ask the question like this, because I see here two issues that we have to ask. First, you thought that Comrade Enver would not let you, and in fact you did not ask Comrade Enver to make the case “fait açompli” and to effectively harm the Party. Thinking that Comrade Enver would tolerate your action, you in this case question not only the Party line, but also Comrade Enver’s revolutionary stance on a matter of principle.
Second, have you ever wondered what Enver Hoxha will say to me? In this you have to think, that one thing seems clear, what you liked about yourself, you gave preference to yourself, your works, your work, etc., etc. Or do you compare your work with any of the rest of us? If you have reached this point, Comrade Mehmet, and if you have thought what Enver Hoxha can say to me, it is fair to tell the Party, here we are in the Politburo, that if you do not shake your conscience in this issue, not only will you make mistakes, but you will make even bigger mistakes with many consequences for the Party. Then this will be ruthless and know that the Party is strong and able to carry on its back any wound. So be careful! This I tell you as a friend.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I did not go to Comrade Enver, not only not to disturb him, as well as the other comrades I had around, but I came to those conclusions as I say in my self-criticism, that this engagement was possible was done, in this case, that’s why I did it. At first I was shocked, but then I withdrew from the shock, thinking that this family had severed relations…!
COMRADE RITA MARKO: If you were shocked, Fiqreti shook, Feçori gave you a signal that if it was for him, he would ask the Party. But you went to Pogradec and…!
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: One minute! I asked the question; therefore, please answer it, Comrade Mehmet! How do you think, if you want to reflect, reflect on this issue that it is capital, important, that putting yourself above the norms of the Party, is now clear to us, that you have had the opinion in the Party about you there are two disciplines and two rules. How far has this practice gone in your opinion?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I did not start from creating two disciplines in the Party, Comrade Kadri, but I thought that in this concrete case…!
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: You thought that for me there will be two disciplines. In handling my case, the Party will make concessions. Here it’s all.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: You have said this opinion in the criticism we make of Mehmet’s work. As for my powering, he made a mistake. Mehmeti continues this mistake with deceit. He called my son and the boy’s bride to wait for his son’s fiancée, whom he was dating for the first time, and neither Mehmet himself had seen him, nor had Fiqret seen him. Excuse me, I will tell you how the facts are. I heard about this from the boy, whom Nexhmija saw dressed and asked him where he was going.
“I am going to comrade Mehmet,” he replied, “where they called me because he got engaged to his son.”
“U, but with whom? – we asked”
“With a professor’s maid,” he said.
“What do they call it?”
“Turdiu – replied the boy.”
We knew this was a professor. Well, we were happy.
With this invitation he once tried to compromise my son, my family. This was sealed, because the word also went to Turdiu, that his maid was also received by Enver Hoxha’s son, with his entire bride. That’s why I called it a hoax. Did you do this or did Fiqret, or the boy, it was a trick. Then I went spontaneously, to wish for the new home, but also for the son, but more for the home and of course there is nothing wrong here that we are friends, we need each other, and we have always gone to each other.
There was also their son’s fiancée. Mehmeti, as before, still did not say anything to me, because he had no way of informing me, that everyone was there, but he did not inform me at least a little later, and to say to me: Friend Enver I made this engagement, yes there is something here. Thus, with my departure, according to Mehmet, my approval was sealed, which Enver also agreed with. Mehmeti may have thought that the biographies of all the enemies, I have in my pocket. No, I do not have them in my pocket. Your silence Mehmet and my arrival were considered by you, as a “fait açompli” and you fled to Korça, the boy went to Athens.
But after two or three days, news came to me that signaled to me what had been done. Do you understand this now? From you was implemented here a very wrong tactic, even very dangerous, extremely dangerous, because there were and there are people, who found out that I came and congratulated you at home. In the first place, the girl’s family found out that they went to Mehmeti and congratulated Enver Hoxha on his engagement, which also appeared in the photo with the girl, that is, he was accepted by the Party. So there are a number of situations that let us know that you not only made a mistake, but you do not delve into them.
If he was another low communist, the issue of sentimentality could be accepted, because this one exists, but for political issues and for a personality like you, who saw that what he did was a wrong move and it turns out that he was stunned, The fig tree shook, & c. All this has a serious political meaning, so you should abandon the thesis of sentimentality, which you raise here and it seems to be a sound and relieving argument for you.
I am sentimental, for example, when my son or daughter gets sick. When the boy becomes seriously ill, to cure him, outside the rules of the Party, I can spend a little more and I say this to the Party. Yes this is not a political issue. The mistake you made is of a different nature, it is of ideological and political character and as I say in the critique, your nature in such an inappropriate engagement, does not allow you to be sentimental, on the contrary it should have made you angry. These do not agree or do not agree, as I said philosophically, because he who is opportunistic is also a sectarian.
To have your son come and put you in front of a political and unacceptable act, even if you are not impulsive, this of course depends on human nature, suddenly the feeling of revolt, of anger arises and not that of rubbing the arms, So, in your character, that you have been constantly strict, sectarian for many things that were also right, that they were not all crooked, in this case the opposite has happened. Therefore this sentimentality must be explained philosophically and this is not the basis of your mistake. I do not know if I explain it correctly…!
ENVERI: You are in a state of despair.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Yes, that is how I understood it. The question was, is there an overestimation of his province over other provinces? This is how the question seems to me.
COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: Are you informed how the common people reacted to this action and your attitude?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: From the information I have, when he heard that the boy got engaged to Qazim Turdiu’s daughter, people did not feel well and when they heard the opposite that the engagement broke down they felt good. So I heard.
COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: He said that he did not like it for these; he did well to spoil it, because the people speak.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: It seems to me that there is no preference from me among the province I am from, from Mallakastra or Fier, towards Lushnja, or towards any other province.
COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: There is an overestimation of you. You express your opinion on others, we have done this and we have done that, while you others are nothing, etc.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No, it seems to me that I did not do this, you can have this impression, but I did not do this.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Not that it is just her impression. A party secretary came to me and told me that, in a conversation he had with you, he talked about border issues, where is the Mallakastra area, where is Vlora, we are not in the Fier area, etc. What, do you equate Mallakastra with Roskovec and Vjosa?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No, Comrade Enver, I did not say that.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: He told me the same. It may be as you say, but you may not have said such things, and there is no reason for others to slander them. If they are slandered, they should be corrected, not to say non-existent things. But I have heard this from others, and in Fier you said it, you talked to the leaders of Fier.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No, I talked to the secretary and the mayor of Fier, about this issue. The mayor of Fier said that I find the word with mallakastriot different compared to the field player, where they listen to me. In this sense, I talked, but not that I underestimate the people of Lushnja or Fier, against the people of Mallakastra.
COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: Maybe the meeting you had with the friends of Fier, is recorded, I do not know, there was also comrade Simon present and you can watch this conversation, but where more and where less, thoughts come out of this contemptuous nature has been on your part.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: It is also the way you, Mehmet, have to say things. Look how they noticed this in you, I do not want to throw flowers at myself, but in Fier, when I was going to Gjirokastra two years ago, I said something even more serious: we, I told him mayor in the eyes of all, we brought you here, because you are from Devolli and the people of Devolli are great workers, energetic people and you have shown energy and here in the fields of Fier, people need to move, because they are a bit like sleeping , do not have the vitality that other areas have, but I do not despise them. And they did not take me for granted.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Now here the conversation has been about the issue of gossip and work discipline, about this issue.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: This includes the issue of manner and style of speaking. These things friends have said not now that it happened, but before. And, comrade Mehmet, how do you say we take a break?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: What if I finish the questions, then we do.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Finished.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: There is another question. Did I know Qazim Turdi before? I did not know him before. I first met him when my son told me about him. I personally neither know him nor have I known him.
COMRADE PROKOP MURRA: Did your friend Fiqret know him? You know that Mrs. Fiqret has been the first secretary of Tirana for so long and surely she has had all the staff in her hands.
All friends: What does this matter?!
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: I was also a secretary, but I did not know.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Another question is, did you do the self-criticism or were you asked? I asked myself to do self-criticism in the Politburo and in the grassroots organization.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: About the basic organization he came and asked me to go and talk, but I told him; let’s see once in the Politburo, then we will look at the basic organization.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: This question was also asked, what harm would it bring to the Party if this marriage took place? We said it. /Memorie.al
The next issue follows
