By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Part Ten
Memorie.al / When not even a week had passed since 2 July 1990, when thousands of Albanian citizens climbed over the railings and walls of foreign embassies in Tirana and entered their premises with the aim of leaving Albania, the high leadership of the PPSh (Party of Labor of Albania), headed by General Secretary Ramiz Alia, held the 11th plenum of the Central Committee, which conducted its proceedings on 6 and 7 July. Although the agenda was predetermined in three main points, where the one on the development of education in Albania predominated, almost throughout the proceedings of that plenum (especially in point 4, “Miscellaneous”), the event of those days, otherwise known as “2 July of the embassies,” was discussed and debated. In that plenum, in which all members and candidates of the Central Committee of the PPSh, the first secretaries of the party committees of the districts, ministers, main cadres of the sector of education, culture, science, economy, leaders of the organization of the Union of Working Youth of Albania, from the apparatus of the Central Committee of the PPSh, Radio-Television, ATSH, etc., participated, Nimet Cani, Ali Vukatana, Reiz Malile, Shpëtim Çaushi, Zylyftar Ramizi, Qemal Lame, Zef Loka, Pirro Kondi, and Hekuran Isai were absent, who for several days had been “in the field,” “managing” the embassy event.
After the opening of the meeting by Ramiz Alia, the floor was given to the Minister of Education, Skënder Gjinushi, who also held the relevant report (“On the perfection of the educational system and the further qualitative strengthening of the school”), the main topic of that plenum was the “embassy event,” discussing and analyzing in detail how and why it happened (“the role of foreign agencies”), up to the tasks that emerged for managing that situation in those hot July days, when over five thousand Albanian citizens from all the districts of the country were located in the interior premises of some of the main embassies in Tirana, waiting to leave Albania.
Besides this, throughout that meeting, but mainly in point no. 4 of the agenda (which was discussed in the last session), several of the main events that had occurred in various districts of the country during that year were also taken into analysis, such as; the protests in Shkodra in January for the removal of Stalin’s bust; the events in the city of Kavaja where the people of that city clashed with police forces; the mass escapes from the state borders with Yugoslavia and Greece; the mass gatherings in holy religious places, such as the Church of Shën-Ndout in Laç of Kurbin; the legal permission of religious beliefs and the opening of places of worship; or other problems that were raised for solution, such as; the talks of the international factor for the restoration of diplomatic relations with the USA, the Soviet Union (the talks held with the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister in Sofia by Sofokli Lazri); the Kosovo problem; the international pressure for the opening of Albania to the world and its accession to several international conventions; the privileges of the high leadership of the PPSh and their families who lived mainly in the “Block”; the words circulating among the people about Enver Hoxha’s family and Ramiz’s relations with Nexhmije; the change of legislation and the penal code; the release of political prisoners; the issuance of passports to citizens who sought to go out as visitors to their relatives abroad; the new economic mechanism; the housing and employment of many additions in all districts of the country; the giving of land and livestock to the cooperative peasantry; up to the supply of the urban population with basic food products and various industrial goods.
As we will also see from archival documents belonging to the 11th plenum of the Central Committee of the PPSh, which we emphasize are being published for the first time, besides the leadership and some of the high functionaries of that time, several other high figures who continued their political careers even after the 1990s also discussed or were mentioned in that meeting, such as; Skënder Gjinushi, Fatos Nano, Sali Berisha, Rexhep Mejdani, Gramoz Pashko, Spiro Dede, Dritëro Agolli, Ismail Kadare, Moikom Zeqo, Mehmet Elezi, Lisen Bashkurti, Koço Kokëdhima, Ylli Popa, Aleks Luarasi, etc.
Likewise, in the voluminous file of this plenum, the documents belonging to the secretaries of the Party Committees of the districts or the “Information Group” who went to all the districts of the country and have evidenced all the main problems that emerged in the meetings of the base organizations of the party, where “On the letter of the Central Committee” was discussed, are also of great interest, documents that constitute the largest and also the most important part of the file in question. It can even be said that they are among the most important of the entire period of the communist regime of Enver Hoxha and his successor Ramiz Alia, as that period of time with the events that unfolded marked the prologue of the fall of that regime.
Likewise, the documents belonging to the last session of that meeting with point no. 4 of the agenda “Miscellaneous,” which constitutes the hottest point of the entire plenum, where the release from duties and retirement of three members of the Political Bureau (Rita Marko, Manush Myftiu, and Prokop Murra) were discussed, even with harsh debates, or the release from ministerial duties or other high functions that several other “leaders” had held for years, such as Simon Stefani, Pali Miska, Muho Asllani, Lenka Çuko, Vito Kapo, Pirro Kondi, Jovan Bardhi, etc., and the appointment of “young comrades” in the leadership of the high forums of the Party and State, such as; Xhelil Gjoni, Abdyl Backa, Niko Gjyzari, Kiço Mustaqi, etc., are also of great interest. Regarding these, etc., the documents in question extracted from the Central State Archive (Fund of the former Central Committee of the PPSh), which are being published for the first time and with the relevant facsimiles by Memorie.al, acquaint us.
Continues from the previous issue
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE 11TH PLENUM OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSh, HELD ON 6 AND 7 JULY 1990
MISCELLANEOUS
Several issues of today’s situations and the political problems that flow from them.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The possibilities are to prevent these surprises, precisely there where they have their source. If it is thought that gatherings may be organized, a concrete plan must be thought of beforehand on how to act in this or that case. If it is thought that the enemy may burn our depot, it is not enough only to repeat: “let us be vigilant!”, but the guards must be reinforced and we must not leave only one man on guard. But it must be said that in many cases the enemy is finding us by surprise and unprepared. Therefore let us draw lessons from these mistakes that are made.
In particular, I wanted to draw your attention, comrade first secretaries of the Party Committees in the districts, as well as members of the Central Committee of the Party, to take as many direct contacts as possible with the masses. There is no need to remind the leading comrades of Tirana that more than ever in this situation one of the most elementary norms of work must be implemented: every morning the appeal of the workers must be made. But even until today these comrades have not evidenced who have entered the embassies. For example, you, comrade Nimet Cani, member of the Central Committee of the Party and first secretary of the Party Committee of Region no. 3, do you know which people of your region have entered the embassies?
And you, comrade Naumka Bozo, organizational secretary of the Party Committee of the District of Tirana, do you have the lists of those who are now in the embassies? I would ask this question also to comrade Pirro Kondi, but he is not here. I do not understand from whom you are waiting for orders to carry out, at least, this task, to evidence the people who are missing from the work centers. What kind of work discipline are we talking about in the work centers, when we cannot even make this control? Even if 10 people who are missing from work have not all entered the embassies, they can be called and given a warning for dismissal from work, if they are absent without reason.
There is a certain law for absences without reason at work. Let us not hesitate to implement this law, comrade Qemal Lame. Those who repeat these absences must be warned that the law of the parasite catches them. Measures must be taken against those elements that, as the people say, “have filled the cup.” Let us not politicize the actions of these people, but let the law be used that prohibits parasitism, gambling, the use of lotto-sport, vagabondage, theft, etc. But even these simple problems cannot be solved, if the Party committees are not at the head of the affairs. In this situation, one must work and act as in time of war.
Information must be well organized. From morning to evening we must receive complete information. This information cannot be realized only with the secretaries of the Party organizations, but by increasing the role and responsibility of every communist and cadre. Comrade Hamit Shanku, who is the director of the Party Committee of the Auto-Tractor Combine, must always be at the head of the affairs and inform how things are going there where he leads, and it must not happen that in a trial that is held in the collective of the combine, vagabonds go, while the Party comrades and leading comrades do not go. Thus, instead of the Party line being implemented there, the desire of the reaction is implemented. For this trial, the International Amnesty Agency even manages to send a letter to me.
Besides this, other letters have come to me for this issue from various individuals who live in Germany, Sweden, etc. Why do all these happen? Because the comrades of the Party Committee of Tirana, the comrades of the court, of the investigation, and the leaders of the Combine do not give importance to these concerns. That trial was held for a political purpose. Then, why is politics not carried through to the end and, worse, premises are created that the trial turns into the opposite, instead of serving for the ideological and political homogeneity of this issue?!
I emphasize once again that the comrades of the Central Committee of the Party, there where they work, must be at the head of the affairs. The comrade ministers must also help the leaders of Tirana, taking as many contacts as possible with the workers, with the people. Likewise, the activists and organizations of the Front in the neighborhoods, those of the Professional Unions, of the Youth, etc., must be gathered and activated better. I wanted to draw your attention also to those problems that I raised in yesterday’s speech. The ideas that were given in that speech must not remain only as study material for the schools.
In that speech, political issues are raised, for which one must talk with the people, the communists, the youth, and the workers must be raised to their feet. The Party must organize and orient the perspective of the tasks of each of these forces. This work must also be done in the organisms we have, such as in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that of Defense, as well as in all the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat. I wanted to emphasize something else as well. The situations and the problems that they raise require also organizational measures and quick actions, so that the issues are not accumulated and concerns are not created.
For example, it is noticed that in Shkodra the enemy continues to work aiming at the preparation of riots, inciting dissatisfaction with the power, etc. Only the Bureau of the Party Committee does not have time and cannot cope with the entire volume of work that must be done to prevent these aims of the enemy that have already been concretized even in occasional actions. Therefore, for this purpose, a staff with few people must be created, so there must be a command.
In every district, defense staffs have been organized, which can carry out this task, only there is no need for there to be 300-400 people in them. It is enough to have a single direction and clarity of action. For example, for a piece of information that comes, an order is thought of and given on what must be done and what forces must be mobilized to get ahead of the event. Somewhere the youth may be put into motion, somewhere the Party or a group of workers, a group of police employees, etc., will be put into motion.
COMRADE DRITËRO AGOLLI: The directors of enterprises have greater authority. I have been in several enterprises of Tirana and I have noticed that only they are listened to…!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Undoubtedly their authority must also be used. But the issue is raised so that it is not thought that everything can be solved with the usual organizational forms, passing the orders and responsibility from one link to another and no one acts.
COMRADE DRITËRO AGOLLI: The instructors of the Party committees, no one listens to them.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: That is so, therefore it must be thought of from the organizational side and special staffs must be created, especially in those zones where there are or may arise serious problems. Particular care must be shown in the big cities, such as Korça, etc. But let it not be thought that there can be a completely calm situation in any city. Do not forget that the reaction will try to find ground wherever it can, in our entire country. Today the most preferred weapon of the external reaction for the overthrow of power in various countries is the creation of a suitable situation from within, while intervention from outside would be nothing but a military attack.
Perhaps a military attack may be expected from the Yugoslavs, but also from the Greeks, only for now the situation does not favor them. But if a grave situation is created inside, let us say in Gjirokastra or in Saranda, they may find a pretext to attack. They can also create it artificially and provoke such a situation, saying: “We will enter to defend our brothers in the minority!” Therefore the comrades of the army must not underestimate the situations, but must work with thought and reflect on these issues. If we have the situation inside the country sound, the enemies have nothing to do.
Likewise, our comrades of the police must be more careful. These days that the World Football Championship continues, there are gatherings of people who watch the television in the homes. These people, after the matches end, go out into the streets in groups. But this does not mean that the police should accuse these groups of people of having gone out in demonstration. However, if crowds of people come out of the homes, there must also be many of our comrades among them. Let them also go to the homes to listen to the sport and come out together with them. I brought this example, because when we speak of organizing preventive work against ugly events, it must be thought of down to the details to avoid surprises and not find ourselves caught off guard.
I think that Agron Tafa has fault and grave responsibility for the event of Kavaja, if it happened as comrade Muho reported to me. Today is not the time to go out before the youth who are commenting on the match and, using the authority of the Party secretary, tell them: “What are you doing like this?!” The Party secretary could enter into conversation among them, in a human way, and ask them “Who played better, the German team?” He too could express his thoughts on the match, but not go and shout at them with a commanding breath, because such practices today irritate people.
Among those people there may be even one, two, or three individuals who profit from a mistake of the secretary, from the manner of his stance and behavior. Naturally, with what I am saying, I do not want to justify the behaviors and actions of the vagabonds of Kavaja, but I wanted to say that the cadres, our leaders must not fall into their wrong position. This shows that we are not living as we should with today’s situations and moments, we do not understand correctly the different mentalities of people that appear more clearly, especially in these moments.
A little while ago it was mentioned here that it was not the moment to put in the newspaper, precisely today, the news of Mladenov’s resignation. To act in this manner means not to understand the moment. It had no importance whether this news could be published even tomorrow or the day after. While its publication today leaves room for an allusion: “Is Ramiz Alia also being asked to resign?” Do you think, Marash Hajati, member of the Central Committee of the Party, even the director of ATSH, that at this moment such allusions can also be made?!
COMRADE SOFOKLI LAZRI: Comrade Ramiz, we must not always think that Marash made this mistake out of stupidity. I do not consider Marash Hajati “stupid.” If he accepts that he is such, he must resign. He may accept that he has made a mistake, but precisely for this he must resign. I think there are no fools in politics.
COMRADE HALIL LEJLI: To tell the truth, lately the press has taken a lot of revan…!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: This is not happening only with the press…!
COMRADE HALIL LEJLI: There are some of the people who write…!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The issue must be seen even more broadly. I have no objection to the issue that Sofo raises, but in this dialogue I caught several issues and emphasized especially that in this situation our comrades, the leading cadres, the people of propaganda must act with much thought. They must reflect better in the situations and moments we are going through, not judge and walk lightly over the issues and problems that come before us. More care must be taken by all, especially the secretaries of the Party committees of the districts. Today is not the time to sleep, for “whispering,” futile and without bread.
Today is the time for action and the action must be done by us, together with the communists. We must raise to their feet the communists, the people, the working class, the youth, and also the intelligentsia. At this moment, of very great importance, the intelligentsia too must pronounce itself with the opinion of the Party, comrade Dritëro. This is an important issue, because do not forget that the youth listens a lot to the intelligentsia. Therefore, if the reaction seeks “officers” for those it gathered in the embassies, or for any opposition desired by it, it seeks them precisely from the ranks of the intelligentsia. You must be careful about this. Our intelligentsia must be combative and especially those intellectuals whose voice is heard.
There is no need for them to write big articles. It is enough that in meetings and conversations with people they say even ten words, but those is for the benefit of the Party’s cause and stigmatize these actions that the reaction does against Albania. Thus they will serve the cause of strengthening the unity and also the situation in the country. I believe there is no need now for me to give suggestions on how the work can be organized and what can be done in this direction. The forms of work must be sought and chosen from the most effective and the most suitable. But once again I emphasize that care must be taken with this issue of very great importance.
COMRADE NEXHMIJE HOXHA: Excuse me, comrade Ramiz. Two days ago at the University, a pedagogue proposed that with those who have entered the embassies, an opposition party could be created. Then he also raised the question: “Why can the peasantry not create a peasant party?” While the comrade who went there yesterday from the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies to hold a conversation for the clarification of the situations said that the windows had also been broken, but it was not evidenced who broke them. Before this situation, one must not sleep!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The communists must be on their feet, together with all honest people.
COMRADE NIMET CANI: Among those who have thrown themselves into the German embassy, a boy who worked at Kinostudio, a typical ruffian, commands them all.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: We said a little while ago that we must not remain only in observations. You are the secretary of the Party committee and you must act. Raise to their feet the communists and the masses so that they cut off the road to these actions. This situation raises the need for strengthening the work of the Party. Do not wait for the meetings to be held once a month, without raising the problems that are encountered. If necessary, meetings can even be held daily, the people must be kept under the pressure of sound opinion, and the situations must be clarified. Comrade Nexhmije mentioned here an example for the University. The relevant measures must be taken to strengthen the work there and wherever such attitudes appear./ Memorie.al
Continues in the next issue
