Dashnor Kaloçi
Twenty-fifth parts
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: Yes, this is an opportunistic thesis. In this case my attitude is not consistent, so I say I made a serious mistake. In other cases I have not been wrong and I say that in this case…!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Yes, this has to do with your conviction.
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: What about doing this, Comrade Mehmet, on the eve of the Congress ?! What does this mean? You think that it is not an opportunistic attitude, but it is done at a time when it is very costly for the Party, when the whole Party is mobilized to resolutely implement its line in all areas! Then think a little more directly about this!
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I say in self-criticism, Comrade Kadri, that if the other boys asked me for such an engagement, if they were not married, even for no one else, I would not accept. For this boy, I accepted him for the reasons I put, for the psychological trauma that the boy had, as well as for the mistake I made in dividing the family of Qazim Turdi.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Excuse me, Comrade Mehmet. I mean you admit that you did this action with full conscience; you knew you were doing an action that is contrary to the Party line.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: No.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: But why?! You, when you say that you would not do this for any of the other children, in fact you did it for Skënder with full conscience. I say this to help you, because even in self-criticism, about which I will say my opinion, you do not take things in stride. What does it mean that you would not make such a mistake for other children? This means that you were convinced that the engagement you made was contrary to the Party line.
You even say that you do not recommend such an action to any friend, and you are right, you should not recommend it to anyone, because it is against the policy of the Party. However, you said, “I will do it,” and you did it because you wanted to do it, thinking that the Party would tolerate it for you, you thought it was permissible for you. But why did you think the Party would not react to what you did? If you thought that the Party would react and you would break the engagement again, why did you do it then? You thought the Party would accept it. Then why did you think so? Does this have anything to do with the questions your friends asked you here? Do you put yourself above the Party? Party rates have no value to you! So how do you explain what you are saying, that’s my opinion? This is where you need to reflect, I think.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I, Comrade Ramiz, do not put myself above the Party. Of course I was wrong on this issue, as I explain in the self-criticism, but on the Party I do not put myself.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: But this does not explain the issue, Comrade Mehmet that you yourself say that what you did is contrary to the line of the Party, you yourself say that such a thing. You would not do it for other children, you would not allow it to your friends, and indeed it is, you would not recommend it to other children or friends, because you were convinced that this is contrary to the line of the party. Then why did you accept it? Here is the problem, here is the key.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Here, in the complex of all these issues…!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Then the comrades are right who say why you put the interest of the family and the son above the interest of the Party. They are very right to say that.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I said, I did not consciously put the interest of the Party…!
COMRADE SIMON STEFANI: Yes, you yourself say, Comrade Mehmet, that I did it conscientiously for this boy.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: You yourself say that, you would not accept this for other children.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I did it for the reasons I said.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: Comrade Mehmet, it is not a matter of playing with words to spend time here. The point is that you are not at that level not to judge on this action that has exactly to do with the Party line. Even in this case, as long as you have feelings of sentimentality towards the boy, it becomes clear that all your actions that brought in this issue, lie in putting the boy’s interest above that of the Party. Here is the mistake.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Yes, I did not start from what he did conscientiously.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: Since you are leaving, it is another matter, but the action here brings you out. We always, in every action, in every moment, in everything, say that we must not forget the Party. This action on your part is a very flagrant and big case. How do you forget the Party in this case?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I know he is big and flagrant.
COMRADE KADRI HAZBIU: If you suffer from sentimentality, Comrade Mehmet, why did you not show sentimentality about the norms of the Party, about the line of the Party, about the interest of the Party? Let’s judge this issue a bit from this side as well. Then this sentimentality, contrary to all the norms and rules of the Party, stands only in the case of this boy or has it also influenced other cases and problems? You need to look at this issue more broadly.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: In this matter the mistake was made only for this boy, for the psychological trauma he suffered…!
COMRADE SIMON STEFANI: The sentimentality you rely on is not an argument. It has to do with your worldview, because you think so, so act. You do not explain sentimentality, both theoretically and practically, correctly.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I say how I thought then, how I thought in those moments when I got engaged, I do not say how I think now. Now I think differently.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Friends want to know how you thought and how you think today, so ask some questions, the meaning of which proves the opposite of the reasoning, not to push you to do wrong. Now you need to answer these questions clearly so that you can recover later. I would answer these questions this way: not only did I think wrong, but I put the interest of the Party below the interest of the boy. That would be a fair self-criticism. We are talking about that moment.
Here we judge the facts. That is why we say that at that moment you lose the leadership of the Party, you lose the balance in the line, that is, you violate this. So it is fair to say. Then a series of other questions that are addressed to you, are quite clear. Do not try to cover them with the formula “at that time”, because at that time, we all accept it, it was done as it was done, now that we are here, what do you think? Do you think so how do your friends ask? That they disagree with the answers he gives them.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: At that time I did not think so, Comrade Enver. Now I understand that this is so.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Do you consider these questions that we are asking you right now?
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I consider them right.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: So at least tell us you are right, are you convinced of this right you give us?
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: And the conviction that these that we ask are right, takes you away from that mistake. This is what we want, to help you, to get away from the mistake.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: The questions of the comrades are right. Judging by them today, so be it. In that practical and concrete moment, judging it as I judged it, in fact I damaged the interest of the Party and at the same time the interest of my family and my son was also damaged.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: Well, here is a step forward on your part. Now get the answers again from the beginning and respond with this spirit and you will see that you will go out of the way that the whole Party wants you to go out.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: The second question, which I have not listed here, which of my friends did it, but I have marked it, is whether my negative qualities have affected my daily, ordinary work.
I believe yes, they have influenced, without question they have influenced. I have fought against these qualities, as much as I have fought and achieved some result, but, as I say, I have not been completely liberated from them. It is impossible that these have not affected my work as badly as they have. In all my work and life that I am in the Party, all the time there have been concrete cases that those traits have affected me badly. Such negative traits cannot but affect badly.
Next question: Has the Party-based organization of which I belong been informed?
I informed the secretary of my base organization, I informed him that I had made a serious political mistake of this nature and for this I will make a self-criticism in the Politburo and after I make a self-criticism there, then I will come to speak in the basic organization of the Party.
COMRADE ENVER HOXHA: On this issue, to speak like this, I also advised Comrade Mehmet, when he expressed his opinion that he would put in the basic organization of the Party to make self-criticism. I told him to discuss this issue once in the Politburo, then to discuss it in the grassroots organization.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: Friends ask: The boy, despite all the mistakes he made, why did you send him back to study abroad?
The boy, as I say in the material you read, accepted and made the separation with the girl who got engaged, and I thought at the time that he could go and advised himself that he could go outside. Then I withdrew this thought and informed him, writing to him that as long as he gives the exam he has in his hands, he should return, and he will return. The last exam he has to take is around January 12 and immediately after that he will return and go to work wherever the Party will assign him.
COMRADE MUHO ASLLANI: I had something to add to this, Comrade Mehmet, he should have returned immediately.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: You must understand this well that the boy should not go. Then, this guy with all the flaws he has and the serious mistakes he has made, how could he accomplish them with a letter or with a saying: “Dad I will finish the exams and come back”. He does not even deserve to pass the exam for the mistake he made. This is what you yourself said.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: I have now informed him to return.
COMRADE RITA MARKO: This contradicts what you say, that he also had a trauma. He got confused with a girl with bad family circle and was sent out. How is he sent abroad, what security do you have for this man? Here, even here you have underestimation, even on this issue you have to think well.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: And the people, Comrade Mehmet, hear, he says that he who made this mistake, should not go out.
COMRADE MEHMET SHEHU: That is why I decided to return soon, even without finishing the exams./Memorie.al
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