From Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al / In the late ’80s, when dictatorial and totalitarian communist regimes that had governed since the end of World War II were falling one after another across Eastern Europe – with some of their leaders even facing a firing squad, as happened in Romania with Nicolae Ceausescu – in Albania, the PPSH (Albanian Party of Labour) not only failed to reflect on making the necessary changes, but did the opposite of what was expected by the entire international community and by Albanians themselves. More than any other country in Europe, Albanians had felt the brutal dictatorship of the communist regime of Enver Hoxha and his successor, Ramiz Alia, on their shoulders.
While barely 35 years have passed since that time and those events are fresh in the memory of all Albanians, some former high-ranking officials and exponents of the PPSH from that era, in their memoirs or numerous articles published from time to time in the daily press after the ’90s, have tried to present the PPSH and its former head at that time, Ramiz Alia, as promoters of those democratic movements that finally included Albania. But various PPSH documents, such as the one we are publishing today (it is truncated, as it was prepared at the time for internal use and with abbreviations), speak to the opposite of what is claimed by former leaders of the PPSH and high-ranking officials of that time. This is clearly seen in this document, which are a summary of that plenum and the speech of Ramiz Alia.
The Archival Document of the IXth Plenum of the Central Committee of the PPSH
The IXth Plenum of the Central Committee of the PPSH held its proceedings on January 22 and 23, 1990. Based on the speech given by comrade Ramiz Alia, it examined the problems that arose in the implementation of the decisions of the VIIIth Plenum and defined the tasks for the further revolutionary transformation of the Party’s life throughout the country, through the deepening of socialist democracy, the increase of the role of the working masses, and the perfection of economic relations. In this meeting, the Central Committee conducted a deep analysis of the current developments in Eastern European countries, also defining its positions towards them.
The Central Committee of the PPSH on the Changes in the East
The Central Committee found:
- The political changes that have occurred in Eastern Europe, in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, and Romania, have brought right-wing forces to power. The international bourgeoisie and reaction seek and work to destroy everything there that could be reminiscent of socialism. In bourgeois propaganda, the socialist ideal has been declared anachronistic. Reaction presents communism as a threatening phantom not for the bourgeoisie, but for the people. The counter-revolutionary process in Eastern countries was carried out with the instigation and intervention of Western reaction and the Soviet Union.
But it was also supported by the working masses, who were disillusioned by the revisionist rule, its bureaucracy and violence, and economic stagnation. The bad thing is that the peoples of these countries experienced these phenomena as a product of the socialist system, of Marxism-Leninism. Our Party, rightly in the titanic struggle against revisionism, is focused on tearing up the “socialist” masks, on unmasking the “Marxist” speculations on its part. The Albanian communists understood and fought as much as they could, with what means they had, with what strength they had, for people to understand the danger of compromising socialism, its ideology, and its revolutionary policy. But the tragedy happened. We experience this tragedy with pain, but, of course, without despair.
The Aims of the Soviet Union for Albania
Comrade Enver has emphasized that one of the main sources that influenced the birth and development of revisionism was bureaucracy and liberalism. Now that more than three decades have passed since the time of the appearance of revisionism, a deeper analysis of this phenomenon would allow us to correctly define those mechanisms of the socialist system that should have played a greater role in its strengthening and that were neglected. In the Soviet Union, they understood that bureaucracy was growing and that it posed a great danger.
But there, bureaucracy was fought not through its opposite, that is, by increasing the role of the masses, by strengthening socialist democracy, but by strengthening and perfecting the administration, by standardizing everything in the activity of the Party, the state of social relations, by increasing vertical centralism. The Soviets also fought liberalism in administrative ways. They opposed it with dogma and not with the confrontation of ideas and arguments; they opposed it with general principles and not with the solution of problems. This created the conditions for individuals and groups of people, especially from the ranks of the intelligentsia, to cool off with socialism. Here, the bourgeoisie found dissidents; here, the revisionist clique found its social base.
- The international bourgeoisie, including the Soviet leadership, aims for those counter-revolutionary processes that occurred in Eastern Europe to also take place in Albania. For this purpose, numerous pressures have been and will be made. Regardless of whether the demands are covered by slogans for democracy and human rights, etc., the objective is the overthrow of people’s power and the liquidation of our independence, freedom, and socialist victories. The Plenum of the Central Committee emphasizes that the Albanian people will defend the freedom and independence won with blood, socialism, as their most precious thing, with determination, with every means, and without any hesitation.
Our people have chosen their own path of development and do not allow anyone to interfere in their internal affairs. They and no one else know what needs to be done for the process of socialist construction to always move forward. In Albania, the Albanian people are the master; they and only they are the master of their destiny. Socialist construction in our country has made great strides forward. Now we have entered a broad front in a new phase, that of intensive development, where qualitative factors are coming more and more to the forefront.
How Will We Preserve Our Power?
Taking into account the tasks set by the VIIIth Plenum of the Central Committee, evaluating the achievements, as well as the demands of the present time, drawing lessons from the events in the Eastern countries, with the aim of guaranteeing the socialist continuity, freedom, and independence of the homeland, the IXth Plenum of the Central Committee unanimously decided:
- To strengthen the internal political and economic situation, in order to withstand external pressures, whether they are political, military, or economic. To explain to the masses that the bourgeoisie, the international reaction, as the events of Eastern Europe show, aim to destroy socialism and restore the order of oppression and exploitation, to liquidate the freedom won, and to destroy the independence and national sovereignty. The fundamental tasks facing the Party are:
- To improve the political and propaganda work of the Party. It is necessary for people to understand the essence of the struggle that is being waged today against socialism and in particular against our country. Behind demagogic slogans, such as those for the protection of human rights, for political pluralism, and for the development of democracy, etc.,…is hidden the counter-revolutionary goal of reaction and the bourgeoisie to seize the people’s freedom and independence.
For this, we must work better with the mass organizations, the Democratic Front, the BRPSH (Union of the Youth of Labour of Albania), the BPSH (Union of the Women of Labour of Albania), the BGSH (Union of the Elderly of Labour of Albania), as well as other social organizations. The press, Radio-Television, and Party propaganda must completely improve their work, so that the word of the Party reaches the masses as well and as quickly as possible, so that it is transmitted not with slogans and general phrases, but with convincing and understandable arguments. The most responsible and qualified cadres of the Party, as well as specialists and activists from various fields, must take an active part in the propaganda activity.
How Will We Work for Relations with the Outside World?
The Plenum appreciated the achievements of the Albanian state’s foreign policy. It confirmed that the diplomatic and political role of our country in the Balkan Peninsula and in other Mediterranean countries has increased. The authority of Albania, as a country with all-round stability, is unshakable. Foreign policy has become an important factor in guaranteeing socialist victories and elevating them. Albania has pursued and will pursue a policy of peace and friendly cooperation with others. This has been and will be its line even in the conditions created after the events in Eastern Europe.
We have neither wanted nor want isolation; it has not been and does not constitute the political line of the Party of Labour and the Albanian state. Albania’s enemies have wanted and would want it. Therefore, at all times, our attitude towards the outside world must be active, both in political relations and cooperation, as well as in cultural and economic ones. The Plenum for the further development of relations between our country and the outside world, defined the following measures:
- To work for the strengthening of relations with neighbors and the entire Balkan region. To carefully follow the new developments in the region and to prepare all the necessary conditions for the full realization of the goals of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of our peninsula, which will be held this year in Tirana? To carefully follow the developments in Europe, the multilateral political, economic, and cultural activities that are taking place here and, taking into account the national interests of our country, to define the respective positions. The PRSA (People’s Republic of Albania) will maintain ties with any state that responds to the friendship we offer with friendship.
The Speech of Ramiz Alia
Comrades, today’s meeting is in a way a continuation of the proceedings of the VIIIth Plenum of the Central Committee. To facilitate the work of this meeting of the Central Committee, allow me to present some thoughts that can serve as a basis for a fruitful discussion. Only about four months have passed since the meeting of the VIIIth Plenum. But the international political situation has changed a lot. In the Eastern countries, in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Bulgaria, and Romania, great changes have taken place. It is noted that these countries, while remaining members of the Warsaw Pact, are expanding their ties with the West, especially in economic relations, but also political ones.
They are establishing ties with Western socialist and social-democratic parties, are getting closer and aiming to enter the European Union, are strengthening ties with the EEC, with the International Monetary Fund, and other Western institutions. The Western countries are instigating the new changes in Eastern Europe. Under the calls for free elections and political pluralism, for the creation of as many different parties and groups as possible, they seek to destroy everything that reminds them of socialism.
Ramiz Alia: Here’s the Agreement Between Bush and Gorbachev!
The events in Eastern Europe, for us, in a general sense, are not unexpected. What our Party and comrade Enver had predicted for decades, and which at that time, few in the outside world believed, happened. For more than 30 years since the appearance on the scene of Khrushchev in the Soviet Union and then with the acceptance of Khrushchevism and Brezhnevism by the countries of Eastern Europe, we have talked about the re-establishment of capitalism there and have considered the process of returning to bourgeois society as completed.
However, in the current events, there is something new: in Poland, the Communist Party is no longer the ruler; it is in opposition, while Solidarity has taken power; in the German Democratic Republic, Honecker left and an organization called the Democratic Forum is coming to the head of the country; in Czechoslovakia, Husak left and Dubček returned, and so on. These things that have happened have multilateral consequences, which require new ideological, political, and economic analyses and evaluations. The changes that are happening in Eastern Europe are not opposed by the Soviet Union.
In fact, it has inspired and instigated them, even though, in some cases, as in the GDR, they have gotten out of control, or, in another, as in Poland and Hungary, the hand of the Western bourgeoisie has been more present. However, the Soviet Union does not allow the Eastern countries to move into political-military alliances with the West, that is, to leave the zone of Soviet influence and even more so to be transformed into anti-Soviet bastions, in any kind of “sanitary cordon,” as they were before the Second World War. This was also the main goal of the Bush-Gorbachev meeting in Malta, and for this, they agreed with each other. The events in the East, besides the euphoria, have also caused some concerns in the West.
Some political problems emerged, such as the German question and the future position of military pacts and economic unions, but no less worrying have become the problems of overcoming the crisis in the Eastern countries. However, all parties are of the opinion that these processes should be encouraged, because on the whole they go in favor of capitalism.
Alia: “In our country, there is no tradition of pluralism; the hegemony belongs to the PPSH, while the international bourgeoisie seeks to revive the ‘Balli’ and ‘Legaliteti’!”
In the IXth Plenum of the Central Committee of the PPSH, among other things, in his speech, Ramiz Alia stated that in Albania there was no tradition of pluralism and that the hegemony belonged to the PPSH. Regarding this, he emphasized: “The many parties in the East have their basis in the deep social-class changes that once existed and that were revived and deepened in the years when the revisionists were in power. There, society was differentiated and stratified, polarized, classes and strata with different interests were born that objectively could not find a refuge and be represented by a party that was not theirs.
Now, each of these groups seeks its share in power. We have declared for the hegemony of the Party of Labour, being aware that this is a basic condition for socialist construction, which also coincides with the objective circumstances of our country. If we look at the issue on a historical level, if we go back to the past, to the time of the Zog regime, there were no separate political parties in Albania. During the fascist occupation, political parties and organizations were created for the first time. The first was the Communist Party of Albania, today the Party of Labour.
From the very first day, it threw itself into an uncompromising war against fascism, for a free, democratic, and popular Albania. Immediately after the creation of the party and as a reaction, the ‘Balli Kombëtar’ (National Front) was created, and later ‘Legaliteti’ (Legality). These two organizations, which represented the wealthy classes and the partisans of the return of the Monarchy, failed to be transformed into political parties with influence in the country, because from the first steps, they came out as collaborationist organizations, which put themselves in the open service of the Italian and German fascist invaders, so they came out as anti-national organizations. As such, the people did not follow them.
In the conditions of our country, the calls of the international bourgeoisie for party pluralism mean the revival of the ‘Balli Kombëtar’ and ‘Legaliteti’, or the creation of other similar anti-socialist and anti-national political organizations. This would not be an expression of democracy, but a means to weaken national unity and create the conditions for the destruction of socialism.”
Alia: “Pluralism in our country is the assemblies and councils of elders”
The PPSH sought to present the existence of several mass organizations such as the Professional Unions, Veterans, Women’s Union, Youth Union, etc., to the international community as signs of a real democracy in Albania. In fact, not only to the international community but also to the internal one, as at the beginning of 1991, the PPSH demanded that in the first pluralist elections, these organizations, which were its levers, would compete as separate political entities.
Regarding this, among other things, in his speech at the IXth Plenum of the Central Committee, the head of the PPSH, Ramiz Alia, stated: “The lack of many parties, according to the bourgeoisie’s measure, is supposedly a lack of democracy. This is not true. In our country, there have been no parties, but free discussion, the solution of the people’s problems in a democratic way, in village meetings, in assemblies, in councils of elders, in ‘odas’ etc., is an ancient tradition. Our Party, which is nourished by the wisdom of the people’s knowledge and thought, has elevated this tradition very high.
It has made the direct participation of the masses in the elaboration and implementation of the country’s economic and cultural development plans, in the discussion of every problem that interests the people, a method of its own work. It also achieves this through various organizations and associations, such as the Democratic Front, the Youth Union, the Women’s Union, the Professional Unions, the Veterans’ Organization, the League of Writers, the associations of scientists, etc. Of course, we are not satisfied with the existing situation. The deepening of the line of the masses, which constitutes the essence of our socialist democracy, must be at the center of attention. And in this concept, the development of democracy within the Party is a condition.” / Memorie.al
