By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Part Two
Memorie.al – On December 25, 1989, while it had been nearly three months since the Berlin Wall had fallen and the Eastern Bloc was collapsing day by day, and in Romania on that very day, after a swift trial, dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was executed by firing squad together with his wife, Elena (the footage of which made headlines around the world and was followed with great interest even in communist Albania), the top leadership of the Party of Labour, led by Ramiz Alia, convened urgently in Tirana. Among other things, this is made known through an archival document marked “Secret,” containing the minutes of the meeting of the Secretaries of the Central Committee of the PPSH, attended by Ramiz Alia, Pirro Kondi, Foto Çami, Hekuran Isai, and Lenka Çuko, which reveals the regime’s anxiety in the face of the upheavals sweeping across Eastern Europe, and especially Ceaușescu’s Romania.
At this meeting, the highest communist leaders, in addition to the day’s social problems – such as housing, food supply, clothing, and industrial goods for everyday use – analyzed and discussed with great concern several confidential pieces of information, including a telephone call made to the editorial office of the newspaper Zëri i Rinisë (The Voice of Youth), in which someone on the other end of the line informed them of the creation of a democratic party, etc.
Likewise, in the document in question, the top leadership of the PPSH also analyzed spontaneous reactions or words spread by certain citizens, such as on urban buses, etc., who drew analogies with the events in Romania, as well as reports from the “TANJUG” news agency or the “Greek reaction” about demonstrations in Shkodër and incidents in the border area in the south of the country, where four citizens killed at the border had been dragged along under the chassis of a truck, etc.
Faced with this critical situation, Ramiz Alia appears to have begun floating the first ideas for controlled economic reforms, changes in the concept of class struggle, and the abuse by party and state bodies of people’s biographies – extending all the way to grandparents – which is clearly a desperate attempt to keep the regime afloat.
Alongside these measures concerning the domestic situation, at that meeting Ramiz Alia also spoke about foreign policy issues, clearly articulating with his own words the need to revise relations with the European Common Market, as well as diplomatic relations with the USA and the Soviet Union, since, in his view, the arguments used up to that time for breaking off diplomatic relations with them were outdated and no longer valid.
Moreover, the head of communist Albania, Ramiz Alia, made it clear to the Central Committee secretaries at that meeting that: “if representatives of the USA seek to restore diplomatic relations, we will tell them that we will study the matter.” Because, according to him, “we can no longer proceed with political grudges, for politics is not conducted through grudges.” However, on this point – that is, the revision of foreign policy and the restoration of diplomatic relations with the USA and the Soviet Union – Ramiz Alia appears somewhat contradictory, since just a little earlier he states: “By this I do not mean that we should establish relations with the USA, but that we should use a different argument.”
Perhaps, and most likely, alongside Ramiz Alia’s dualistic character, he floated that idea to test the pulse of his subordinates in the top leadership of the PPSH and to hear their opinions on that issue – indeed, one of the most important matters that could have been discussed by official Tirana since 1946, when the American mission received a firm order to leave Albania immediately! Regarding this and other matters, we will learn more from the document in question, recently extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana (from the former Central Committee of the PPSH fund), published for the first time by Memorie.al.
Continued from the previous issue
THE SECRET DOCUMENT WITH THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSH, DECEMBER 25, 1989
MEETING OF THE COMRADE SECRETARIES OF THE PARTY’S CENTRAL COMMITTEE
December 25, 1989 Secret
Present at the meeting are comrades: Ramiz Alia, Foto Çami, Hekuran Isai, Lenka Çuko, and Pirro Kondi. The meeting is chaired by the First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee, Comrade Ramiz Alia.
At this meeting, Comrade Pirro Kondi informs the Central Committee secretaries about the elaboration of Comrade Ramiz Alia’s speech, delivered at the plenum of the Central Council of the BPSH (United Trade Union of Albania), in the Party organizations of the district, and the issues that have arisen from it. He also reports to the comrades on the supply situation in the capital. Comrade Ramiz puts forward several ideas for solving current development problems in the economy and every other sector.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: We are building socialism surrounded by the capitalist and revisionist world, which exerts great political and ideological pressure against our country in all directions, so such phenomena have existed and will continue to exist. The events in the countries of Eastern Europe are, for us, indirect warnings of a threatening situation, so communists and the people must remain vigilant, the Army and Internal Affairs organs must be on alert to crush any provocation that may be carried out against our country.
Let us act in such a way that the people are not alarmed, nor should there be restrictions – everything must proceed normally in all directions. The Song Festival on Radio-Television will be held as always, sports activities will take place, New Year’s Eve will be celebrated, etc. Caution must be exercised in the activities to be held. The Party and the communists must be at the forefront, to react immediately to any incident that may occur, to take control of the situation and not wait for the police to intervene.
The vigilance and revolutionary militancy that communists have pledged to increase must be demonstrated through deeds. In our country there is no reason or danger for people to rise up in masses, as happened in the countries of Eastern Europe, but three or four individuals could cause a commotion at a sporting event, during New Year’s Eve, etc.
In activities where there is a large gathering of people, if two people start fighting, others get involved – some to defend their comrade and others to separate them – and so a scandal erupts. Therefore, in every activity there should also be communists present to prevent any scandal, because the enemy will exploit it for their own purposes. For any situation that may arise in such cases, communists must notify the Party organs in the district or region. The point is to avoid bringing in the police.
The events unfolding in Eastern Europe, especially those in Romania are being followed with particular attention by everyone. These have their own political and ideological consequences. The situation is very complicated, so the propaganda and press organs must exercise great caution in this regard. They must be very measured in the news they provide, leaving no room for misunderstandings. Until now, the information on these events has been good and prompt, but greater care must be taken in the future.
In the news our television broadcast these days, it was said that the National Salvation Committee has decided that Romania should not export foodstuffs. This concerns me, because it might create the impression that our country should also not export agricultural products. This issue must be clarified by our propaganda.
As is known, our country does not take loans, as other countries do, and yet they are still in crisis. We have based our development on our own forces. This guarantees us independence and sovereignty. In these conditions, our motto is: no exports, no imports. However, the common person does not understand this, so it must be explained. This becomes indispensable, especially in such situations. It would be good for you to check the news word for word, Foto!
COMRADE FOTO ÇAMI: I have reviewed the news item by item, Comrade Ramiz. What you are saying may have been added by the television staff.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: In such situations, they should ask you, Foto, about the changes they make; otherwise, we might give problems a different interpretation.
COMRADE FOTO ÇAMI: Agreed, Comrade Ramiz.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The development of events in Eastern Europe is a reflection of the political and economic crisis of revisionism, of its complete degeneration. These events, besides the ideological aspect, also have a political aspect: first, all the balances of power will be disrupted and new alliances will be created, and second, the phenomena that have arisen within the framework of these events require new arguments, analyses, and new ideological, political, and economic assessments.
This is the task not only of propaganda, but also of our science. In this direction, we must also reflect on foreign relations to determine the stances we will adopt. Specifically, let us take the issue of contradictions. The contradictions among the imperialist powers today appear in other forms. The role of the superpowers on the European continent has changed; Europe itself has changed.
Some time ago we were against the European Common Market, because it serves imperialism, whereas today, when it is competing with the imperialist superpowers, this argument no longer holds. Naturally, the change in the balance among the imperialist powers does not mean that we are in favor of the European Common Market, but our stance should now adapt to the developments that have occurred.
Let me take another example. Our ambassador does not shake hands with the American ambassador if they meet, due to the fact that our country has no relations with America, and the argument given for this is that the American government maintained a hostile stance toward Albania during the war. But there are many countries that have no relations with each other, and are even at war, yet when state dignitaries meet, they shake hands.
This is a general norm. But today, when they are maintaining a correct stance toward Albania – the American press writes positively about the resolution of the Kosovo issue – the Americans ask, why don’t you establish relations with us? They also say this: you have relations with the Germans and the Italians who occupied you, but not with America.
So we continue to hold a political grudge, but politics is not conducted through grudges. Since the time of the war, 15 administrations have changed in the USA, so the state dignitaries in power today bear no responsibility for the stances of that government back then. By this I do not mean that we should establish relations with the USA, but that we should use a different argument.
Thus, in case representatives of the USA seek to establish diplomatic relations, we should tell them that we will study the matter. Once we give them that answer, they have nothing more to say. The main problem here is to reflect anew in the field of foreign policy.
COMRADE FOTO ÇAMI: If you say a kind word to him, he won’t raise suspicions afterward.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: We could say the same thing regarding relations with the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, we broke off relations with the Soviet Union over the savage attacks and accusations that Khrushchev and his clique leveled against our Party and country, and we said that unless they apologized for this, we would not establish relations. Today, this argument no longer has value, so we must find another argument.
We also face such problems requiring new assessments in our domestic development. For example, we have bureaucratized the concept of class struggle, viewing it primarily along lineage lines – what the grandfather was, the grandmother, and so on. Thus, in evaluating a person, their biography weighs more than it should. Our youth were born and raised in the era of the Party and socialism; they have a new mentality and do not understand this, so we must reconsider it.
For us Marxist-Leninists, class struggle is a major principled issue; it is the driving force of society, but it should not be reduced to a person’s biography. The ideopolitical and moral stance of the family today is of great importance, but decisive are the work, positions, and personality of the person themselves.
This does not mean softening the class struggle. Socialism develops and moves forward through a fierce class struggle between socialist ideology and bourgeois-revisionist ideology, which at certain stages takes new forms.
Today, for example, class struggle appears in other forms. At the forefront now are theft, favoritism, bribery, and vagrancy. Even on the external front, class struggle manifests in other forms – it is not seen in clothing, but in other forms and on more fundamental issues.
The bourgeoisie and reaction are speculating a great deal today with human rights and democracy, but they use these as weapons in the struggle against socialism. All these upheavals in Eastern Europe were carried out in the name of so-called democracy, which is why foreign propaganda is giving great resonance to these events.
In Romania, it was not the kulaks who took to the streets demanding the overthrow of the government and the removal of the Party from power, but the youth. This happened because the Parties in these countries abandoned Marxism-Leninism, abandoned the socialist path, and succumbed to imperialist pressure. This led to ideological, political, and moral degeneration; the economy became disorganized and stagnated.
The revisionist parties in these countries have for so many years, through their demagogy about socialism, ideologically and politically disoriented the masses. The youth there experienced that the “socialism” propagated by the revisionist leaderships gave them nothing, was incapable of opening the way for political and economic development. The Party and power became detached from the people, transforming into a power of the bourgeoisie and a new, corrupt aristocracy. / Memorie.al
HEAD OF THE GENERAL SECTOR
Fatmir Zaloshnja
To be continued in the next issue
