“Since 2.30 in the morning, a group of people were waiting in front of a store on the main street of the capital for the milk ration, and a little further, in the ‘Block’, Ramiz Alia…”/ Writing of the ‘New York Times’ , March 25, ’91

“New York Times” brings the situation on the eve of the elections of March 31, 1991. The movements of the communists and the hopes of the DP, for a possible victory!

Memorie.al / At 02.30 this morning, there were women and elderly people gathered in front of a shop located on one of the main streets of the capital, waiting until it opened at 8 o’clock, to buy the milk ration. Some time earlier, at the “Block” away, President Alia had gathered the leaders of the Communist Party in a special meeting, with a reason to enter the final week of the national electoral campaign. Its top leaders were there. In the Catholic churches, which were closed 24 years ago by the communist government and which have recently reopened, this Sunday, hundreds of worshipers had gone to pray.

Elsewhere, 127 political prisoners were released from jail a week ago and joined by families and friends, who gave them clothes, pocket money and temporary shelter to make ends meet. And another 90 political prisoners are still locked up today.

Parts in a “Kaleidoscope”!

These were the parts in an Albanian “Kaleidoscope”, which is creating the fast future, almost from moment to moment. This country of 3.5 million people, the poorest in Europe, is in the death throes of 46 years of violent communist upheaval and ongoing isolation.

A year ago, President Alia, 65, set out hoping to lead slow reforms, starting from the top. But his people’s demands for democracy now, and their need for fundamental improvements in their living standards, have prompted him to take a faster step.

Democratic Party, optimistic

National elections will be held next Sunday and finally the coalition of opposition parties now believes that they will be able to topple the communists. “I am really optimistic”, says Dr. Sali Berisha, the 46-year-old leader of the Democratic Party, the largest opposition group.

One of the members of his party in the northern city of Shkodra, said on Saturday that; 1 million, out of 1.7 million voters, are young and they fully support the opposition.

He said that the communists are strong only in the southern part of the country and among the older generation. This is in the commitments of Mr. Alia, who is also the chairman of the Communist Party. In his electoral tour, he tried to retain party loyalists. “Of course, mistakes were made here,” he said in a speech published today in “Zëri i popullit”, the newspaper of the Communist Party.

“Even today, we are making mistakes. No political force can avoid them. No individual can be perfect.” Mr. Alia seemed focused on preparing his party for a possible defeat in these elections, when he said that; “The Labor Party is for constructive cooperation with all other parties.”

In a statement held at the end of his party’s conference, Alia said that the communists will campaign on the platform of being “the most progressive force and the most experienced party” in Albanian politics. The latter is certainly true.

Vote for the milk queue!

Riots and violence have surrounded Albania’s biggest cities for months, ending with dozens dead in Tirana and the Port of Durrës. A massive exodus from the sea and from the land has led to the departure of 80,000 Albanians towards Italy, Greece and Yugoslavia, since last summer.

Discontent has divided families, with the old joining the Communist Party and the young turning to the opposition. Kristina Budina, a 21-year-old student, said: “In my family, three of its members are for the Democratic Party and only my father is with the communists.”

And in the end, the choices can be decided by the people who are waiting in line to get their milk ration. “We don’t love the Bolsheviks anymore,” said an elderly woman, as she was this early morning on “Kongresi i Përmet” street, one of the main boulevards of the capital. She had waited in line for four hours to get 1 liter of milk. Memorie.al

The article was published in the “New York Times” on March 25, 1991

The title is editorial

Prepared for publication, Albert Gjoka