Word: aliae
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...December student demonstrations, belatedly inspired by the upheavals in the rest of the East bloc, forced concessions from the government of President Ramiz Alia, including promises of fair elections and economic reform. According to spokesman Polydoras in Athens, Alia is trying to rid himself of the Greeks before the vote scheduled for February because the ethnic group, which exceeds 10% of the population, is opposed to his rule...
That thud heard last week was the sound of Europe's last Marxist dictatorship landing on the trash heap of history. Following three days of student riots in Tirana, Albanian President Ramiz Alia summoned leaders of the demonstrations to his palace. Alia then abruptly canceled the Communists' 44-year monopoly on politics. He announced that henceforth rival parties will be permitted in the interest of "further democratization...
They could be right. Ever since last year's wave of anticommunist revolutions, Albania's Stalinist-style regime has wavered between digging in and opening up. At first it said it would remain faithful to the orthodox Marxism of longtime leader Enver Hoxha. But last May, Ramiz Alia, who came to * power after Hoxha's death in 1985, abolished restrictions on religious observance and granted citizens the right to travel abroad...
...Alia's modest reforms seem to have split the 53-member Central Committee of the ruling party. Many Western diplomats believe a strong conservative faction has grown up around Hoxha's widow Nexhmije, supported by the Sigurimi, Albania's much feared secret police force. Anxious to slow if not halt the reforms, the conservatives may even have sought to oust Alia...
Some diplomats felt that other elements in the government had welcomed and perhaps encouraged the asylum seekers' escape bid. "If Alia wants to break with the conservatives, this is his opportunity," said a Western diplomat. "It is tailor-made for a showdown...