The Constitution of the Party of Labour of Albania
Adopted by the 3rd Congress of the PLA
(Including amendments made at the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Congresses of the PLA)
THE “8 NENTORI” PUBLISHING HOUSE
TIRANA, 1977
CONTENTS
I. The Party
II. Party members, their duties and rights
III. Candidates for Party membership
IV. The structure of the Party; the internal democracy of the Party
V. The supreme organs of the Party
VI. The organizations of the Party in districts and regions
VII. The Party basic organizations
VIII. The Party and the Labour Youth Union of Albania
IX. The party basic organizations in the People’s Army
X. The party groups in the elected organs of the People’s State Power and the social organizations
XI. The financial means of the Party
I
THE PARTY
The Party of Albania is the organized vanguard detachment of the working class of Albania, its highest form of Labour of organization. It is made up of conscious revolutionaries tested in the struggle for the cause of the people and socialism, vanguard fighters for the implementation of its general line, who come from the working class, the cooperativist peasantry, and from the people’s intelligentsia.
The Party of Labour of Albania is a voluntary militant union of communists with a monolithic ideological and organizational unity, which does not allow any kind of divisive or factional activity or any kind of deviation from its general line, from Marxism-Leninism.
The Party of Labour of Albania gives overall leadership to the working class in all aspects of the life of the country – political, economic, cultural and military. It is the leading force of the Albanian people, defending their vital interests and the interests of socialism on a national and international scale.
In defining its policy and in all its activity, the Party of Labour of Albania is guided by Marxism-Leninism. Loyalty to Marxist-Leninist principles, their creative application in the internal conditions of the country and the concrete international circumstances are the source of its strength, its steel-like unity, and its historic victories.
The Party of Labour of Albania is the heir to the brilliant patriotic and democratic revolutionary traditions of the Albanian people.
The Party of Labour of Albania is the direct continuation of the Communist Party of Albania. It was founded on November 8, 1941 by the Albanian communists on the basis of the Albanian workers’ and communist movement, through the merging of the communist groups into a single revolutionary party of the working class on Marxist-Leninist ideological and organizational foundations. It originated from the union of the workers’ movement with scientific socialism, with the communist ideas which spread in Albania following the Great October Socialist Revolution.
The Party of Labour of Albania was created and tempered as a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party in fierce struggle against the fascist occupiers, against the local reactionary exploiting classes, against the imperialists and their tools, against the enemies of Marxism- Leninism and of the Party – factionalists, Trotskyites, opportunists and revisionists – within and without its ranks.
The Party of Labour of Albania is the leader and organizer of the historic victory of the Albanian people in the National Liberation War against the fascist occupiers and the traitors. On November 29, 1944 the Albanian people won their freedom and complete national independence, overthrew the power of the bourgeois and feudal exploiting classes, and established the people’s power. Albania broke away forever from the world capitalist system and started on the road of socialism.
Under the leadership of the Party of Labour of Albania, the people’s revolution developed uninterruptedly from an anti-imperialist democratic revolution into a socialist revolution. The People’s Republic of Albania was established. The People’s state power which emerged during the National Liberation War, was transformed into a dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of a state of people’s democracy. This state power served as a decisive weapon to carry out deep-going revolutionary transformations in the political, economic, social and cultural fields. The Land Reform was carried out, foreign capital was nationalized, the local exploiting classes were expropriated, socialist industry was set up, agriculture was collectivized, the socialist system of the economy was created. In this way, the economic base of socialism was set up and the principle «from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work> was implemented both in town and countryside. Albania was transformed from a backward agricultural country into an agricultural-industrial country.
The unity of the people around the Party has found its embodiment in the Democratic Front of Albania – the direct continuation of the National Liberation Front created by the Party during the National Liberation War, as a political organization of the broad masses of the people, the foundation of which is the alliance of the working class with the cooperativist peasantry under the leadership of the working class.
The immediate objective of the Party of Labour of Albania is the complete construction of socialist society. In order to attain this objective, it sets itself these main tasks:
to develop the socialist revolution uninterruptedly and carry it through to the end on the economic, political and ideological fronts, by consistently adhering to the law of the class struggle;
to ensure the complete construction of the material-technical base of socialism by developing the forces of production at a rapid rate in order to transform Albania from an agricultural-industrial country into an industrial-agricultural one, and later on into an industrial country with advanced agriculture;
to further develop and continuously perfect the socialist relations of production by extending and strengthening socialist ownership over the means of production, by uninterruptedly perfecting the forms of distribution and methods of management of the socialist economy; to fight for the gradual narrowing of the distinction between the working class and the peasantry, between town and countryside, between industry and agriculture, and between mental and manual work;
to ensure, on the basis of the development of the forces of production and the perfection of the relations of production, a continuous rise in the material wellbeing and the cultural level of the people;
to ceaselessly strengthen and perfect the dictatorship of the proletariat, the principal weapon for the complete construction of socialist society and for the gradual transition to communism;
to steadily raise the socialist consciousness of the peoples for the complete triumph of the proletarian ideology and communist morality.
During the socialist construction of the country the Party is guided by the principle of self-reliance.
For the complete construction of socialist society in Albania, it is necessary for the Party to perfect its own organization continuously on the basic Marxist-Leninist principle of democratic centralism, to guard its unity and iron discipline as the apple to its eye, to further develop its internal democracy, the activation and creative initiative of all the communists and all party basic organizations; to strengthen the collective method as the highest principle of the leading work of the Party, and the control of the Party from above-down, and especially from below-up; to strengthen criticism and self-criticism to disclose and eliminate shortcomings and errors; to improve its composition continually with resolute, conscious, vanguard fighters for the cause of the Party, the people and socialism, to strengthen the revolutionary ideological tempering of the communists.
The Party of Labour of Albania is a revolutionary detachment of the international communist movement. In holding aloft the triumphant banner of the great ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, its tasks are:
to defend the purity of the revolutionary doctrine of Marxism-Leninism and wage a irreconcilable principled struggle up till the complete ideological and political exposure and destruction of modern revisionism, with the Soviet revisionist leading group, which is the chief enemy in the international communist movement, at its centre, as well as to fight dogmatism and every other anti-Marxist trend;
to wage a resolute struggle against imperialism, to ensure freedom and national independence, the triumph of socialism on a world scale, and the defence of peace, by strengthening the revolutionary anti-imperialist front, directed first of all against US imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism – the chief common enemies of the peoples of the whole world;
to support and help all Marxist-Leninist parties and other revolutionary forces in the struggle against imperialism and revisionism; to support with all its strength the revolutionary liberation movements of the proletariat and the oppressed peoples;
to fight for the Marxist-Leninist unity of the international communist and workers’ movement on the basis of proletarian internationalism, to fight for friendship and close fraternal collaboration with the peoples of socialist countries and for friendship with all the peoples of the world who fight imperialism, social-imperialism, modern revisionism, and reaction.
In its relations with fraternal socialist countries and with sister Marxist-Leninist communist and workers’ parties, the Party adheres to the principle of independence, complete equality, non-interference in internal affairs and reciprocal fraternal international cooperation and aid.
The ultimate objective of the Party of Labour of Albania is the construction of communist society in Albania, in which the principle, “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” will be applied.
II
PARTY MEMBERS, THEIR DUTIES AND RIGHTS
1) Any working man or woman, who is a citizen of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, who does not exploit the labour of others, who accepts the program and Constitution of the Party and who works actively to put them into practice, who takes part and works in one of the party organizations, carries out all the decisions of the Party and regularly pays membership dues can be a member of the Party of Labour of Albania.
2) The duties of the party members are:
a) to resolutely defend the unity and the purity of the ranks of the Party, the main condition for its strength and invincibility; the Party does not permit the existence of factions within its ranks;
b) to strictly abide by and implement the Constitution, the policy and decisions of the Party, the laws of the state, the norms of communist morality, to preserve and further develop the patriotic traditions and the good customs of the people; it is not enough for the party member merely to accept the decisions of the Party, he must also be an active fighter for carrying them out; a passive and formal attitude of communists towards party decisions weakens the fighting capacity of the Party; the party member should always take a revolutionary stand in regard to party decisions: there cannot be two disciplines in the Party, one for the leaders and one for the rank-and-file; the Party has only one discipline, which is equally obligatory on all the party members, regardless of the merits and the position any individual may have;
c) to work untiringly to master the Marxist-Leninist theory, linking it closely with life, with the practice of socialist construction, to fight relentlessly to temper his own revolutionary consciousness; to think, work and live like a revolutionary and to put politics in command in all his activity;
d) to continuously strengthen his ties with the masses, to live up to his principles, be just, honest, modest, with a strong character and will, to love the people and serve them loyally; to win the respect and confidence of the masses of the working people; to be a vanguard fighter everywhere and at all times, to always be an example of good behaviour and communist morality and not separate his word from his deeds; to be an enemy of conceit, arrogance, servility, career-seeking, indifference, liberalism and the spirit of commanding the working people: to learn from the masses and be a leader and educator of them, to work actively in the mass organizations; to be an agitator, propagandist, and ardent defender of the line of the Party; to explain the policy and decisions of the Party to the working people, to rely firmly on them, on their experience, to listen attentively to the voice of the masses and to put into practice their correct opinions and proposals for the fulfilment of the tasks of the Party, to work tirelessly to strengthen the unity of the people in the Democratic Front under the leadership of the Party;
e) to set an example of conscientious work, to be a tireless worker, to work ceaselessly to raise his educational and cultural level, to enhance his professional abilities, to master technology, to steadily increase the productivity of his labour and work and produce with high quality, to fight any alien attitude towards work, to energetically support the progressive new and fight for its dissemination;
f) to protect and strengthen the socialist common property, the sacred and inviolable foundation of our socialist order at all costs, to fight sternly and unhesitatingly, against those who misuse or damage it, against disorder and neglect in its management, bearing in mind that misuse of and damage to the common property, failure to look after it, are grave crimes;
g) to place Party and state interests – the interests of the people – above his personal interests; he enjoys no privilege whatever before the laws of the state and is answerable the same as all other citizens for violation of them; to be the first in facing up to difficulties, the first to make sacrifices, and against any privilege or unjust claim:
h) to be a ruthless and courageous fighter against the class enemy, to wage the class struggle unhesitatingly and uninterruptedly, to constantly sharpen his revolutionary vigilance in defence of the Party, Marxism-Leninism and the principles of proletarian internationalism; to rise courageously against any distortion and wavering in the implementation of the line of the Party, against any influence of bourgeois and revisionist ideologies, to fight relentlessly against bureaucracy and liberalism and for the eradication of all alien manifestations, of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois remnants in people’s consciousness and backward customs; to consider the preservation of party and state secrets a sacred duty, bearing in mind that any carelessness in this respect is to the direct advantage of the enemies of the Party and charges the communists with grave responsibility;
i) to be a resolute fighter for the defence and strengthening of the socialist Homeland and the people’s power against external and internal enemies, to be exemplary in carrying out the tasks of military training, of reaching a high level of combat readiness and physical tempering;
j) to develop unrestricted criticism and self-criticism, especially criticism from below-up, to be severe and merciless towards his own shortcomings and errors, which he should not conceal from the Party, as well as towards the shortcomings and errors of others, to expose them, and through his example and just struggle help to correct them, to be irreconcilable with those who suppress criticism or hamper its development and replace it with bombastic words and praises;
to struggle against being satisfied with little, self-satisfaction and becoming dizzy with success;
it is his duty to intervene energetically to correct shortcomings and weaknesses observed in work and unjust attitudes, and, if necessary, to report them to the leading organs of the Party right up to the Central Committee, without hesitation and regardless of what person may be involved; the party member should never conceal an unsatisfactory state of affairs, and should allow no unjust actions, which harm the interests of the Party and the State, to be committed.
k) to work with justice and honesty in any job to which he is appointed, and not allow concealment and distortion of the truth, bearing in mind that lack of sincerity towards the Party and deception of the Party are serious crimes for a communist; to always be guided by the principles of the Party, to be irreconcilable with the solution of problems on the basis of relations of friendship, personal connections, kinship and local interests; to fight for the precise implementation of the policy of the Party in the selection of cadres and the appointment of people to work, on the basis of their loyalty, their political and moral qualities and abilities.
If he fails to carry out the above duties properly the party member is subject to criticism and disciplinary measures of an educative character. In cases when he violates them seriously, breaches the unity of the Party, transgresses the laws of the state and the decisions of the Party, damages the common property and the general interests of the people, or deceives the Party, for these grave faults he is punished severely, up to expulsion from the Party.
3) The Party member has the right:
a) To take part freely and actively in the discussion of problems of party policy, at party meetings and in the party press;
b) to criticize, at party meetings, the activity and conduct of any party member, regardless of the post he holds;
c) to elect and to be elected to the leading organs of the Party;
d) to take part personally on all occasions at which a decision is taken concerning his activity or conduct;
e) to address himself to all the leading organs of the Party, up to the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, over any personal or party problems and to ask any questions, and make any requests, statements and proposals to them.
4) Admission to the Party
Admission to the Party is done in an individual manner only. New members are admitted only from the ranks of candidates for party membership, who have completed the set probation period. The new members admitted to the Party must come from the ranks of the working class, the working peasantry and the people’s intelligentsia and be conscientious, active, of strong character, and excellent conduct and morality, ready for any sacrifice, clear politically and ideologically, consistent revolutionaries, linked with the masses and of proven loyalty to the cause of communism.
For admission to the Party no distinction is made on account of nationality, race or sex.
Those admitted to the Party must have completed 18 years of age.
The rules for admission to the Party are as follows;
a) All those seeking acceptance as candidates for party membership must present the recommendations of three members with not less than five years membership of the Party, who have known the candidate during their work together for not less than three years, with the exception of particular cases; candidate members applying for admission to the Party do not present new recommendations, since the recommendations they have already presented for their admission as candidates for membership are still valid;
Note one: For admission to the Party of members of the Labour Youth Union of Albania, the recommendation issued by the basic organization of the LYUA and approved by the district or regional committee of the LYUA or another committee of the same rank, replaces the recommendation of one party member.
Note two: Members and candidate members of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania abstain from giving recommendations.
b) the question of admission to the Party is examined and decided at the meeting of party basic organization; the decision of the party basic organization comes into force after being approved by the Party committee of the district or region; following this approval, the member admitted to the party is given his Party card, whereas the candidate member is given his candidate’s certificate;
Note: It is not obligatory for those who recommended the candidate to attend the meeting of the basic organization, when the question of the admission to the Party is examined and decided.
c) young men and women up to 20 years are admitted to the Party only from the ranks of the LYUA;
d) those who have been members of other parties can be admitted to the Party of Labour of Albania only in exceptional cases and with the recommendation of four party members, three of whom must have a length of party membership of not less than ten years, while the other must be a party member at least from the year 1943; the admission is done only through the party basic organization and comes into force only after being approved by the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania;
e) the party members who give their recommendation must be well acquainted with the candidate whom they recommend and must be fully convinced that he will be a worthy member of the Party; they are responsible to the Party for the quality and trustworthiness of their recommendations;
f) the length of party membership of the person who is admitted as a party member from the ranks of candidate members starts from the day when the meeting of the party basic organization decides to admit him as a party member.
5) The member of a party organization, when transferred to another party organization, is enrolled by the latter as its member.
Note: The transfer of the party members from one organization to another is done according to the rules set out by the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania.
6) When, without reason, a party member, does not take part in the meetings of his basic organization or does not pay his membership dues for three months in succession, the party organization must examine the question of his remaining in the party ranks and take a decision on this. Regardless of what measure is taken on this occasion, the decision of the basic organization comes into force after being approved by the committee of the district or region.
7) The expulsion of a member from the Party is decided by the meeting of the party basic organization of which he is a member and comes into force after being approved by party committee of the district or region.
Pending the approval of the decision of expulsion by the district or region committee of the Party, the Party member keeps his Party card and has the right to participate in the meetings of the party basic organization.
8) The party basic organization cannot take the decision to expel a member from the Party, or reduce him to a candidate member, if he is a member of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, or of the Party committee of the district or region.
Expulsion from the Party or reduction to candidate membership of the members of the district party committees, is decided by the plenums of the respective committees, if the respective plenum deems it necessary on the basis of two-thirds of the votes.
9) The question of the expulsion of a member of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania from the Central Committee, as well as of his expulsion from the Party or reduction from a Party member to a candidate member, is decided by the congress of the Party and, in the period between two congresses, by the plenum of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, with a majority of two-thirds of votes of the members of the Central Committee. The member expelled from the Central Committee is replaced by a candidate member of the Central Committee by decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee.
10) The decision on the expulsion of a member from the Party must be taken only after a thorough examination of his conduct and faults, after a careful verification of whether the charges brought against him are true, and after they have been judged in a most comradely spirit, with the greatest justice and maturity.
For less serious faults and mistakes, party disciplinary measures of an educative character (in accordance with the rules laid down by the Central Committee of the Party) are taken and expulsion from the Party, which is the gravest disciplinary measure in the Party, is not immediately resorted to.
When necessary, as a disciplinary measure, the party organization may decide to reduce a party member to a candidate for party membership for a period of not less than one year. The decision of the party basic organization to reduce party member to a candidate for party membership, comes into force after being approved by the district or party committee of the region. After the elapse of the period set, the question of the party member reduced to a candidate for party membership is examined by the basic organization and if he is readmitted to the Party, his former length of membership is recognised.
11) Disciplinary measures of an educative character taken against a party member may be lifted when, through his work and good attitude he gives proof that he has corrected himself and that he is fulfilling his duties as a party member regularly and conscientiously.
12) The decision to expel a member from the Party must be examined by the respective organs of the Party not later than thirty days after the adoption of the decision by the basic organization.
13) For violations of the unity of the Party, failure to carry out the decisions of the higher organs, and other grave faults in opposition to the line of the Party, such disciplinary measures may be taken against basic organizations as a general re-enrolment of the members (the dissolution of the party basic organization). The decision on the general re-enrolment of members comes into force only after being approved by the Central Committee of the Party.
14) Anyone expelled from the Party, or any communist against whom disciplinary measures of an educative character have been taken, enjoys the right of appeal against the decision on his expulsion from the Party or the disciplinary measure, up to the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania. The appeal lodged by those expelled or by communists against whom disciplinary measures have been taken, must be examined by the respective local organs of the Party not later than thirty days after it has been lodged, and by the Central Control and Audit Commission not more than forty-five days later.
The return to the Party of a member unjustly expelled from it is decided by the organ of the Party which has approved his expulsion or by the higher organs of the Party. In these cases the member’s former length of membership in the Party is recognised.
III
CANDIDATES FOR PARTY MEMBERSHIP
15) All those who wish to join the Party, must serve the probation period fixed for the candidates for party membership, a period indispensable for the candidate for membership to acquaint himself with the program, the Constitution and the tactics of the Party, and for the basic organization to become thoroughly acquainted with the personal qualities of the candidate member, first and foremost, in the practical implementation of the line and tasks of the Party.
The probation period for a candidate member must serve to temper him with the qualities of a communist and to test whether he is capable of preserving and developing them further, even in difficult conditions and circumstances. The probation period for candidates for Party membership, especially those with origin or status as officials, or who come from intellectual families, or are such themselves, must be carried out wherever the party basic organization or the party committee assigns them, mostly to difficult sectors of work, according to their profession, or simply to manual work, near their place of residence or outside it. The probation period should serve the intensive, all-round, ideological education of the candidate member, therefore he must place himself completely under the direction of the party basic organization and the workers’ collective where he works, and everybody must know that he is being prepared for admission to the Party.
16) The time fixed for the probation period of the candidate member is two to three years.
17) Candidates for party membership have the same duties as the members of the Party. Candidates for membership take part in the meetings of the basic organization with the right to a consultative vote; they cannot be elected to the organs of the Party, conferences of the Party, the presidiums of basic organization meetings, and cannot give recommendations for admission to the Party.
18) The party basic organization has the duty to help the candidate to prepare himself in order to be admitted to the Party. After the candidate has completed the probation period, the party basic organization must immediately take up the question of the candidate for party membership up at its meetings and decide whether he is worthy of being admitted as a member of the Party. When the party organization has proofs that the candidate is not worthy of being admitted to party membership, it takes the decision to expel him from the ranks of the candidates for membership of the Party.
19) For the expulsion of candidates for party membership as well as for the adoption of disciplinary measures of an educative character towards them, if they fail to carry out the duties and the rules set by the Party, the procedure is the same as for the members of the Party.
IV
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PARTY. THE INTERNAL DEMOCRACY OF THE PARTY
20) The guiding principle of the organizational structure of the Party is democratic centralism. This means that:
a) all party leading organs are elected from below-up at meetings of basic organizations, at general meetings of communists, at conferences and congresses;
b) the leading organs are obliged to render account periodically to their party organizations;
c) all leading organs of the Party must listen continuously to the opinion of lower party organizations and the mass of party members, study their experience and provide timely solutions to their problems;
d) the lower party organizations must render account to the higher party organizations for their work;
e) decisions are taken after a free thrashing out of opinions, but from the moment a decision is taken, unanimously or by a majority of votes, all party members are obliged to implement it without further discussion;
f) the decisions of the higher party organs are binding on the lower organs.
21) The collective method is the highest principle of the leading work of the Party; all party organizations implement the principle of combining collective leadership with personal responsibility. Every important question is solved collectively. At the same time, it is indispensable that the individual, too, should play his full role within the bounds of the tasks assigned, in conformity with the rules of collective work.
22) The Party of Labour of Albania is constructed on a production and a territorial basis. This means that:
a) party basic organizations are set up in production enterprises, institutions, or in other centres and places of work;
b) party organizations in a given territory (in a district region or the Republic as a whole) are united in a single party organization and have a single leading organ; the organization of the Party and its leading organ in a given territory are higher than all the organizations and organs of the Party which are active in a part of the territory or a particular work centre:
c) the Party organization which operates in a production centre or work site, as well as its leading organ, is higher than the party organizations which operate in a part or sector of the production centre or work site.
23) All the organizations of the Party settle their local problems themselves, provided that their solutions and decisions are not contrary to the decisions and line of the Party.
24) The highest leading organ of each organization of the Party is the party meeting {for the basic organizations), the conference (for the district or regional party organizations) and the congress (for the entire Party).
25) The meeting of the basic organization, the conference or congress of the Party elects a bureau or committee, which is its executive organ and directs the daily work of the organization;
26) In elections to party organs, block voting is prohibited. Voting is by secret ballot and separate for each candidature, beginning from the Party basic organizations. All party members are guaranteed the unrestricted right to propose and criticise candidates and to demand the withdrawal of candidatures put forward. The candidates who receive most of the votes, and more than half of the votes of those participating in the meeting, conference or congress, are considered elected.
If the members of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania and the members of the Central Control and Audit Commissions are not elected as delegates to the Party congress, they take part in its proceedings with the right to a consultative vote. If the members of the party committee and members of the control and audit commission of a given district, region, military unit or detachment are not elected as delegates to the conference of the respective district, region, military unit or detachment, they take part in its proceedings with the right to a consultative vote.
27) In districts or regions, the respective party committees call meetings of the activists of their party organizations to discuss important party decisions, as well as important problems of the party organization of the region or district. At the meetings of party activists, the committees regularly report to the party organizations on their activity, therefore they should not meet merely to give formal and solemn approval to the decisions or issues under consideration, but to genuinely discuss and judge them, on the basis of criticism and self- criticism, and to ensure their best possible implementation in practice.
28) Free and healthy discussions about the problems of party policy in the various organizations or throughout the Party is an inviolable right of every party member, which stems from the internal democracy of the Party. Only on the basis of the internal democracy of the Party can criticism and self-criticism be developed, can the activity and initiative of the communists be increased, and the discipline of the Party, which must be conscious and not mechanical, be strengthened.
However, a broad discussion of problems of party policy, especially a discussion throughout the Party, must be organized in such a way as not to allow attempts by a minority to impose its will upon the majority of the Party, or attempts to create factional groups with the aim of breaking the unity of the Party, or attempts at disruption which weaken the Party and disturb its stability.
A broad discussion throughout the Party •can be considered necessary only in the following cases:
a) when the need for this is expressed by several party organizations of districts or regions;
b) when there is not stable majority in the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania on the principal problems of the policy of the Party;
c) when, although the Central Committee has a stable majority holding a definite stand, it considers it necessary to verify the correctness of its policy through a discussion within the Party.
Only by meeting these conditions can it be ensured that the internal democracy of the Party is effective, and that it is not abused by elements hostile to the Party, or exploited to the detriment of the Party and the working class.
V
THE SUPREME ORGANS OF THE PARTY
29) The highest organ of the Party of Labour of Albania is the party congress.
Ordinary congresses are convened once in four years as a rule.
Extraordinary congresses are convened by the Central Committee of the Party, on its own initiative or at the request of no less than one third of all the party members represented at the previous congress.
The convening of the party congress and its agenda are announced at least two months in advance.
The congress has the right to adopt decisions only when at least half of the party members represented at the previous congress are represented in it.
The norms of representation and the procedure of electing the delegates to the party congress are decided by the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania.
30) The congress of the Party:
a) listens to, examines and approves the reports of the Central Committee of the Party, the Central Control and Audit Commission and other central organs;
b) reviews and amends the program and the Constitution of the Party;
c) defines the tactical line of the Party on the main problems of the current policy;
d) elects the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania and the Central Control and Audit Commission.
31) The congress of the Party fixes the number of the members and candidate members of the Central Committee of the Party, as well as the number of the members of the Central Control and Audit Commission. In case that one or more members of the Central Committee of the Party leave the Central Committee, their places are filled by candidates elected at the congress.
32) The Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party is convened at least once in six months.
The candidate members of the Central Committee take part in the meetings of the plenums of the Central Committee with the right of consultative vote.
33) The Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania elects:
a) the Political Bureau to direct the work of the Central Committee between the plenums;
b) the Secretariat to direct the daily work of the Party, especially to organize the check-up on the carrying out of decisions and the selection of cadres.
34) In the period between two congresses, the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania directs the entire work and activity of the Party, represents the Party in its relations with other parties, organizations and institutions, organizes and leads the various institutions of the Party, appoints the editorial boards of the central organs of the Party, which it leads directly, gives permission for the publication of organs of the press by the local organizations of the Party, deploys the forces and means of the Party and administers the central treasury.
The Central Committee leads and controls the activity of the central organs of the people’s democratic power and the mass organizations;
35) The Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania regularly reports to the Party organizations on its activity.
36) In order to strengthen the leadership and the work of the Party, the Central Committee has the right to create political sections and to send organizers of the Central Committee to various sectors of the socialist construction which are of a great importance to the national economy and the entire country. Basing itself on the completion of the tasks by the political sections, it has the right to dissolve them or turn them into ordinary party organs constructed on a production-territorial basis. The political sections work according to special ordinances approved by the Central Committee. The Central Committee also has the right to authorize the setting up of party committees in regions, remote rural zones, as well as wherever it considers this necessary, and defines their tasks, competences, and the other rules.
37) The Central Control and Audit Commission has these tasks:
a) it checks up on the rapidity and accuracy of the examination of problems by the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Party and its subordinate institutions, as well as by the local organs of the Party; it pays close attention to the struggle against manifestations of bureaucracy in the Party;
b) it checks up on and examines the problems of party members and candidate members who violate the Constitution and the line of the Party, party discipline, state laws and communist morality and calls to account those communists who must bear the responsibility for such faults;
c) it examines and decides on the appeals lodged by the members and candidate members of the Party against the decisions of Party committees in districts, regions, military units and detachments on their expulsion from the Party and other disciplinary measures taken against them; examines the letters, complaints, and reports from communists;
d) it checks up on the finances of the Central Committee of the Party and its subordinate organs, as well as the collection and paying in of party membership dues;
e) it controls and assists the control and audit commissions of the Party in districts, regions, military units and detachments.
VI
THE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE PARTY IN DISTRICTS AND REGIONS
38) The highest organ of the party organization in the district or region is the party conference for the district or region, and in the period between two conferences, the party committee of the district or region. In their activity, these organs are guided by the decisions of the Party of Labour of Albania and its leading organs.
39) The ordinary party conference of the district is convened by the party committee of the district once in two years. The extraordinary conference is convened with the decision of the district committee or at the request of one third of all the members of the Party organization of that district. The norms of representation at the conference of the district or region are decided by the committee of district or region.
The conference of the district or region listens to, examines and approves the reports on the activity of the committee of the district or region and of the control and audit commission of the district or region, examines the problems of the work of the Party in the district or region, elects the committee of the distinct or region and the control and audit commission of the district or region. The district conference elects the delegates to the Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania.
40) The conference of the district or region fixes the number of the party members and candidate members of the committee of the district or region, as well as the number of the members of the control and audit commission of the district or region.
When one or more members leave the committee of the district, their places are filled with candidate members elected in the conference of the district.
41) The committee of the district elects a bureau made up of no more than thirteen members and of three to four candidate members. The secretaries of the party committee are approved by the Central Committee of the Party and must be party members with a membership seniority of not less than five years.
42) The committee of the district or region directs the activity of all the party organizations in the district or region and in this way ensures the precise implementation of the line and decisions of the Party.
The committee of the district or region organizes and approves the setting up of party basic organizations, keeps the register of the communists, takes particular care of the development of criticism and self-criticism and the education of the communists in the spirit of an irreconcilable stand towards shortcomings, organizes the study of Marxism-Leninism by the party members and candidate members, organizes the work for the communist education of the working people, deploys the force and funds of the Party within the district or region and administers the treasury of the Party in the district or region.
The committee of the district or region directs and controls the activity of the local organs of state power and the mass organizations in its territory.
The committee of the district reports regularly to the Central Committee on its activity. It also reports regularly on its activity to the party organizations of the district or region.
43) The plenum of the committee of the district or region meets at least once in four months.
44) The control and audit commissions in districts and regions, military units and detachments have the following tasks:
a) they control the speed and accuracy in the examination of problems in the apparatuses of the party committees of districts, regions and military units and detachments and pay particular attention to the struggle against manifestations of bureaucracy in the Party in the district, region, military unit and detachment;
b) they examine and decide on the appeals lodged by party members and candidate members against whom disciplinary measures of an educative character are taken by the party basic organizations;
c) they check up on the party finances in the district or region and the collection and paying in of the membership dues in the party basic organization;
d) from time to time they report to the Central Control and Audit Commission on their activity.
VII
THE PARTY BASIC ORGANIZATIONS
45) The party basic organizations are the foundation of the Party.
The Party basic organizations are set up in factories, plants, agricultural enterprises, machine and tractor stations and all other economic enterprises, in agricultural cooperatives, detachments of the armed forces, the administration and various institutions, as well as in other work centres and residential quarters where there are no less than three party members.
When it is considered necessary, where there are less than three party members, groups of candidates, or joint groups of the Party and the Labour Youth Union of Albania, or of the Party and the trade unions may be set up, in which the party members and the candidate members, as well as the members of the LYTJA or some of the members of the organization of the trade unions take part. These groups are directed by a party member who is appointed by the district or regional committee.
The party basic organizations, the groups of candidates, and the joint groups of the Party and the LYUA or the trade unions are approved by the district or regional committee, on which they are dependent.
The meeting of the Party basic organization is convened no less frequently than once a month.
46) When it is considered necessary in factories, plants, economic enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, administrative organs and institutions which have a large number of members and candidates for party membership, on the decision of the district or region party committee, more than one party basic organization may be set up. For the direction of work of the Party in the factory, plant, enterprise, agricultural cooperative, administration or institution a party bureau of not more than nine members is elected.
In the basic organizations with a considerable number of communists, when it is considered necessary, on the decision of the basic organization itself, party groups may be set up in departments, brigades, etc.
It is the duty of the party group to fight to put into practice the decisions of the party basic organization in the sector where it operates, to intervene at the proper time to correct shortcomings, to improve the work and to ensure the active participation of the communists in carrying out the tasks of the Party.
47) In special cases, when the enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, institutions etc., are widely dispersed, with several party basic organizations and with a great number of party members and candidates for membership, – 150 and more – on the approval the Central Committee, party committees can be set up to give leadership to the party basic organizations.
Such committees may be set up in special cases even in organizations of less than 150 members and candidates for membership, but always with the approval of the Central Committee.
The party committees in the enterprises, in agricultural cooperatives and institutions, consist of no more than 11 members.
The party committee of enterprises, agricultural cooperatives and institutions where there are more than 500 party members and candidates for membership, may, with the approval of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, be given the rights of a. district or regional party committee in regard to personal matters of the communists, the registration of communists and admissions to the: Party.
48) The party basic organizations link the working masses of city and countryside with the leading organs of the Party. Their duties, are:
a) to carry out political, ideological, propaganda and organizational work for the application of the line of the Party and its decisions and directives, for the education of the working masses, as well as to direct the press in the production centre or their work place (wall newspapers, etc.);
b) to work to strengthen the party ranks, to preserve their purity, solidarity and unity, to admit new members to the Party and to see to the education of the new communists, to defend and respect the rights of the party members;
c) to organize the political, ideological, educational, cultural, and vocational training of the party members and candidates for membership, to check up on whether they have mastered the political and ideological line of the Party, and the essentials of Marxism-Leninism; the party basic organizations must become genuine centres producing revolutionaries and great schools of communist tempering and education.
d) to organize the registration of all party members and candidates for membership who take part in the organization and to inform the district or regional party committee regularly on their movements and changes.
e) to help the district or regional committee in its work; to increase its creative self- reliance and initiative in the application of the line and decisions of the Party, and ensure that every communist is activated to carry out definite party tasks;
f) to lead the masses to take an active part in the political life of the country, to mobilize them in all production centres and work places to fulfil the production plan in quantity and in all qualitative indices, to strengthen discipline at work, to develop socialist emulation, to make every effort for the rational utilization of all forces, facilities and reserves existing in their production centre or work place, to disseminate and ensure general adoption of advanced experience ;
g) to fight against disorganization and mismanagement in the economic enterprises, agricultural cooperatives and other work centres, as well as against sluggishness and bureaucracy in the state apparatus;
h) to fight for the protection of the common socialist property, and to uncover any enemy who attempts to damage it; to make every effort for the maximum savings, with the aim of ensuring the uninterrupted growth of the country’s economy;
i) to fight against backwardness in the countryside, for the further development and improvement of agriculture, and for the continual strengthening of its socialist base; to discover and strike hard at any effort which the class enemy makes to obstruct the economic, cultural and social advance of the countryside;
j) to listen attentively to the opinions and demands of the masses, to fight to put them into practice, and to inform the higher party organs about important problems: to be concerned about the improvement of the material and cultural conditions of the working masses and the satisfaction of their daily needs;
k) to bear full responsibility for the military training and physical tempering of the population, for the defence and strengthening of the Homeland;
1) to develop criticism and self-criticism and to educate the communists in the spirit of an irreconcilable stand towards shortcomings, to discover and eliminate these, and fight any infringement of laws and discipline;
m) to educate the party members, the candidates for membership, and the working masses, in the spirit of revolutionary vigilance to defend the interests of the Party and state to the end, in the spirit of upholding socialist law, in the spirit of irreconcilable class struggle against any attempt by the enemy to undermine the socialist construction of the country;
n) to organize and guide the revolutionary education of the workers and other working masses, and especially of the younger generation; to lead and supervise the activity of the mass organizations set up in their production centre or work place; to develop the role and initiative of these organizations and to fight any attempt to command and replace them.
49) The basic organizations in enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, military detachments, institutions and local and central administrations, etc. direct and control all the activity and the life of the sector where they operate.
The party organizations of the ministries and other sectors of the administration in the centre, in districts and regions, must work to strengthen the state apparatus, in order to make it less costly, more flexible, and capable of properly responding to the problems and demands of the base and the working people, must raise the level of the apparatus in its study of problems and summing up the experience gained in work, must struggle against bureaucracy, liberalism, the desire for personal ease, sluggishness and procrastination in the work of the state 'apparatus, against the parochial spirit, against cronyism and favouritism, and any other harmful manifestation.
50) To lead and supervise the daily work of a basic organization of less than 15 party members and candidates for membership, one secretary and one or two deputy-secretaries are elected. In basic organizations with more than 15 party members and candidates for membership, a bureau is elected, consisting of from 3 to 9 members, including a secretary and one or two deputy-secretaries.
The party basic organization set up in sectors, which have more than 25 party members and candidates for membership, elect a bureau consisting of 3 to 7 members, including a secretary and one or two deputy-secretaries.
To lead the party group, a secretary is elected and, when the group has a large number of party members and candidates for membership, also a deputy-secretary.
The meetings for rendering account and the election of secretaries, deputy-secretaries and bureaus in the party groups and basic organizations, as well as for the election of bureaus and party committees in the enterprises, cooperatives and institutions, are held once a year.
The secretaries of basic organizations, of the bureaus and committees of the Party in enterprises, cooperatives or institutions are approved by the district or regional party committee. The secretaries of party groups are approved by the meeting of the party basic organization. The secretaries of party basic organization and the secretaries of the party groups must have a period of party membership of no less than one year.
VIII
THE PARTY AND THE LABOUR YOUTH UNION OF ALBANIA
51) The Labour Youth Union of Albania (LYUA) carries out its activity under the leadership of the Party of Labour of Albania.
The Central Committee of the LYUA, which is the leading organ of the youth, works under the direct leadership of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania. The activity of the local organizations of the LYUA is guided and supervised by the respective Party organizations.
52) The LYUA is an active auxiliary of the Party in the construction of socialism and its militant reserve.
In order to carry the socialist revolution through to the end the Party attaches primary importance to the education and the tempering of the youth with the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, with the patriotic and revolutionary traditions of the people and the youth itself, with the feeling of loyalty to and self-abnegation for the cause of the people, the Homeland and socialism, with the determination and the spirit of sacrifice to overcome every obstacle and difficulty, with love for work and, especially, for work in production, as well as for advanced science and technique, with hatred, irreconcilability and the feeling of fierce struggle against the class enemy, internal and external, and against everything evil, backward, conservative and reactionary. The organizations of the LYUA must be active in the dissemination and implementation of the policy and decisions of the Party in all the sectors of the country and, especially, wherever there is no basic organization of the Party.
53) The organizations of the LYUA have the right to examine and put before the respective party organizations all the problems in connection with the work in enterprises of production and service, in the agricultural cooperatives, villages, institutions, etc., in order to help liquidate the shortcomings in their activity and to improve their work.
54) The members of the LYUA, who are admitted to party membership, leave the LYUA from the date of their admission to the Party, if they do not occupy leading posts in the organization of the LYUA.
IX
THE PARTY BASIC ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PEOPLE’S ARMY
55) The party basic organizations in the People's Army carry out their activity under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Party. They build up their entire activity and internal life on the basis of the Constitution, the directives and decisions of the Party, as well as on the basis of special directives of the Central Committee of the Party.
The party basic organizations in the People’s Army have the task of ensuring the complete implementation of the line of the Party in the Army for the ideo-political education of the personnel of the People’s Army, for the continuous improvement and perfection of its fighting capacity and combat readiness, so that it will always be ready to carry out the sacred task that has been entrusted to it – to defend the Homeland and the socialist victories of the people. They have the duty to make the Army as little costly as possible and a real school for the Marxist-Leninist, revolutionary tempering of the younger generation.
56) The highest organ of the Party organization in the military unit, detachment and institution is the party conference, and in the period between two conferences, the party committee of the military unit, detachment or institution, which is elected by the respective party conference. The party committees in army units and detachments are set up with the approval of the Central Committee of the Party. They have the same duties and rights as the party committees of districts and regions. Their other special tasks are defined by special ordinances of the Central Committee of the Party. In the military units and detachments, where there is more than one party basic organization and where the criteria laid down for the setting up of party committees are not fulfilled, the conference of the Party or the general meeting of the communists elects the bureau of the Party to direct the work of the Party.
The duties and rights of this bureau are defined by special ordinances of the Central Committee of the Party.
In military detachments, small units and institutions, party conferences are convened by the respective party committees once a year, whereas party conferences in big units are called once in two years.
57) The party committees of the big military units and those of the same level report regularly on their activity to the Central Committee of the Party.
58) It is the duty of the organs and organizations of the Party in the Army to maintain close links with the other organs and organizations of the Party in the territory where the Army unit is operating. These links are maintained through the participation of the delegates of the party organizations of the Army in the conferences of the Party and its activist’s meetings in the districts and regions, through the election of party members from the military units and detachments to the leading organs of the Party in the territory, as well as of those of the territory to the leading organs of the Party in the military units and detachments, through reporting by representatives of the Party organs and organizations in the military units and detachments at the meetings of the party committees of the districts and regions and at the party bureaus of enterprises, cooperatives and institutions, on the ideo-political and organizational situation in the military detachments, as well as on the military problems connected with them. On their part, the party committees of the districts, as the highest organs of the Party in the districts, which are responsible to the Central Committee for the problems of military training and defence, have the duty and right to check up and assist the respective party organs and basic organizations, the military units and detachments on those problems which are defined in the special ordinances of the Central Committee of the Party.
X
THE PARTY GROUPS IN THE ELECTED ORGANS OF THE PEOPLE’S STATE POWER AND THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
58) In all the congresses, conferences and elected organs of the people’s democratic state power, the Democratic Front, the trade unions, the agricultural cooperatives and the other social organizations, where there are no less than 3 party members, these are organized in party groups, which have the task of strengthening the influence of the Party and of carrying its policy among the non-party people, of strengthening Party and state discipline, of struggling against bureaucracy and checking-up on the application of the instructions of the Party. In order to carry out its activity, the group elects a secretary.
59) The party groups are dependent on the respective party organization (the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, the Party Committee of the district or region).
In their activity the Party groups are always guided by the decisions of the leading organs of the Party.
XI
THE FINANCIAL MEANS OF THE PARTY
60) The financial income of the Party and its organizations is made up of the membership dues, the income of enterprises of the Party, and other income.
61) The monthly membership dues of the party members and candidate members are set on the basis of their income:
for those who get up to 400 leks – 1 lek;
for those who get from 401 to 550 – leks;
for those who get from 551 to 750 – one percent;
for those who get from 751 to 950 – 1.5 percent;
for those who get from 951 to 1150 – 2 percent;
for those who get 1151 or more – 2.5 percent.
62) Those admitted to the Party as candidate members pay admission dues equal to 2 per cent of their monthly income.
63) For the Party members and candidate members who have no fixed wages, as well as in other special cases, the Central Committee, through special ordinances, sets their monthly membership dues and the dues they have to pay when they are admitted as candidates for party membership.
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