The Mukje Meeting was organized as a gathering of the delegations of the General National Liberation Council and the National Front. The General National Liberation Council (temporary) convened in Labinot of Elbasan during the first ten days of July 1943 and decided to send a call to the leadership of the National Front to hold a meeting of representatives from both parties. The aim was to examine their relations and determine the stance they should take in light of the country’s circumstances. This organization, along with all Albanians regardless of party affiliation, was called to join the National Liberation Front and engage in armed struggle against the fascist invaders for the liberation of the country. The General Council announced the principles that the National Liberation Front of Albania would adhere to. Discussions began in the village of Tapizë, with the delegation of the National Liberation Front headed by Ymer Dishnica and the delegation of the National Front led by Mithat Frashëri. The most significant decision made during the meeting was the requirement for both organizations to unite in the war against the invaders, which, if realized, would strengthen the struggle. Regarding the nature of the regime Albania would adopt post-war, the parties agreed that this issue should be decided by the people themselves through free elections following the liberation of the country. The meeting also resolved to create the Rescue Committee of Albania, which would lead the war and the country until a government could be formed from free general elections immediately after liberation. The leadership of the Albanian Communist Party reacted swiftly to the decisions made at Mukje. On the initiative of Enver Hoxha, the General National Liberation Council annulled the agreement reached at the meeting. The reason for this cancellation was the formation of the Rescue Committee of Albania, an organization intended to lead the war and organize elections after liberation. The creation of the Rescue Committee would undermine and discredit the General National Liberation Council and the General Staff of the Albanian National Liberation Army, which had led the war until that point. Recognizing this decision meant that the leadership of the Albanian Communist Party acknowledged a shared leadership in the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War with the National Front, despite the Front’s previously negligible commitment to the struggle. According to the Albanian Communist Party, the Mukje Meeting had no authority to create an organization such as the Rescue Committee of Albania that would replace the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Front. (In the photo: Moment from the Mukje Gathering.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1665-1667.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marr%C3%ABvesja_e_Mukjes
Graphic processing: AHCF
