personally controlled the armed forces, and
since then he has controlled them through Beqir Balluku, his lieutenant
(see ch. 9, Internal and External Security).
Shehu, as minister of the interior from 1948 to 1954, personally
controlled the security forces, composed of the Directorate of State
Security (Drejtorija e Sigurimit te Shtetit, commonly known as the
Sigurimi), the People's Police, and the Frontier Guards. Since then he
has controlled them through his brother-in-law Major General Kadri
Hasbiu, who succeeded Shehu as minister of the interior in 1954 and who
still held that position in 1970.
The top executive branches of the Politburo were the four-man
Secretariat and the various directorates of the Central Committee. In
1970 the Secretariat was composed of Hoxha as first secretary and Ramiz
Alia, Hysni Kapo, and Xhafer Spahiu as secretaries. Hoxha supervised the
whole work of the Secretariat; the other three secretaries were
responsible for general areas of operation. Alia was responsible for
ideological affairs, Kapo for organizational matters, and Spahiu for the
state administration.
Policy guidelines adopted by the Politburo were passed by the
Secretariat to the appropriate directorate, which elaborated and
drafted them in final form for implementation by the respective Party
and state organs. The directorates had direct connections with all
implementing bodies. For instance, the Directorate of Agitation and
Propaganda, known as Agitprop, issued directives not only to the
Agitprop sections of the District Party Committees but also to all
propaganda outlets in the government, mass organizations, and the armed
and security forces.
The most important directorates were the: Directorate of Cadres and
Organizations, headed by Hysni Kapo, the third ranking man in the Party
hierarchy; Directorate of Agitation and Propaganda, headed by Ramiz
Alia; Directorate of Education and Culture, headed by Nexhmije Hoxha,
wife of the first secretary; Directorate of State Administrative Organs,
headed by Llazi Stratoberdha; and Directorate of Mass Organizations,
headed by Politburo member Adil Carcani.
When important policy issues were decided by the Politburo, special
commissions were created in the Central Committee to draft implementing
guidance for a specific decision. Thus, for instance, in the spring of
1968 the Politburo decided on a complete reorganization and
reorientation of the country's educational system.
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