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 Albania |
Parliamentary elections [1] for a Constituent Assembly [2] were held in Albania on 2 December 1945. Voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front, organized and led by the Communist Party of Albania. The Front won all 82 seats. [3]
As the Albanian National Liberation War of 1941-1944 came to a close, an interim Democratic Government of Albania was established on 20 October 1944 by a second meeting of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council (which had been established in Përmet in May that year) Its Prime Minister was Enver Hoxha, Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Albania.
During the National Liberation War the Communist Party was the only consistent anti-fascist political and military force. [4] Two rival organizations, the Balli Kombëtar and the Legaliteti, had their prestige amongst the populace tarnished through collaboration with the German occupiers against the partisan forces led by the Communists. [5] By the end of the war both organizations had been defeated. [6]
The Democratic Front, which succeeded the wartime National Liberation Front in August 1945, had no other political parties within it besides the Communist Party of Albania, with bourgeois-democratic and general patriotic persons being united within the Front as non-Party members. "The Communist Party did not exclude cooperation with anti-fascist political parties and bringing them into the National Liberation Front," Albanian Professor Ndreçi Plasari stated in 1974, "if such parties had been created." [7]
In September 1945 a third meeting of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council was held, resulting in the adoption of a law on the formation of a Constituent Assembly as well as laws on the election of representatives to this Assembly and on the list of candidates on the basis of "general, equal, direct and secret ballot, and the necessary guarantees for the free exercise of the citizens' electoral rights." [8] At this meeting, however, the liberal Education Minister in the Democratic Government, Gjergj Kokoshi, criticized the electoral law, calling it "anti-democratic" and calling for the Communist Party to play a secondary rather than primary role in the affairs of the Front. [9] [10] Hoxha responded to these criticisms by saying: "The people organized in the Democratic Front, present their own candidates to the Assembly in the lists of the Front. If those who are outside the Front desire to be elected, let them present their candidatures individually. The draft law recognizes them this right and, indeed, will defend it." [11] Kokoshi replied that independent candidates "are doomed to failure, because these elements are not organized in political parties and do not have their own press or propaganda. On the other hand, the men of the state power are all in the Front, thus no guarantees are given that other candidates will be elected." [12]
Another member of the Front, Siri Shpallo, replied to these criticisms, saying that, "The fact that no other group has been able to organize itself after ten months of liberation means that the creation of such groups has not been in the interests of the people. The people are with the Front. If there are some who want to organize themselves outside the Front, let them try, but they will run up against the strength of the Front and will lose. There is nothing we can do about this." [13] Kokoshi and a number of other non-communist Front members would later be accused of attempting to set up illegal opposition to the Front and government with the assistance of the British Military Mission in Albania, which had called on the Democratic Government to grant foreign observers first-hand access to the electoral process along with the holding of what it termed "free elections" as a precondition for the United Kingdom to provide diplomatic recognition to Albania. [14]
During the electoral campaign all Albanian citizens aged 18 and older, male and female alike, could vote, although former members of the governments set up by the occupiers during the war, political fugitives, war criminals, and "enemies of the people" were deprived of this right. [15] The Front presented its own list during the election in opposition to "some separate candidates who represented the bourgeois circles, but [who] failed completely from lack of support among the people." [16] The Palm Beach Post noted that there were eighteen such candidates. [17] Due to the overwhelming illiteracy of the population, voting was conducted by a small rubber ball stamped with a black eagle dropped either into a red ballot box for Front candidates or a black one for independents, with the voter putting his or her hand into both boxes to avoid others knowing who they had voted for. [18]
American and British diplomatic observers concluded that the election had been fairly conducted and reflected the popularity of the Democratic Front. [19] This opinion was also shared by foreign press correspondents who had visited the country to observe the elections. [20] This was despite the Communists resorting to terror and propaganda to cow their opponents. [3]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Front | 506,319 | 93.18 | 82 | |
| Independents | 277 | 0.05 | 0 | |
| Against all | 36,758 | 6.77 | – | |
| Total | 543,354 | 100.00 | 82 | |
| Total votes | 543,354 | – | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 603,566 | 90.02 | ||
| Source: Gazeta Liberale | ||||
The representatives elected were, with few exceptions, members of the Communist Party. [21] The Constituent Assembly was first convened on 10 January 1946. At 12.00 AM on 11 January, during its second session, the Assembly unanimously proclaimed Albania a People's Republic at the proposal of Hysni Kapo, formally abolishing the prewar monarchy and forbidding King Zog and his heirs from reentering the country. [22] On 12 January the Presidium of the Assembly was elected after some opposition from liberal and conservative deputies, with Omer Nishani being elected Chairman of the Presidium and the Presidium itself comprising Enver Hoxha, Myslim Peza, Nako Spiru, Medar Shtylla, Sami Baholli, Ramadan Çitaku, Qirjako Harito and others. [23] After a period of public debate and discussion on the constitutional draft, Albania's first postwar Constitution was enacted on 14 March and the Constituent Assembly was then turned into the People's Assembly. [24] On 18 March Enver Hoxha was tasked by this Assembly on its first meeting with forming a new government, which was approved on 22 March and sworn in on 24 March with Hoxha as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister). [25]
Enver Halil Hoxha was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, a member of its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. He was the twenty-second prime minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the country.
Ramiz Alia was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He was also the country's head of state from 1982 to 1992. He had been seen as a successor by Enver Hoxha and took power after Hoxha died.
Nexhmije Hoxha was an Albanian communist politician. For many years she was the wife of Enver Hoxha, the first leader of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania and the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. Very close to her husband, she attempted to remain politically influential after his death in 1985. She was one of the few spouses of a ruling communist party leader with a high political profile of her own.
Mehmet Ismail Shehu was an Albanian communist politician who served as the Prime Minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1954 to 1981. He was known as a close confidant of Enver Hoxha and served in various high-ranking positions in the government.
The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of Albania but changed its name in 1948 following a recommendation by Joseph Stalin. The party was dissolved on 13 June 1991 and succeeded by the Socialist Party of Albania and the new Communist Party of Albania. For most of its existence, the party was dominated by its First Secretary, Enver Hoxha, who was also the de facto leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985.
The Sino-Albanian split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the People's Republic of China in the period 1972–1978.
Omer Nishani was an Albanian medical doctor and political figure involved first in the struggle against Ahmet Zogu in the 1920s and 1930s, and then in the struggle against the fascist occupation of Albania during the 1942–44 period, becoming Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of the People's Republic of Albania in 1946 and serving in this position until 1953.
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, officially as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 until 1976, and as the Republic of Albania from 1991 to 1992, was the communist state in Albania from 1946 to 1991. It succeeded the Democratic Government of Albania (1944–1946).
The National Liberation Movement, also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created on 16 September 1942, in a conference held in Pezë, a village near Tirana, and was led by Enver Hoxha. Apart from the figures which had the majority in the General Council it also included known nationalists like Myslim Peza although the Partisans under Yugoslav influence ended up executing numerous Albanian nationalist figures. In May 1944, the Albanian National Liberation Front was transformed into the government of Albania and its leaders became government members, and in August 1945, it was replaced by the Democratic Front.
Llazar (Zai) Fundo was an Albanian Communist, later social-democratic journalist and writer. He was a former member of the Comintern and the Balkan Communist Federation. He was associated with the Fan S. Noli government in 1924 and became the leader of the Bashkimi organization after the death of Avni Rustemi in 1924. In 1928 he helped establish the Korçë Communist Group. In the fierce rivalry for power control within the Communist Party, he was branded a Trotskyist and purged from the party.
The Democratic Front of Albania was the largest mass organization of the Party of Labour of Albania, which united all other mass organizations of the Party within it. The party was responsible for carrying out the Party's cultural and social programs to the masses, and was in charge of nominating candidates in elections.
The Democratic Government of Albania also known as the Hoxha I Government was established on 20 October 1944 by the National Liberation Movement, as the Albanian partisan resistance of 1940–1944 came to a close. A provisional government took power after the liberation of the country from German forces on 28 November. Its interim Prime Minister was Secretary-General Enver Hoxha of the Communist Party of Albania. The interim government was to be in existence until the holding of elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 31 March 1991 to elect the 250 representatives of the People's Assembly. The first round of the elections took place on this date, followed by a second round on 7 April and a third round on 14 April. These elections represent a critical juncture in Albania's political evolution, transitioning from one party system to a multi-party democratic system. Following the death of Enver Hoxha in 1985, his successor, Ramiz Alia, encountered escalating economic difficulties and social unrest, which were intensified by the broader geopolitical transformations occurring during the Revolutions of 1989. The foundation of the Democratic Party in December 1990 served as a catalyst for legislative reforms aimed at dismantling the People's Socialist Republic.
Bedri Spahiu was an Albanian politician and Lieutenant-General and one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian Labour Party up to 1956.
The Albanian–Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People's Republic of Albania, which occurred in the 1956–1961 period as a result of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's rapprochement with Yugoslavia along with his "Secret Speech" and subsequent de-Stalinization, including efforts to extend these policies into Albania as was occurring in other Eastern Bloc states at the time.
Baba Faja Martaneshi was an Albanian Bektashi baba (Sufi) and a resistance leader during the National Liberation War of the Albanian People.
The Special Court for War Criminals and Enemies of the People, usually referred only as The Special Court, was a Socialist court set up during the spring of 1945 in the newly established Socialist Albania, which carried on the trial against those labeled as "people's enemies" and "war criminals". It was based on a decision taken by the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation on 25 December 1944. Like the rest of the Eastern Europe, the purge against fascists and war criminals became a central part of the construction of society based on the Soviet model.
Xhafer Spahiu was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). He was the only Kosovar Albanian of the higher ranks of the Communist Albania leadership after 1948.
Riza Dani (1887–1949) was an Albanian politician and activist of the 20th century.
Naxhije Dume was an Albanian politician. She was one of the first group of female members of the Albanian parliament and the first female minister, serving briefly as Minister of Education in 1948.
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