Sali Ram Berisha is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and 32nd prime minister from 2005 to 2013. Berisha serves as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania since 2022 and has held the position previously from 1990 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2013. He also serves as the incumbent Leader of Opposition in the Albanian parliament.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician and painter who has been serving as the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1998 to 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
Fatos Thanas Nano is an Albanian socialist politician who served as Prime Minister of Albania in 1991, from 1997 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2005. He was the first leader and founder of the Socialist Party of Albania and a member of the Albanian Parliament from 1991 to 1993 and 1997 to 2009. He reformed the anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist ideology of the Labor Party of Albania into social democracy for its successor, the Socialist Party. During his leadership, the Socialist Party, as a result of reforms, joined the Socialist International and Party of European Socialists. Nano was a candidate in the 2007 presidential election but did not win. He again tried in the 2012 presidential election, but he did not even qualify as a candidate, because the leaders of parties in Parliament obstructed their respective MPs to elect him as candidate in the elections.
The Democratic Party of Albania is a conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013.
Marek Marian Belka is a Polish professor of economics and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Poland and Finance Minister of Poland in two governments. He is a former director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European Department and former Head of Narodowy Bank Polski. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019.
Ilir Rexhep Meta is an Albanian politician. He served as the president of Albania from 24 July 2017 to 24 July 2022.
In 1997, Albania experienced widespread civil unrest due to economic problems caused by the collapse of pyramid schemes. The large sums of money siphoned from the government to fund these schemes led to the collapse of the Democratic Party's government in January 1997. The conflict, which lasted until August 1997, resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 people. The establishment of a new government occurred as revolutionaries surrounded Tirana. Various sources also describe the ensuing violence as a rebellion or even a civil war.
The fall of communism in Albania, the last such event in Europe outside the Soviet Union, started in December 1990 with student demonstrations in the capital, Tirana, although protests started in January that year in other cities like Shkodër and Kavajë. The Central Committee of the communist Party of Labour of Albania allowed political pluralism on 11 December and the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, was founded the next day. March 1991 elections left the Party of Labour in power, but a general strike and urban opposition led to the formation of a "stability government" that included non-communists. Albania's former communists were routed in elections in March 1992 amid economic collapse and social unrest, with the Democratic Party winning most seats and its party head, Sali Berisha, becoming president.
In 1991, the Socialist Party of Albania, with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After 1990, Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West. What followed were deliberate programs of economic and democratic reform, but the implementation of capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes. Chaos in late 1996 to early 1997, as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes, alarmed the world and prompted the influx of international peacekeeping forces. In 1995, Albania was accepted into the Council of Europe and requested membership in NATO and is a potential candidate country for accession to the European Union. The workforce of Albania has continued to emigrate to Western countries, especially Greece and Italy.
Fatmir Besimi is a Macedonian politician and economist of Albanian ethnicity. He currently served for Minister of Finance in North Macedonia, He also served twice as Minister of Economy then Minister of Defence and after that he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs. In 2010 he was selected as one of the top European Ministers in the group of Young Global Leaders by World Economic Forum.
Tanja Fajon is a Slovenian politician, former leader of Social Democrats, part of the Party of European Socialists and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Slovenia. She has been serving as the minister of foreign and european affairs in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob since 1 June 2022.
Genc Ruli is an Albanian politician. A founder member of the Democratic Party of Albania (1991), ex-Minister of Finance, ex-Minister of Finance and Economy, ex-Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy and ex-Minister of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection.
The 2011 Albanian opposition demonstrations were a series of anti-government protests in cities around Albania following 18 months of political conflict over alleged electoral fraud by the opposition. A video surfaced which portrayed the deputy prime minister arranging a corrupt deal with the minister of economy. The public outcry over the video resulted in the resignation of the deputy prime minister, Ilir Meta. A demonstration was called by parliamentary opposition parties, which include the Socialist Party and the Unity for Human Rights Party. These were called on 21 January in order to protest the alleged corruption of the Albanian government as well as widespread unemployment and poverty in the country.
Ermelinda Meksi is an Albanian politician, who held different positions in the Cabinet of Albania during the years 1997 to 2005. She is the first woman to be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, the highest office held by a woman at the time in Albania.
Arben Ahmetaj is an Albanian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania from 2021 to 2022. Since 2013 previously has served in several important departments such as: Minister of Economic Development, Minister of Finance, as well as Minister of State for Reconstruction after the devastating earthquake in 2019 that occurred in the central area of the country.
Mimi Kodheli is an Albanian economist and politician who served as Minister of Defense of Albania in the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. She was the first woman to be appointed to the post.
The Fino Government better known as the Government of National Reconciliation was a caretaker government that presided over Albania from 13 March 1997 to 24 July 1997, during the Albanian unrest of 1997. It was created as a result of the social, economic, and political turmoil of early 1997, spurred by the collapse of pyramid schemes and the subsequent loss of many Albanians' life savings. This government was formed in the week following the resignation of the government of Aleksandër Meksi on 1 March 1997 by the major political parties of the country with international support. The Government was voted in the morning session at 10:00 a.m. on 12 March 1997, while received the approval of the President Sali Berisha shortly before midnight on the same day.
The Political Academy of the Socialist Party of Albania or simply Political Academy is the first academy of modern left-wing leadership in Albania. It is an academy established by the Socialist Party of Albania and the contribution of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The academy holds its lectures in Golem, near Durrës.
Jorida Tabaku is an Albanian liberal politician with the Democratic Party of Albania. During the Tirana mayoral leadership of former DP leader Lulzim Basha, she served as deputy-mayor in the years 2011–2015.
The Institute for Public Policy and Good Governance is an Albanian think tank based in Tirana, Albania. Being focused in public policy and good governance issues, IPPM conducts research and promotes best practices for the good governance in public and private sector being guided from the principles of transparency and public integrity. Its primary focus consists in analyzing public finances developments in Albania and in the Southeastern Europe countries.
