Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic,in which the president of Albania is the head of state and the prime minister of Albania is the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the Government and the prime minister with its Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Albania. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of Albania is laid out in the 1998 constitution. The Parliament adopted the current constitution on 28 November 1998. Historically Albania has had many constitutions. Initially constituted as a monarchy in 1913,Albania became briefly a republic in 1925,and then a authoritarian monarchy in 1928. In 1939 Albania was invaded by Fascist Italian forces,imposing a puppet state,and later occupied by Nazi German forces. Following the partisan liberation from the Nazis in 1944 a provisional government was formed,which by 1946 had transformed into a communist one-party state. In March 1991 democracy was restored with multi-party elections.
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams,Baroness Williams of Crosby,was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP),she served in the Labour cabinet from 1974 to 1979. She was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981 and,at the time of her retirement from politics,was a Liberal Democrat.
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 2013. He also serves as the incumbent Leader of Opposition in the Albanian parliament.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician,painter,writer,former university lecturer,publicist and former basketball player,who has served as the 33rd and incumbent Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was appointed Minister of Culture,Youth and Sports in 1998,an office he held until 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000,he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,commonly referred to by her initials CBK,is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fourth executive president of Sri Lanka,from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She previously served as the prime minister from August to November 1994 and the chief minister of the Western Province from 1993 to 1994. She is the country's first and only female president to date and the country's second female prime minister. She was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until the end of 2005.
The Socialist Party of Albania is a social-democratic political party in Albania. It has been described as centre-left. It was founded on 13 June 1991. The PS is an associate of the Party of European Socialists and a member of the Socialist International,and holds pro-European views.
William Arthur Waldegrave,Baron Waldegrave of North Hill is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Cabinet minister from 1990 until 1997,and is a life member of the Tory Reform Group. Since 1999,he has been a life peer in the House of Lords. Since 8 February 2009,Lord Waldegrave has been the Provost of Eton College. Additionally,he was inaugurated as Chancellor of the University of Reading on 9 December 2016.
Maria Eagle is a British Labour Party politician who served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She later served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood,previously Liverpool Garston,since 1997.
Helene Valerie Hayman,Baroness Hayman,is a British politician who was Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. As a member of the Labour Party she was a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979. When she became an MP at age 25,she was the youngest MP of the 1974–79 Parliament. Hayman became a life peer in 1996.
Tansu Çiller is a Turkish academic,economist,and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She was Turkey's first and only female prime minister. As the leader of the True Path Party,she went on to concurrently serve as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1996 and 1997.
Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece,the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the time;she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. Previously she was the Mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006,the first female mayor in the city's history,and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She also served as Minister for Culture of Greece from 1992 to 1993.
Selja Kumari is an Indian politician and a Member of the Lok Sabha,the lower house of Indian parliament. She is a member of the Indian National Congress and has served as the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Tourism during Manmohan Singh's premiership.
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.
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.
Edita Tahiri is a leader of the independence of Kosovo,the former deputy prime minister,minister of foreign affairs and peace negotiator. She was also minister for dialogue,minister of public administration and member of parliament in five terms. She was the chief negotiator of the Republic of Kosovo for seven years (2011-2017) in the EU facilitated dialogue,with US support,on normalization of neighborly relations with Serbia. She was the Deputy Prime minister responsible for foreign policy and national security (2011–2014). She was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo for ten years in difficult time of liberation and independence of Kosovo (1991–2000). She is a signer of the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Kosovo,on 17 February 2008. She is the President of reformist party,the Democratic Alternative of Kosovo (ADK) and Chair of the Regional Women's Lobby in Southeastern Europe (RWLSEE). She is member of the Women Waging Peace Network. and member of the Mediterranean Women's Mediators Network.
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.
Heng Chee How is a Singaporean politician,union leader and former police officer who has been serving as Senior Minister of State for Defence since 2018 and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress since 1999. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP),he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Whampoa division of Jalan Besar GRC since 2001.
Sim Ann is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been serving as Senior Minister of State for National Development since 2020 and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP),she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bukit Timah division of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC since 2011. She has also been serving as the party's Deputy Party Whip since 2019.
Olta Xhaçka is an Albanian politician and Socialist Party member of Parliament. She served as the minister of Europe and foreign affairs from January 2021 to September 2023. She served as Albanian minister of social welfare and youth between March 2017 to August 2017 and as minister of defense from September 2017 to December 2020.
Ogerta Manastirliu is an Albanian Socialist Party politician.She is the Minister of Education,Sport and Youth of Albania since 12 September 2023 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tirana. On 13 March 2017,she was appointed as Minister of Health. She held the office until 21 May 2017,due to the general election.
