The prime minister of Albania, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Albania, is the head of government of Albania. The office of the prime minister is a core institution in the politics of Albania formed after the Albanian declaration of independence on 28 November 1912. Since that time, the nation has navigated a dynamic political evolution spanning distinct periods, encompassing a monarchy, a communist regime and the eventual democratic order. In 1912, Ismail Qemali was inaugurated as the first prime minister of Albania, guiding the nation toward sovereignty amidst the complex conditions in the Balkans. In 1944, Enver Hoxha implemented a radical change in government, transforming Albania into an authoritarian and isolationist communist regime. In 1991, the nation transitioned into a democracy that marked a notable shift, when Fatos Nano emerged as the first post-communist prime minister of Albania.
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.
The president of Albania, officially styled the President of the Republic of Albania, is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people.
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 Alliance Party is a liberal political party in Albania. The party was formed in 1992 by Neritan Ceka and other dissidents of the Democratic Party of Albania. They opposed the leadership of the party's leader Sali Berisha.
Kastriot Selman Islami is an Albanian politician. Formerly member of the Communist Party of Albania, turned moderate Socialist. He was Chairman of the Parliament of Albania from April 17, 1991 to April 6, 1992. On April 3, 1992, when the last communist president, Ramiz Alia resigned, Islami served as acting president for three days. During the presidency of Sali Berisha (1992–1997), Islami had no important positions in the government, but from 1997 to 2005 he was an important person in the government again holding several Ministerial positions in the Socialist "NANO government". Most prominently he was foreign minister from 2003 to 2005, but lost his position in the cabinet when a new government was formed with Berisha as prime minister after the 2005 elections. He returned to Democratic Party on 7 May 2013 after he left the Socialist Party in March.
Gramoz Pashko was an Albanian economist and politician. He co-founded the Democratic Party of Albania in 1990 and later served as rector of the University of New York, Tirana. Pashko was married to Mimoza Ruli, sister of politician Genc Ruli.
Ylli Bufi is an Albanian politician who served briefly as the 26th Prime Minister of Albania in 1991.
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 Shkodra and Kavaja. 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.
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania on 31 March 1991, with later rounds on 7 April and 14 April. They were the first multi-party elections since 1923, and were held after the formation of new political parties was legalised on 11 December 1990 following a strike by 700 students at the University of Tirana over poor dormitory conditions and a power failure, which subsequently became politicised under the influence of Sali Berisha.
Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 22 March 1992, with a second round of voting for eleven seats on 29 March. The result was a victory for the opposition Democratic Party of Albania, which won 92 of the 140 seats. After the elections Aleksandër Meksi became prime minister and Sali Berisha became president.
Ben Blushi is an Albanian politician, writer and journalist.
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.
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.
The first Government of Prime Minister Fatos Nano was an emergency government that served as the 50th Government of Albania. The country's reformation as the Republic of Albania in the middle of this cabinet, on 29 April 1991, made this the final cabinet of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.
The Ministry of Industry and Mines was a department of the Government of Albania responsible for the proposal and execution of government policies on the country's industry and the promotion and defence of industrial property.
The Majko II Government was the 61st ruling government of the Republic of Albania, led by prime minister Pandeli Majko. It was officially mandated by president Rexhep Meidani on 22 February 2002. After the 2001 parliamentary elections, the alliance led by the Socialist Party won a seat majority for the second consecutive time and managed to form a government headed by Ilir Meta but due to internal conflicts within the party, Meta was forced to offer his resignation on 29 January 2002. Majko managed to persuade most of the party hierarchy, including its chairman Fatos Nano, to form a new government, although as it turned out, for the same reasons as the Meta II Government, he offered his resignation a few months later on 25 July 2002.
The second Government of Prime Minister Fatos Nano was the 51st Government of Albania. Although in office for a few weeks, it was considered the first government to emerge from the multi-party elections, as well as the last Labour Party government who had ruled the country for almost 50 years.
The Twenty-sixth Legislature of Albania, officially known as the V Pluralist Legislature of Albania, was the legislature of Albania following the 2001 Albanian Parliamentary election of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Albanian Parliament. The party of the Prime Minister Ilir Meta, PS, obtained majority of 83 deputies.
