First president of Albania
Ramiz Alia
|
---|
Official portrait, 1985
|
|
|
In office
30 April 1991 ? 3 April 1992
|
Prime Minister
| Fatos Nano
Ylli Bufi
Vilson Ahmeti
|
---|
Preceded by
| Himself
as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Sali Berisha
|
---|
|
In office
22 November 1982 ? 30 April 1991
|
Leader
| Enver Hoxha
(First Secretary)
|
---|
Preceded by
| Haxhi Lleshi
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Himself
as President
|
---|
|
In office
13 April 1985 ? 13 June 1991
|
Preceded by
| Enver Hoxha
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Position abolished
|
---|
|
|
Born
| (
1925-10-18
)
18 October 1925
Shkoder
,
Albanian Republic
(now
Albania
)
|
---|
Died
| 7 October 2011
(2011-10-07)
(aged 85)
Tirana
, Albania
|
---|
Political party
| Party of Labour
(1943?1991)
Socialist Party
(1991?2011)
|
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Spouse
|
Semiramis Xhuvani
(died 1986)
[1]
|
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Children
| 3 (Zana, Besa and Arben)
|
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Signature
| |
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|
Ramiz Alia
(
Albanian pronunciation:
[?a?miz
a?lia]
ⓘ
; 18 October 1925 ? 7 October 2011) 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.
Early life and politics
[
edit
]
Alia was born on October 18, 1925, in
Shkoder
to
Gheg Albanian
parents who were
Muslim
.
[2]
They fled persecution in
Yugoslavia
.
[3]
[4]
[5]
He grew up and spent his childhood in
Tirana
. In the early part of
World War II
, Alia was a member of a fascist youth organisation known as the Fascist Lictor Youth Organisation but joined the underground Albanian Communist Youth Organisation in 1941.
[6]
[7]
In 1943, he became a member of the
Albanian Communist Party
.
[7]
He had risen rapidly under Hoxha's patronage, and was elected to the Central Committee in 1948, and in 1956, was named a candidate member of the
Politburo
.
[8]
By 1961, he was made a full member of the Politburo (
Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania
).
[9]
Alia distinguished himself as the chief ideologist in the social and cultural fields for the Party of Labour of Albania, specifically during the years of the
Cultural and Ideological Revolution
.
[10]
Although Hoxha never designated an official successor, there were clear signs that he favoured Alia. In introducing Alia to one of his doctors, Hoxha said "My friend, I'm getting old, and my health is not the best it could be. Younger comrades, like this one [Alia], will step in."
[11]
Political career
[
edit
]
First Secretary of the Albanian Labour Party
[
edit
]
After World War II, Alia resumed his duties in the Communist Youth Organisation, and at the First Congress of the Albanian Party of Labour in November 1948, he was elected to its Central Committee and was assigned to the department of agitation and propaganda.
[6]
As late as 1988, Alia had continued insisting that Hoxha was the only statesman in decades who stayed loyal to Marxism-Leninism, claiming in his speech at the unveiling of Hoxha's statue in
Skanderbeg Square
: "Enver Hoxha has been and remains to this day the only name among the communist leaders of the last 4?5 decades who defended the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, the ideals of the revolution and socialism, both in theory and practice."
[12]
Transition to multi-party system and presidency
[
edit
]
Despite Alia's efforts to proceed with change on a limited, cautious basis, reform from above threatened to turn into reform from below, largely because of the increasingly vocal demands of Albania's youth. On 9 December 1990, student demonstrators marched from the Enver Hoxha University (now
University of Tirana
) at Tirana through the streets of the capital shouting slogans and demanding reforms. By 11 December, the number of participants had reached almost 3,000. In an effort to quell the student unrest, which had led to clashes with riot police, Alia met with the students and agreed to take further steps toward
democratization
. The students informed Alia that they wanted to create an independent political organisation of students and youth. Alia's response was that such an organisation had to be registered with the Ministry of Justice.
[13]
In his traditional New Year's message to the Albanian people, Alia welcomed the changes that had been occurring in the country and claimed that 1991 would be a turning point in terms of the economy.
Alia was a crucial figure in the peaceful political transition of the early 1990s. Many believe that he helped the rise to power of the anti-communist opposition forces, thus eliminating possible bloodshed. He managed to remain a key political figure throughout several political crises. Nonetheless, with Albania in the throes of a grave economic crisis, Alia had to face challenges that he could not surmount. On 12 December 1990, he signed a law allowing political pluralism, on which he would later comment as his life's greatest failure.
[14]
In the
1991 elections
, the first democratic elections in the country, where Alia ran for Member of National Parliament in a constituency in the capital, which was a stronghold of the communist party, he was badly defeated by a surprising majority of 61% by the renowned mining engineer in the country, Franko Kroqi. Kroqi ran as a candidate of the newly formed Democratic Party of Albania, although he never became a party member.
After this loss, and later on the
Democratic Party of Albania
's (DPA) landslide victory in the spring
1992 general election
, he resigned as
president
on 3 April 1992.
[6]
On 9 April the People's Assembly elected DPA leader
Sali Berisha
as Albania's new head of state.
Arrest
[
edit
]
On 21 May 1994, senior officials from the Communist government, including Ramiz Alia, went on trial. Alia was charged with abuse of power and misappropriation of state funds, as was prime minister
Adil Carcani
, deputy prime minister
Manush Myftiu
, and Rita Marko who was a vice-president.
Alia had been placed under
house arrest
in August 1992 and his detention was converted into imprisonment in August 1993.
[6]
In court he claimed he was the victim of a political
show trial
and demanded that the trial be broadcast on television, a request denied by the presiding judge. The trial was monitored by a
Human Rights Watch
representative and proceeded with only minor
due process
irregularities. The ten defendants were found guilty as charged and sentenced to between three and nine years in prison; Alia received a nine-year sentence.
A court of appeals subsequently reduced some of the sentences, notably Alia's to five years. Alia, Myftiu, Carcani, Stefani and Isai were also ordered to repay various sums to the state. On 30 November, the Court of Cassation reduced Alia's term by an additional three years. On 7 July 1995, Ramiz Alia was freed from jail. However, his freedom was short-lived and in 1996 he was charged with committing crimes against humanity during his term, and was imprisoned anew in March. The trial against him began on 18 February 1997, but he escaped from the prison following the
unrest in the country
and the desertion of the guards.
[15]
Amid the unrest he appeared on state TV in an exclusive interview with
Blendi Fevziu
. In December 1997 he returned to Albania after escaping briefly to
France
to join his family during the
Albanian unrest
.
[16]
In the late 2000s he was sometimes seen travelling to Albania from
Dubai
to give interviews or publicize his books.
[17]
Death
[
edit
]
Alia died on October 7, 2011, in
Tirana
,
Albania
, 11 days before his 86th birthday.
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Semiramis Alia Is Dead a 58; Wife of the Albanian Leader"
.
The New York Times
. 15 March 1986 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^
Europe, United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in (1991).
The Elections in Albania: March-April 1991
. The Commission.
- ^
McFadden, Robert D. (8 October 2011).
"ramiz-alia-former-ruler-of-albania-dies-at-85"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
14 May
2020
.
- ^
"Ramiz Alia"
.
Presidenti i Republikes se Shqiperise
(in Albanian)
. Retrieved
16 February
2020
.
- ^
Roszkowski, Wojciech; Kofman, Jan (8 July 2016).
Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-1-317-47594-1
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Ramiz Alia Facts"
.
biography.yourdictionary.com
.
- ^
a
b
J.F. Brown:
Background Notes to Albania's Party Congress ? Special Report
Archived
1 June 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Blinken Open Society Archives
, 2 February 1961.
- ^
Vickers, Miranda (2006).
The Albanians: A Modern History
. London: I.B. Taurus. p. 210.
ISBN
1-86064-541-0
.
- ^
Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91, p.154
- ^
Prifti, Peter (1978).
Socialist Albania since 1944: Domestic and Foreign Developments
. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 97.
ISBN
0-262-16070-6
.
- ^
Fevziu, Blendi; Elsie, Robert; Nishku, Majlinda (2017).
Enver Hoxha: The Iron Fist of Albania
. London & New York: I.B. Tauris. p. 251.
ISBN
978-1-78453-970-2
.
OCLC
1000295419
.
- ^
Alia, Ramiz (1988).
Albania Today
.
1988
(5). p. 5.
- ^
"Opinion - Takimi i Ramiz Alise me Studentet_Pjesa 1 (08 dhjetor 2009)"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
"Keto jane 50 fakte nga jeta e Ramiz Alise dhe misteret qe mori ne varr"
.
telegrafi.com
. 16 February 2016.
- ^
"Ramiz Alia"
The Herald Scotland, 4 November 2011
- ^
"Ramiz Alia"
The Guardian, 7 October 2011
- ^
"Ish-presidenti i Shqiperise, Ramiz Alia boton librin "Jeta Ime""
Shqiperia, 4 May 2011
- ^
"Ramiz Alia"
The Guardian, 7 October 2011
Other sources
- Political Parties in Albania 1912-2006
, Afrim Krasniqi, Tirana, 2007/a
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Alia, Ramiz.
Jeta ime: Kujtime
, Tirana, Toena: 2010
External links
[
edit
]
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Related articles
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Members
|
1st Congress (1948)
| |
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2nd Congress (1952)
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3rd Congress (1956)
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4th Congress (1961)
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5th Congress (1966)
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6th Congress (1971)
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7th Congress (1976)
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8th Congress (1981)
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9th Congress (1986)
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10th Congress (1990)
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Candidate Members
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Internal
background
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International
background
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Reforms
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Government
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Opposition
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Opposition
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Events
by location
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Eastern Europe
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