How Albania Is Governed

A short constitutional history

Few European states have changed their form of government as often. Independence was proclaimed in Vlorë in 1912 by a provisional government under Ismail Qemali. The great powers then installed a German prince, Wilhelm of Wied, who arrived in 1914 and left within six months as the First World War began. The Congress of Lushnjë in 1920 rebuilt a national government and moved the capital to Tirana.

Ahmet Zogu became president of a republic in 1925 and proclaimed himself King Zog I in 1928; Italy invaded in 1939 and joined the crown to its own. After liberation in 1944 the communists founded the People's Republic in 1946, renamed the People's Socialist Republic under the 1976 constitution, with the Party of Labour as the only legal party.

Multi-party politics returned with the elections of 1991, governed at first by interim constitutional laws. The present constitution, establishing a parliamentary republic, was approved by referendum in 1998, and its judicial chapters were rewritten in 2016.

The structure

• The Kuvendi (Assembly) — 140 members, elected for four years by proportional representation in twelve multi-member constituencies matching the counties.
• The President — head of state, elected by the Assembly for a five-year term; the role is largely ceremonial with some appointment and veto powers.
• The Council of Ministers — the government, led by the Prime Minister, who is the effective head of the executive.
• The judiciary — restructured by the 2016 justice reform, which created the High Judicial Council, the High Prosecutorial Council, and SPAK, the special anti-corruption structure.

Local government

Sixty-one municipalities, each with a directly elected mayor and council, grouped for administrative purposes into twelve counties. Local elections are held separately from parliamentary ones.

The 2016 justice reform

Albania undertook a constitutional overhaul of its judiciary in 2016, including the vetting of every serving judge and prosecutor for professional competence, financial probity and links to organised crime. A large share of those assessed were dismissed or resigned. It is the central reform against which the EU measures Albanian progress.

A note on current officeholders

This Atlas does not print the names of current officeholders on this page, because a reference page that goes stale is worse than one that points you somewhere current. For who holds which office today, use the Assembly's own site, the President's office and the Council of Ministers.