History of Communist Albania: Encyclopedia II - History of Communist Albania - Transition to democracy

History of Communist Albania - Transition to democracy

After Hoxha's death, Alia took his place. He tried to follow his footsteps, but the changes had already started and the fall of communism throughout south central Europe led to widespread changes within Albanian society. Mikhail Gorbachev had appeared in the Soviet Union with new policies (Glasnost and perestroika). The totalitarian regime was pressured by the US and Europe and the hate of its own people. After Nicolae Ceauşescu (the communist leader of Romania) was executed in a revolution, Alia knew he would be next if changes were not made. He signed the Helsinki Agreement (which was signed by other countries in 1975) that respected some human rights. He allowed pluralism under the enormous pressure from students and workers. Under Alia's regime, there were organized the first pluralist elections since communist assume power in Albania. Alia's party won the election of 1991 through massive fraud and violence. Nevertheless, it was clear that the change would not be stopped. Pursuant to a 1991 interim basic law, Albanians ratified a constitution in 1998, establishing a democratic system of government based upon the rule of law and guaranteeing the protection of fundamental human rights.

The communists managed to retain control of the government in the first round of elections under the new constitution, but fell two months later during a general strike. A committee of "national salvation" took over but also collapsed in half a year. In 1992 Communists were trumped by the Democratic Party in national elections. The change from dictatorship to democracy had many challenges. The Democratic party had to implement the reforms it had promised, but they were either too slow or didn't solve the problems, so the people were disappointed from their hopes for fast prosperity. In the general elections of June 1996 the Democratic Party tried to win an absolute majority and manipulated the results. This government collapsed in 1997 in the wake of the additional collapse of pyramid schemes, which caused anarchy and rebellion throughout the country.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Transition to democracy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki