Albanian Communists - Transition

Transition

After Hoxha's death, Alia took his place. He tried to follow in 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 communist regime was pressured by the US and Europe and also by the hate of its own people. After Nicolae Ceauşescu (the communist leader of Romania) was executed in a revolution, Alia knew that 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, the first pluralist elections took place since the communists assumed power in Albania. Alia's party won the election of March 31, 1991. 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 position of the communists was confirmed in the first round of elections under the interim law, but fell two months later during a general strike. A committee of "national salvation" took over but also collapsed in six months. On March 22, 1992 the 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 when their hopes for fast prosperity went unfulfilled. 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 and widespread corruption, which caused anarchy and rebellion throughout the country. The government attempted to suppress the rebellion by military force but the attempt failed, due to long-term corruption of the Armed Forces.