Party of Labour of Albania
Party of Labour of Albania Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë | |
---|---|
Anti-revisionism | |
Political position | Far-left |
National affiliation | Democratic Front of Albania |
International affiliation | Cominform (1947–1956) |
Colours | Red |
Party flag | |
The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA),[a] also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of Albania (Partia Komuniste e Shqipërisë, PKSh) but changed its name in 1948. The party was dissolved on 13 June 1991 and succeeded by the Socialist Party of Albania and the new Communist Party of Albania. For most of its existence, the party was dominated by its First Secretary, Enver Hoxha, who was also the de facto leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985.[2]
Background
In the 1920s, Albania was the only Balkan country without a communist party. The first Albanian communists emerged from the followers of Albanian clergyman and politician
History
World War II
Following the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito under Comintern directives sent two Yugoslav delegates Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša to Albania. These two helped unite the Albanian communist groups in 1941.[4] After intensive work, the Albanian Communist Party was formed on 8 November 1941 by a delegates from Shkodër with Enver Hoxha from the Korça branch as its leader.[5]
The PKSh was the dominant element of the
In the elections for the Constituent Assembly held on 2 December 1945, voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front, organised and led by the PKSh. The Front received 93.7% of the vote.[citation needed]
Hoxha era (1945–1985)
In a meeting with Joseph Stalin in July 1947 Stalin suggested the party be renamed to the "Party of Labour of Albania" because peasants were a majority in the country. Hoxha accepted this suggestion.[7]
Under Hoxha, the party became the most rigidly
After
Hoxha led the party and state more or less without resistance until his death in 1985.
Post-Hoxha (1985–1991)
Hoxha's successor,
In 1991, the PPSh dissolved and refounded itself as the social-democratic Socialist Party of Albania, which is now one of the two major political parties in Albania. A group called "Volunteers of Enver", led by Hysni Milloshi, laid claim to the identity of the PPSh as the Communist Party of Albania.
Structure
The ideology of the PPSh was an anti-revisionist variant of Marxism–Leninism known as Hoxhaism. The party organisation was built up following democratic centralist principles, with Hoxha as its First Secretary. Article 3 of Albania's 1976 Constitution identified the Party as the "leading political force of the state and of the society." To help carry out its ideological activities it had an associated mass organization known as the Democratic Front. Its daily publication was Zëri i Popullit (Voice of the People) and its monthly theoretical journal was Rruga e Partisë (Road of the Party).
The highest organ of the Party, according to the Party statutes, was the Party Congress, which met for a few days every five years. Delegates to the Congress were elected at conferences held at the regional, district, and city levels. The Congress examined and approved reports submitted by the Central Committee, discussed general Party policies, and elected the Central Committee. The latter was the next-highest level in the Party hierarchy and generally included all key officials in the government, as well as prominent members of the Sigurimi. The Central Committee directed Party activities between Party Congresses and met approximately three times a year.
As in the Soviet Union, the Central Committee elected a
First Secretaries of the Party of Labour of Albania
- Enver Hoxha (8 November 1941–11 April 1985)
- Ramiz Alia (13 April 1985–13 June 1991)
External following
The staunchly orthodox stand of the PPSh attracted many political groupings around the world, particularly among Maoists who were not content with the Chinese Communist Party's attitude in the late 1970s. A large number of parties declared themselves to be in the "PPSh line", especially during the period 1978–1980. However, many of them abandoned this certain affiliation after the fall of the socialist government in Albania. Today, many of the political parties upholding the political line of the PPSh are grouped around the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations.
The following parties were followers of the PPSh during the Cold War:
- Communist Party of Denmark/Marxist–Leninists[10]
- Workers' Communist Party of France[10]
- Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists[10]
- Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist)[10]
- Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist)[10]
- Communist Movement M-L (Iceland)[10]
- Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist)[10]
- Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist)[10]
- Portuguese Communist Party (Reconstructed)[10]
- Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (historical)[10]
- Communist Party Marxists-Leninists (revolutionaries) (Sweden)[10]
- Communist Party of Benin[11]
- Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party[10]
- Union for People's Democracy (Senegal)[10]
- Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist)[10]
- Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement (Nicaragua)[10]
- Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago[10]
- Communist Party of Brazil[10]
- Peruvian Communist Party – Red Flag[10]
- Revolutionary Vanguard (Communist Proletarian) (Peru)[10]
- Communist Party of Suriname[10]
- Communist Party of New Zealand[10]
- Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey
Friendship Associations
Various friendship associations were also formed by international Communist sympathizers who supported the Party:
- China–Albania Friendship Association
- Soviet–Albanian Friendship Society
- USA–Albania Friendship Association
- Friendship Association Norway–Albania
- Spain–Albania Friendship Association
- Swedish–Albanian Association
Electoral history
Parliamentary elections
Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1945 | Enver Hoxha | as part of Democratic Front of Albania | 82 / 82
|
82 | 1st | Sole legal party | |
1950 | 121 / 121
|
39 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1954 | 134 / 134
|
13 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1958 | 188 / 188
|
54 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1962 | 214 / 214
|
26 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1966 | 240 / 240
|
26 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1970 | 264 / 264
|
24 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1974 | 250 / 250
|
14 | 1st | Sole legal party | |||
1978 | 250 / 250
|
1st | Sole legal party | ||||
1982 | 250 / 250
|
1st | Sole legal party | ||||
1987 | Ramiz Alia | 250 / 250
|
1st | Sole legal party | |||
1991 | 1,046,120 | 56.17 (#1) | 169 / 250
|
81 | 1st | Majority |
Notes
See also
- Democratic Front of Albania
- History of Albania
- Fall of communism in Albania
- Eastern Bloc politics
- Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania
References
Citations
- Scarecrow Press. p. 422.
- OCLC 861296248.
- ISBN 978-99956-19-36-7.
- ^ Komunist: organ Centralnog komiteta KPJ [Communist: a body of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.] (in Serbian). Borba. 1949.
Дугим радом и убеђивањем на састанцима с појединцима и с по двојицом-тројицом, другови Миладин Поповић и Душан Мугоша сломили су групашки отпор код већине албанских другова. Они су успели да их убеде како је Партија неопходна радпим масама у њи- ховој борби за ослобођење од капиталистичке експлоатације и импе- ријалистичког поробљавања. Тај рад довео је до састанка 8 новем- бра 1941 године, на коме је било присутно преко двадесет ...
[With long work and persuasion at meetings with individuals and with two or three, comrades Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša broke the group resistance of most Albanian comrades. They succeeded in convincing them that the Party was necessary for the working masses in their struggle for liberation from capitalist exploitation and imperialist enslavement. This work led to a meeting on 8 November 1941, which was attended by over twenty ...] - ISBN 978-1850437499.
- ISBN 9789992769836.
- ^ "Enver Hoxha: 'With Stalin – Memoirs from my Meetings with Stalin.'". 1981.
- ISBN 9780701129705.
- ^ Buda, Aleks (1985). Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar. Tiranë: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH. p. 1245.
- ^ ISBN 9780582902640.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-7171-7.
Sources
- Krasniqi, Afrim (2006). Partitë politike në Shqipëri: 1920-2006: Historia dhe tiparet e partive, të parlamenteve dhe të zhvillimeve politike (in Albanian). Tiranë: Eurorilindja. ISBN 99943-861-1-5.