Ramiz Tafë Alia was the second and last communist leader of
Albania from 1985 to 1991, and the President of the
People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1991 to 1992, and also the
first President of the post
communist Albania elected in 1991–92. He had been designated as successor by
Enver Hoxha and took power after Hoxha died. Alia died on 7 October 2011 in Tirana due to lung disease, aged 85.
[1]
(18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011)
Early life and politics
Alia was born in 1925. In the early part of
World War II he was a member of a Fascist youth organization but joined the underground Albanian Communist Youth Organization in 1941.
[2][3] In 1943, he became member of the
Albanian Communist Party.
[3] He had risen rapidly under Hoxha's patronage and by 1961 was a full member of the ruling Political Bureau (
Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania).
[citation needed]
Hoxha chose Alia for several reasons. First, Alia had long been a militant follower of
Marxism-Leninism and supported Hoxha's policy of national self-reliance. Alia also was favored by Hoxha's wife
Nexhmije,
who had once been his instructor at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism.
His political experience was similar to that of Hoxha; and inasmuch as
he appeared to share Hoxha's views on most foreign and domestic issues,
he accommodated himself to the totalitarian mode of ruling.
[citation needed]
Political career
First Secretary of the Albanian Labor Party
After World War II, Alia resumed his duties in the Communist Youth
Organization, and at the First Congress of the Albanian Party of Labor
in November 1948, he was elected to its Central Committee and was
assigned in the department of agitation and propaganda.
[2]
When he succeeded Hoxha in 1985, the country was in grave difficulty.
Political apathy and cynicism were pervasive, with large segments of the
population having rejected the government's values. The economy, which
suffered from low productivity and permanent shortages of the most basic
foodstuffs, showed no sign of improvement. Social controls and
self-discipline had eroded. The
intelligentsia
was beginning to resist strict party controls and to criticize the
government's failure to observe international standards of human rights.
Apparently recognizing the depth and extent of the societal malaise,
Alia cautiously and slowly began to make changes in the system. His
first target was the economic system. In an effort to improve economic
efficiency, Alia introduced some economic decentralization and price
reform in specific sectors.
[citation needed]
Alia did not relax censorship, but he did allow public discussions of
Albania's societal problems and encouraged debates among writers and
artists on cultural issues. In response to international criticism of
Albania's record on human rights, the new leadership loosened some
political controls and ceased to apply repression on a mass scale. In
1989, general amnesties brought about the release of many long-term
prisoners. He strengthened ties with
Greece,
Italy,
Turkey, and
Yugoslavia. A loosening of restrictions on travel and tourism resulted in a more promising outlook for Albania's tourist trade.
[citation needed]
Transition to multi-party system and presidency
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 a
reforms. By December 11, 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 organization of students and youth. Alia's response was that
such an organization had to be registered with the Ministry of Justice.
[citation needed]
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. Despite
positive signs of change, many Albanians were still trying to leave
their country. At the end of 1990, as many as 5,000 Albanians crossed
over the mountainous border into
Greece. Young people motivated by economic dissatisfaction made up the bulk of the refugees.
[citation needed]
Alia was a crucial figure in the peaceful political transition of the
early 1990s as many believe that he helped rise to power the anti
communist opposition forces thus eliminating a possible bloodshed.
Alia 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.
After the collapse of a coalition government in December 1991 and the
Democratic Party of Albania's (DPA) landslide victory in the spring 1992 general election, he resigned as
president on 3 April 1992.
[2] On 9 April the People's Assembly elected DPA leader
Sali Berisha as Albania's new head of state.
Arrest
On 21 May 1994, senior officials from the communist regime, including
Ramiz Alia, went to trial. Alia was charged with abuse of power and
misappropriation of state funds, as was Adil Carçani, the former prime
minister,
Manush Myftiu, his deputy, and Rito Marko, a former vice-president.
Alia had been placed under house arrest in August 1992 and his detention was converted into imprisonment in August 1993.
[2]
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/Helsinki 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, Carçani, 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.
[2]
Amid the unrest he appeared on State TV in an exclusive interview with
Blendi Fevziu. In the late 2000s he was seen traveling seldom to Albania
from Dubai by giving interviews or publishing personal books.
[4]
Death
Ramiz Alia died on 7 October 2011 in
Tiranë from lung disease, shortly before his 86th birthday, according to a spokesman for President
Bamir Topi.
[1]
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