View source for Ramiz Alia

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{short description|First president of the current Albania}}
{{Infobox president
| name                = Ramiz Alia
| image               = Ramiz Alia (portret).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1985
| order               = 
| honorific-prefix    = 
| office1             = [[President of Albania]]
| term_start1         = 30 April 1991
| term_end1           = 3 April 1992
| primeminister1      = [[Fatos Nano]]<BR>[[Ylli Bufi]]<BR>[[Vilson Ahmeti]]
| predecessor1        = ''Himself'' as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly
| successor1          = [[Sali Berisha]]
| office2             = [[List of heads of state of Albania|Chairman of the Presidium of the Albanian People's Assembly]]
| term_start2         = 22 November 1982
| term_end2           = 30 April 1991
| leader2             = [[Enver Hoxha]] (First Secretary)
| predecessor2        = [[Haxhi Lleshi]]
| successor2          = ''Himself'' as President
| office3             = [[General Secretary of the Communist Party|First Secretary]] of the [[Party of Labour of Albania]]
| term_start3         = 13 April 1985
| term_end3           = 13 June 1991
| predecessor3        = Enver Hoxha
| successor3          = ''Position abolished''
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1925|10|18|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Shkodër]], [[Albanian Republic (1925–1928)|First Albanian Republic]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2011|10|7|1925|10|18|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Tirana]], Albania
| spouse              = {{marriage|Semiramis Xhuvani||1986|end=died}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/15/obituaries/semiramis-alia-is-dead-a-58-wife-of-the-albanian-leader.html|title=Semiramis Alia Is Dead a 58; Wife of the Albanian Leader|work=The New York Times |date=15 March 1986|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
| children            = 3 (Zana, Besa and Arben)
| party               = [[Party of Labour of Albania|Party of Labour]] (1943–1991)<br />[[Socialist Party of Albania|Socialist Party]] (1991–2011)
| signature           = Ramiz Alia (nënshkrim).svg
}}
'''Ramiz Alia''' ({{IPA|sq|ɾaˈmiz aˈlia|-|Ramiz Alia.ogg}}; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]] from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the [[Party of Labour of Albania]]. He was also the country's [[List of heads of state of Albania|head of state]] from 1982 to 1992. He had been seen as a successor by [[Enver Hoxha]] and took power after Hoxha died.

==Early life and politics==
[[File:Ramiz Alia (i ri).jpg|left|thumb|Alia in 1950]]
Alia was born on 18 October 1925, in [[Shkodër]] to [[Ghegs|Gheg Albanian]] parents who were [[Muslim]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Europe |first=United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TjXWEaSjqewC&dq=Ramiz+Alia+Gheg+Albanian&pg=PA11 |title=The Elections in Albania: March-April 1991 |date=1991 |publisher=The Commission |language=en}}</ref> They fled persecution in [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/europe/ramiz-alia-former-ruler-of-albania-dies-at-85.html|title=ramiz-alia-former-ruler-of-albania-dies-at-85|work=The New York Times |date=8 October 2011 |language=english|access-date=14 May 2020|last1=McFadden |first1=Robert D. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://president.al/ramiz-alia/|title=Ramiz Alia|website=Presidenti i Republikës së Shqipërisë|language=sq-AL|access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HGlDAAAQBAJ&q=ramiz+alia+Biographical+Dictionary+of+Central+and+Eastern+Europe&pg=PA17|title=Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century|last1=Roszkowski|first1=Wojciech|last2=Kofman|first2=Jan|date=8 July 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47594-1|language=en}}</ref> He grew up and spent his childhood in [[Tirana]]. In the early part of [[World War II]], Alia was a member of a fascist youth organisation known as the Fascist Lictor Youth Organisation but joined the underground Albanian Communist Youth Organisation in 1941.<ref name="RAB">{{Cite web|url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/ramiz-alia|title=Ramiz Alia Facts|website=biography.yourdictionary.com}}</ref><ref name="sr">J.F. Brown: [http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/1-6-145.shtml Background Notes to Albania's Party Congress – Special Report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601152926/http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/1-6-145.shtml |date=1 June 2012 }}, [[Blinken Open Society Archives]], 2 February 1961.</ref> In 1943, he became a member of the [[Albanian Communist Party]].<ref name="sr"/> He had risen rapidly under Hoxha's patronage, and was elected to the Central Committee in 1948, and in 1956, was named a candidate member of the [[Politburo]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=The Albanians: A Modern History|year=2006|publisher=I.B. Taurus|location=London|isbn=1-86064-541-0|page=210}}</ref> By 1961, he was made a full member of the Politburo ([[Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania]]).<Ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gESOAgAAQBAJ&dq=politburo+albania&pg=PA154 Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91, p.154]</ref> Alia distinguished himself as the chief ideologist in the social and cultural fields for the Party of Labour of Albania, specifically during the years of the [[Cultural and Ideological Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Prifti|first=Peter|title=Socialist Albania since 1944: Domestic and Foreign Developments|publisher=MIT Press|year=1978|isbn=0-262-16070-6|location=Cambridge|pages=97|language=English}}</ref>

Although Hoxha never designated an official successor, there were clear signs that he favoured Alia. In introducing Alia to one of his doctors, Hoxha said "My friend, I'm getting old, and my health is not the best it could be. Younger comrades, like this one [Alia], will step in."<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fevziu|first1=Blendi|url=https://worldcat.org/oclc/1000295419|title=Enver Hoxha: The Iron Fist of Albania|last2=Elsie|first2=Robert|last3=Nishku|first3=Majlinda|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2017|isbn=978-1-78453-970-2|location=London & New York|pages=251|language=English|oclc=1000295419}}</ref>

==Political career==

===First Secretary of the Albanian Labour Party===
After World War II, Alia resumed his duties in the Communist Youth Organisation, and at the First Congress of the Albanian Party of Labour in November 1948, he was elected to its Central Committee and was assigned to the department of agitation and propaganda.<ref name="RAB"/> 

As late as 1988, Alia had continued insisting that Hoxha was the only statesman in decades who stayed loyal to Marxism-Leninism, claiming in his speech at the unveiling of Hoxha's statue in [[Skanderbeg Square]]: "Enver Hoxha has been and remains to this day the only name among the communist leaders of the last 4–5 decades who defended the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, the ideals of the revolution and socialism, both in theory and practice."<ref>Alia, Ramiz (1988). ''Albania Today''. ''1988''(5). p. 5.</ref>

===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 reforms. By 11 December, 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 organisation of students and youth. Alia's response was that such an organisation had to be registered with the Ministry of Justice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Opinion - Takimi i Ramiz Alise me Studentet_Pjesa 1 (08 dhjetor 2009)| website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6md3Ih_FC8}}</ref>

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.

Alia was a crucial figure in the peaceful political transition of the early 1990s. Many believe that he helped the rise to power of the anti-communist opposition forces, thus eliminating possible bloodshed. He 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. On 12 December 1990, he signed a law allowing political pluralism, on which he would later comment as his life's greatest failure.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 16, 2016|title=Këto janë 50 fakte nga jeta e Ramiz Alisë dhe misteret që mori në varr|url=https://telegrafi.com/keto-jane-50-fakte-nga-jeta-e-ramiz-alise-dhe-misteret-qe-mori-ne-varr-foto/|website=telegrafi.com}}</ref> In the [[1991 Albanian parliamentary election|1991 elections]], the first democratic elections in the country, where Alia ran for Member of National Parliament in a constituency in the capital, which was a stronghold of the communist party, he was badly defeated by a surprising majority of 61% by the renowned mining engineer in the country, Franko Kroqi. Kroqi ran as a candidate of the newly formed [[Democratic Party of Albania]], although he never became a party member.

After this loss, and later on the Democratic Party of Albania's landslide victory in the spring [[1992 Albanian parliamentary election|1992 general election]], he resigned as [[President (government title)|president]] on 3 April 1992.<ref name="RAB"/> 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 government, including Ramiz Alia, went on trial. Alia was charged with abuse of power and misappropriation of state funds, as was prime minister [[Adil Çarçani]], deputy prime minister [[Manush Myftiu]], and Rita Marko who was a vice-president.

Alia had been placed under [[house arrest]] in August 1992 and his detention was converted into imprisonment in August 1993.<ref name="RAB"/> 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]] 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 prison. 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 [[1997 unrest in Albania|unrest in the country]] and the desertion of the guards.<ref>[https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13039460.ramiz-alia/ "Ramiz Alia"] The Herald Scotland, 4 November 2011</ref> Amid the unrest he appeared on state TV in an exclusive interview with [[Blendi Fevziu]]. In December 1997 he returned to Albania after escaping briefly to [[France]] to join his family during the [[Albanian unrest]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/07/ramiz-alia "Ramiz Alia"] The Guardian, 7 October 2011</ref> In the late 2000s, he was sometimes seen travelling to Albania from [[Dubai]] to give interviews or publicize his books.<ref>[http://lajme.shqiperia.com/lajme/artikull/iden/1046860798/titulli/Ish-presidenti-i-Shqiperise-Ramiz-Alia-boton-librin-Jeta-Ime "Ish-presidenti i Shqipërisë, Ramiz Alia boton librin "Jeta Ime""] Shqiperia, 4 May 2011</ref>

==Death==
Alia died on 7 October 2011 in [[Tirana]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/07/ramiz-alia "Ramiz Alia"] The Guardian, 7 October 2011</ref>

== Legacy ==
Alia’s legacy remains polarizing with some dissidents accusing him of continuing on Hoxha’s repressive practices (such as the execution of dissidents in labour camps) while others have praised him for peacefully dissolving the monopolistic hold of power of the [[Party of Labour of Albania|Party of Labour]] and avoiding bloodshed and civil war as seen in Romania previously. Some western observers compared Alia to Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union for his failed attempts at reforming the stagnant economy of Albania during his tenure.

==See also==
* [[List of presidents of Albania]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
'''Other sources'''
* ''Political Parties in Albania 1912-2006'', Afrim Krasniqi, Tirana, 2007/a

==Bibliography==
* Alia, Ramiz. ''Jeta ime: Kujtime'', Tirana, Toena: 2010

==External links==
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ Country Studies On-Line] at the [[Library of Congress]]
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{{Succession box|title=[[Minister of Education|Minister of Education and Culture]]|before=|after=|years=1955–1958}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Albanian Party of Labour|First Secretary of the Albanian Party of Labour]]|before=[[Enver Hoxha]]|after=End of Communist rule|years=1985–1991}}
{{Succession box|title=[[List of heads of state of Albania|Chairman of the Presidium of the Albanian People's Assembly]]|before=[[Haxhi Lleshi]]|after=Himself as President|years=1982–1991}}
{{Succession box|title=[[President of Albania]]|before=Himself as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly|after=[[Sali Berisha]]|years=1991–1992}}
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{{Heads of state of Albania}}
{{Leaders of the ruling parties of the Eastern Bloc}}
{{Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alia, Ramiz}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Shkodër]]
[[Category:Party of Labour of Albania politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania]]
[[Category:Candidate members of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Albania]]
[[Category:Presidents of Albania]]
[[Category:People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung disease]]
[[Category:Respiratory disease deaths in Albania]]
[[Category:Heads of state and government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Socialist Party of Albania politicians]]