Government of Albania

Ruling Socialists Defeat Divided Opposition in Albanian Local Polls

The Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Edi Rama is ahead in most municipalities in the country after Sunday's local elections and has already won three, Kamza, Vora and Elbasan, where the voting took place electronically and the Central Election Commission was able to declare the results a few hours after polls closed.

Albania PM Denies Using Govt Funds to Blackmail Voters

Albania's Socialist Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has rejected opposition claims of blackmailing voters over access to government funds.

On Wednesday he said his threats to block funds to municipalities run by opposition mayors were a consequence of opposition leader Sali Berisha's designation by the US State Department as "being involved in significant corruption".

Albanian Opposition Faces Obstacle to Entering Local Election Race

The temporary resignation of the former leader of the opposition Democratic Party Lulzim Basha in March last year has prevented the party from registering for the May local elections.

This is because some key documents submitted to the Central Elections Commission, CEC, should have had his signature.

Deadly Verses: How Communist Albania Executed Poets for Subversion

After a trial that lasted just seven days, Leka, then 36, and Blloshmi, 29, were sentenced to death and then executed on the night of July 17, 1977.

Born in the same village - Berzheshte, in the Librazhd area - the two poets lived a short and difficult life under Hoxha's regime, which kept the country isolated from the democratic world for more than four decades.

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