Party of Labor of Albania

Party of Labour of Albania Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë

Leader	Enver Hoxha (1941-85), Ramiz Alia (1985-91)
Founded	November 8, 1941
Dissolved	June 5, 1991
Succeeded by	Socialist Party of Albania
Headquarters	Tirana, People's Socialist Republic of Albania
Newspaper	Zëri i Popullit
Youth wing	Labour Youth Union of Albania
Ideology	Communism, Marxism-Leninism, Stalinism, Hoxhaism, Anti-revisionism
Official colours	Red
Website
None

The Party of Labour of Albania (Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh in Albanian, sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party) was the sole legal political party in Albania during communist rule (1945–1991). It was founded on November 8, 1941 as the Communist Party of Albania^{[citation needed]} (Partia Komuniste e Shqipërisë), but its name was changed in 1948.

The ideology of the PPSh was Anti-Revisionist Marxism-Leninism. The party organisation was built up following democratic centralist principles, with Enver 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.

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 intelligentsia. 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 Politburo and a Secretariat. The Politburo, which usually included key government ministers and Central Committee secretaries, was the main administrative and policy-making body and convened on a weekly basis. Generally, the Central Committee approved Politburo reports and policy decisions. The Secretariat was responsible for guiding the day-to-day affairs of the Party, in particular for organising the execution of Politburo decisions and for selecting Party and government cadres.

In 1991, the PPSh reformed and became the social-democratic Socialist Party of Albania, 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 (1991).

1 First Secretaries of the Party of Labour of Albania
2 External following
3 Friendship Associations
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
7 See also

First Secretaries of the Party of Labour of Albania

Enver Hoxha (Secretary of the Central Committee to February, 1943) November 8, 1941 - April 11, 1985
Ramiz Alia April 13, 1985–May 4, 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 CPC 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 communist regime 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.

Below is a partial list of parties adhering to the political line of the PPSh during its existence:

Before the Sino-Albanian Split, two anti-revisionist parties conducted their operations more closely with the Albanian Party than the Chinese:

Friendship Associations

Various friendship associations were also formed by international Communist sympathisers who supported the Party:

References

^ New Revelations about the Activities and Destruction of the GDR Section of the Communist Party of Germany/Marxist-Leninist (KPD/ML)

Afrim Krasniqi: "Partite Politike ne Shqiperi",ISBN 99943-861-1-5 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]