Albanian Party of Labour
The Albanian Party of Labour (Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh) was the sole legal political party in Albania during communist rule (1946-1991). It was founded in 1941 as the Albanian Communist Party, but its name was changed in 1948.
The ideology of the PPSh was centered around democratic centralism, Stalinism and the personality cult surrounding Enver Hoxha. Article 3 of Albania's 1976 Constitution identified the Party as the "leading political force of the state and of the society."
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 with little debate. The Secretariat was responsible for guiding the day-to-day affairs of the Party, in particular for organizing the execution of Politburo decisions and for selecting Party and government cadres.
Unlike other ruling communist parties, people from working-class and peasantry had a negligible presence in the PPSh élite. They were well-educated intellectuals, many had studied abroad. This situation sharply contradicted with the undeniably underdeveloped (so-called "feudal") condition of the Albanian society. The consequences were radical practices of "social engineering", often with draconian measures, typical of the "Cultural and Ideological Revolution" started in 1967.
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 late 1970s. A large number of parties (the most notable being PC do B) declared themselves to be in "PPSh line". However, most of them abandoned this certain affiliation after the fall of the communist regime in Albania.
In 1991, the PPSh reformed and became the mainstream Socialist Party of Albania, which as of 2005 is the current ruling party.
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This article incorporates public domain text from the Library of Congress Country Studies.
Categories: Country Studies | Communist parties | Political parties in Albania