Albanian Government: An Easy Guide For Travelers

Original Blog Post: https://ling-app.com/sq/albanian-government/

Before traveling to a country, one must be aware of the existing policies and laws. When it comes to the Albanian government, matters are complicated. It has seen many changes over the years, some changes that the Albanian people are happy with and others that they aren’t. Today we’re going to explore what these have been. And remember, if you want to learn Albanian, your first port of call should be Ling. Governments rise and fall, but Ling remains your best option for learning a language!

The Albanian Government: A General Overview

Albania is a complicated mix of local and federal authorities. However, Albania is officially classed as a parliamentary republic. The President selects the Prime Minister, although the prime minister holds much of the real power. (Authority goes to the deputy prime minister if anything happens to the Prime Minister).

The Albanian Constitution was first ratified in 1998, but this wasn’t the first in the country’s history. The country has adopted various political philosophies. In 1913 it was a monarchy, in 1925 a republic, in 1928 a democratic monarchy, and then a socialist republic for the best part of half a century.

It is worth noting that Albania is not currently in the European Union, but its application is pending.

Northern Albania is a Gheg-dominated region, and Southern Albania is Tosk-dominated. Typically the Tosk vote is more liberal and the Gheg more conservative.

The Albanian Government: Edi Rama

The current Prime Minister of Albania (Kryeministri i Shqipërisë) is Edi Rama, and he’s been in power since 2013. Unlike The U.S. and U.K., there are no term limits, so in theory, the Prime Minister can stay in control indefinitely.

Edi Rama was born in 1964 in the capital Tirana. Interestingly, he is a celebrated painter and worked as a teacher in his early 20s, which was about the same time he became involved in politics and began speaking out against the communist regime.

In 2000 he was elected to one of the most important political positions in the country- the mayorship of Tirana- when he won that year’s municipal elections. His first priority was to beautify the city by demolishing the much-criticized soviet style buildings that had emerged during the communist era. This work earned him the award of World Mayor of the year in 2004.

In 2013 Rama ran for the socialist party among several left-wing coalition political parties. Styled on the Tony Blair campaigns of the late nineties and early noughties, Rama’s campaign defeated that of his rival Sali Berisha who represented center-right opposition parties.

Although he was raised a catholic, he doesn’t profess to have any religion but does believe in religious freedom.

Acheivements Of Edi Rama

• Modernizing the police force
• More stringent financial checks of judges in a bid to weed out corruption
• Increasing economic growth and unemployment. Rama has created 183,00 new jobs since 2013
• Reforms of the social welfare and pension system
• Decreased political instability

Criticisms Of Edi Rama

• Contribution to a Barack Obama reelection fund against U.S. election laws.
• Leaked recordings in 2017 showed Rama associates in contact with members of the criminal underworld tasked with tampering with the election. Organized crime historically has been a big problem in Albania.
• He has been critical of the media resulting in a controversial law passed in 2019. Many groups have commented that it is an attempt by Rama to censor free speech.

The Oath Of Office

Almost all countries have an oath of office or a promise the man in charge makes to the country’s people, the Constitution (and often a higher power).

The following is the Albanian oath of office with the English translation.

Learn Albanian With Ling

Now you have a general overview of the Albanian government; perhaps it’s time to learn Albanian with Ling. Stated plainly: Ling is the best app for learning lesser-spoken languages.

Apps like Duolingo and Babbel focus on low-hanging fruit like Spanish, French, and English. Just because a language like Albanian doesn’t have as many speakers doesn’t mean the language learning community should forget about it. Fortunately, the Ling App by Simya Solutions has lessons for 60+ foreign languages, including niche languages!

We have everything you’d expect from a world-class language app, including enthralling gamification elements and a leaderboard so you can compare yourself to other Albanian learners. In addition, we have listening, grammar, and vocabulary practice, and practice with our patented chatbot that’s almost as good as speaking with a native teacher. (Of course, all our listening exercises are recorded by native speakers).

This blog should also be a companion to your learning. My 2 favorites recently have been religion in Albania and Albanian wedding traditions. So, what are tou waiting for? Read on and discover the best way to learning about the language, culture, and tradition of Albania and other countries with Ling.