The political landscape of Albania has lost one of its most significant figures with the passing of Fatos Nano, the former prime minister who played a crucial role in the country's transition from hardline communist rule to a fledgling market economy. Nano died at 73 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, leaving behind a complex legacy spanning decades of turbulent Albanian politics.
The Political Titan of Transitional Albania
Alongside his arch-rival Sali Berisha, Nano dominated Albania's political scene during the turbulent 15 years following the disintegration of Communist party rule in 1990. His political career was characterised by remarkable resilience, having been appointed prime minister on four separate occasions, though his total time in that office amounted to just four years.
Nano's political influence stemmed from his unchallenged position as leader of the Socialist Party of Albania (SPA) until 2005. His most significant contribution came in 1991 when, as prime minister, he helped steer Albania's chaotic but largely peaceful transition from a hardline Stalinist regime with a collapsed command economy to a pluralist society embracing market economics.
A Career of Dramatic Highs and Lows
The initial beneficiary of Albania's political transformation was Berisha's Democratic Party of Albania (DPA), which won a landslide victory in the first genuinely free elections in March 1992. Berisha became president, while Nano found himself in prison following corruption convictions - charges he consistently denied.
Nano's political fortunes dramatically reversed in March 1997 when nationwide collapse of fraudulent pyramid investment schemes triggered an uprising against Berisha's increasingly authoritarian rule. The unrest turned violent as rebel groups and criminal gangs seized hundreds of thousands of weapons from army stores.
In the snap elections of June 1997, the Socialists inflicted a crushing defeat on the Democrats, leading to Berisha's resignation and Nano's return as prime minister. During eight years of SPA rule beginning in 1997, Nano shifted the balance of power away from Berisha's de facto presidential rule to a parliamentary system, gradually stabilising the economy and easing social conflicts.
From Communist Insider to Democratic Reformer
Nano was born in Tirana in 1952 to privileged communist parents. His father Thanos later served as head of Albanian Radio and Television, while his mother Maria was a government official. Educated at the elite Sami Frasheri high school, Nano graduated in political economy from the University of Tirana in 1974.
After working as an economist at the Elbasan steel works, Nano joined the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies, the Party of Labour of Albania's ideological thinktank. He became a protege of Nexhmije Hoxha, widow of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, whose isolationist policies had pauperised Albania throughout the 1980s.
Nano was plucked from relative obscurity in December 1990 amid student protests triggered by economic hardship and pro-democracy movements across Eastern Europe. His rise was meteoric: appointed government secretary-general in December 1990, deputy prime minister by January 1991, and prime minister by February 1991 following the toppling of Hoxha's statue in central Tirana.
At just 38 years old, his promotion projected an image of generational change. The tactics worked, and he was appointed prime minister for a second time after the PLA won landslide victory in the first multi-party elections that March, though the party enjoyed overwhelming advantages in resources and publicity.
Prison, Comeback and Final Years
Following the DPA's election victory in 1992, Nano was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for misappropriation of state funds in 1994. He denied all charges and became a martyr figure for the Socialists, continuing to lead the SPA from prison through his then-wife Rexhina.
During the 1997 uprising against Berisha's rule, Nano was freed and led the Socialists to election victory. Unlike his rival, he showed no vengefulness, making no attempt to use courts against Democratic leaders.
His third appointment as prime minister was cut short after a year by anti-government riots following the 1998 assassination of DPA politician Azem Hajdari. To defuse tensions, Nano handed the premiership first to Pandeli Majko, then to Ilir Meta, while remaining in overall government control.
Nano returned as prime minister for his final stint in July 2002, though attachment to power mattered less to him than enjoying material benefits and patronage opportunities. His comfortable lifestyle, government complacency and rift with Meta led to SPA's defeat in 2005 elections.
Nano's resignation from party leadership ended his political career. An attempt to get elected as head of state in 2007 failed due to opposition from both Berisha's Democrats and many of Edi Rama's SPA legislators, who feared Nano might emerge as a rival to their new leader.
Thereafter, Nano and his second wife Xhoana, whom he married in 2002, led a quiet life dividing time between homes in Vienna and Tirana. He is survived by Xhoana, two children from his first marriage - Sokol and Edlira - and stepson Klajdi.
