Bashkim Fino (12 October 1962 – 29 March 2021) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n socialist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Albania from March to July 1997.

Biography

Fino studied economics in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. After this, he worked as an economist in

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

, and in 1992 became its mayor. He was married and had two children. On 11 March 1997, Democratic Party President

Sali Berisha Sali Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and as the 32nd Prime Minister of Albania, prime minister of Albania from 2005 to 2013. Berisha ...

appointed Fino, a member of the opposition

Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party of Albania (, PSSh), also known as simply the Socialist Party (, PS), is a Social democracy, social-democratic centre-left political party in Albania. It is the successor to the Party of Labour of Albania, which reconstituted ...

, Prime Minister in order to lead a government of national unity. This came after rebellion broke out over the collapse of several

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model which, rather than earning money (or providing Return on investment, returns on investments) by sale of legitimate product (business), products to an end consumer, mainly earns money by recruiting new members ...

s leading to the government losing control of much of the country. Fino was Prime Minister through the 1997 elections where his Socialist Party won a large majority before he stepped down and was succeeded by his party leader Fatos Nano. As of 2014, Fino was a Member of Parliament representing a constituency in the Korçë District. Fino was a lecturer at the Political Academy of the Socialist Party of Albania. Fino was a devoted fan of Italian football team

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

. In January 2018 he declared his intention to run for president of the Albanian Football Federation, challenging Armand Duka, the incumbent president of the last 16 years. The elections held on 7 February 2018, were lost by Fino, although he claimed that the voting process was irregular and that he would appeal to

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. Fino, who had

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, died on 29 March 2021, after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He was 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fino, Bashkim 1962 births 2021 deaths Government ministers of Albania Prime ministers of Albania Deputy prime ministers of Albania Public works ministers of Albania Tourism ministers of Albania People from Gjirokastër Socialist Party of Albania politicians Albanian socialists Mayors of Gjirokastër Members of the Parliament of Albania 20th-century mayors of places in Albania 21st-century Albanian politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Albania

Biography

See also

References