Fatos Thanas Nano (; born 16 September 1952) is an Albanian socialist politician who served as Prime Minister of Albania in 1991, from 1997 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2005. He was the first leader and founder of the

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 ...

and a member of the

Albanian Parliament The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

from 1991 to 1993 and 1997 to 2009. He reformed the anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist ideology of the Labour Party of Albania into

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

for its successor, the Socialist Party. During his leadership, the Socialist Party, as a result of reforms, joined the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

and

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

. Nano was a candidate in the 2007 presidential election but did not win. He again tried in the 2012 presidential election, but he did not even qualify as a candidate, because the leaders of parties in Parliament obstructed their respective MPs to elect him as candidate in the elections.

Personal history

Fatos Nano was born 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 ...

. His parents were Thanas Nano, a former director of

Albanian Radio Television Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; ; formerly TVSH , now mostly referred to as RTSH ) is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as we ...

, and Maria Nano (née Shuteriqi), a government official from the same family as Dhimitër Shuteriqi. He was the only male child among female siblings in the family. He grew up in Hoxha Tahsim Street in East Tirana, attended and graduated from "Sami Frasheri" High School, reserved for the children of the nomenklatura. In the early years of adolescence, Nano was eager to learn foreign languages and used to play the guitar. In his second year of high school, he founded a rock group of which he was the lead singer; they played the music of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, strictly forbidden to the general public at the time. He graduated in

Political Economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

from the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana (, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...

in 1974. After graduation in 1978, Nano worked in the management of the metallurgical mills of Elbasan until 1981. From 1981 until 1984, Nano served as an economist at Priska's Agricultural Farm in Tirana. In 1984, he was appointed as a researcher of socio-economic problems and reforms of market economies of

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

countries in the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies in Tirana, where he worked until 1990. When Fatos Nano was working in the Marxist-Leninist Institute, he was under the observation of Nexhmije Hoxha, Enver Hoxha's wife. He was singled out for special favor.

Early political career

He began his political career in December 1990, where he was first appointed as Secretary General of the Council of Ministers."Të jetosh kohën"
Rexhina Nano, page 93, Botimet DUDAJ, 2008 In January 1991, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister, still in the government of

Adil Çarçani Adil Çarçani (5 May 1922 – 13 October 1997) was an Albanian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Albania, 24th Prime Minister of Albania during the Communist era led by Enver Hoxha. He served as the titular head of the Alban ...

. The fall of the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries forced President

Ramiz Alia Ramiz Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He ...

to gradually remove the old communist

nomenklatura The ''nomenklatura'' (; from , system of names) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy, running all spheres of those countries' activity: ...

from power and government, so in the end of February 1991, Alia appointed Nano as Prime Minister of the transitional government with the purpose of organizing the first post-communist democratic elections in the country being held that year and to prepare the transition of the country towards

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

and

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

."Opinion"
, with Blendi Fevziu, 4 February 2010. The Parliamentary Elections were held on 31 March 1991 where the Labour Party of Albania won the majority. Ramiz Alia appointed Nano for the second time as the new Prime Minister. However, his new government did not last longer than the first as one week after a General Strike organized by the independent unions forced him to resign a couple of weeks later. The 10th Congress of the Labor Party was held in June 1991, which took three important decisions; first it changed the name of Labour Party to Socialist Party, then it expelled all the members of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

, and then it elected Nano as the new leader of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

on 13 June 1991.

Imprisonment

After the

Democratic Party of Albania The Democratic Party of Albania (, PDSH), also known as the Democratic Party (, PD), is a Conservatism, conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013 and has dominated the Albanian ...

won the parliamentary election of 22 March 1992, the Parliament set up a commission in early 1993 to investigate the activity of Fatos Nano for alleged corruption and abuse with management of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

given by the Italian state during the economic crisis that lasted from 1990 until early 1992."Të jetosh kohën"
Rexhina Nano, page 123, Botimet DUDAJ, 2008 This was a sophisticated way to imprison Nano due to his strong opposition to the autocratic signs of 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 ...

and due to the inefficiency and inability of the government headed by Aleksander Meksi to accomplish effective economic reforms. Nano was right about this, because the government of the Democratic Party permitted the notorious Ponzi schemes (known as pyramid schemes in Albania) which resulted in the unrest of 1997 where the majority of Albanians lost their savings, instead of effective economical reforms. On 27 July 1993 the Albanian Parliament approved the request of the General Attorney, Alush Dragoshi to take off the legislative immunity for Nano. On 30 July 1993 Nano was arrested in the office of the Prosecutor, and charged with "abuse of duty and the falsification of official documents in connection with Italian aid" following the use of a single vendor which overcharged and delivered foodstuffs which were unfit for consumption. On 3 April 1994, Nano was sentenced to twelve years in prison. A petition signed by 700 thousand people was sent to President Berisha to free Nano from prison."Të jetosh kohën"
Rexhina Nano, page 193, Botimet DUDAJ, 2008 Nano was considered a political prisoner by the Socialist Party of Albania,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, Human Right Watch (former Helsinki Watch),

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

, and other groups, so he was let to be the chairman of it. To do his job from the prison, he used his ex-wife, Rexhina Nano, as intermediate to send directives to the party leadership, sometimes verbally, sometimes in written form. After imprisonment, Nano decided that the party should be led by three Deputy Chairmen and one Secretary General to continue the party's political battle. Since the rejection of the revised Albanian Constitution during the 1994 Referendum, the foreign relations between Albania, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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 ...

began to deteriorate due to autocratic manners of President Berisha in the matters of the state, but they also were sceptical about the abilities of the leadership of the Socialist Party to govern the country, in case the Socialist Party were to win the Parliamentary Elections of 1996."Të jetosh kohën"
Rexhina Nano, page 356, Botimet DUDAJ, 2008 The foreign diplomats also expressed concern toward the neutral stance the Socialist leadership (except Nano) held about

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

and the positive stance toward Marxism-Leninism, which was implemented in the programme and the statute of the party by Servet Pellumbi. They called the socialist leadership (except Nano, who was not affiliated with Labor Party) as "dinosaurs from the old epoch"."Të jetosh kohën"
Rexhina Nano, page 408-409, Botimet DUDAJ, 2008 In 1996, Nano wrote a letter the 2nd Congress of the Party (''Keshilli i Pergjithshem Drejtues''), held on July–August 1996, to initiate a "Motion for Debate" to remove from the top positions of party anyone who was affiliated in any way with the Labour Party, because Nano thought that the top positions, i.e. the leadership of the party, should be held by intellectuals, like Rexhep Meidani, Pandeli Majko, Kastriot Islami, etc. This was an imperative because it was part of the ongoing process to reform the party in order to join the

and the

. The "Motion for Debate", requested by Nano, also required, to implement the recommendations made by

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

, for the solution of the political and institutional crisis, as official stance of the Socialist Party, also to propose the Congress to remove

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and

statist In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation an ...

concepts from the party's statute and programme, also to deny

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

and rehabilitate

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian Marxism, Marxist theorist. A leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International, Kautsky advocated orthodox Marxism, a ...

and Second Internationale. The motion was supported by the majority of the socialist members and also by the civil society, and was approved as a consequence by the congress. In 1997, the collapse of Ponzi schemes marked the beginning of an armed popular revolt against President Berisha, who was forced to resign in July 1997. Berisha called untimely parliamentary elections on 29 June and he decreed a general amnesty to all prisoners in March 1997; Nano too was released from prison. Nano was found innocent by a court in Tirana for his alleged abuse of power and corruption in 1999.

Second and third premierships

The parliamentary elections of 29 June 1997 were an overwhelming victory for the

."Qeveritë e formuara nga viti 1912 deri në 2005"
, Keshilli i Ministrave Nano was appointed prime minister by President Rexhep Meidani. The goal of Nano and the socialist government was to rebuild the ruined country, strengthen its economy and reconcile its people divided by political beliefs, but this was almost impossible with the destructive opposition led by former President Berisha. A

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

was attempted on 14 September 1998 by the leadership and the radical followers of the

during the funeral of Azem Hajdari with the goal of taking power by force and murdering Nano."Troubled September in Albania"
AIM Press, 19 September 1998."Fatos Nano's address to nation"
BBC News, 15 September 1998. To avoid his murder by the angry mob, Nano decided to flee to the government residence in Pogradec."Opinion"
, with Blendi Fevziu, 4 November 2010. In the 1990s, Greece preferred and assisted Fatos Nano as Albanian leader due to him being Orthodox over Sali Berisha, a Muslim, as Nano was seen as being friendlier to Greek interests. pp. 80–81. "Greece's favorite candidate in these elections was clearly MR. Nano. As emerges from the interview material, he –unlike Berisha- was held in high esteem by the Greek side. It should not escape notice that Nano was by origin Orthodox Christian from Southern Albania, whereas Berisha was a northern Muslim... Greece's favour towards Nano was clearly demonstrated in June, when he was allowed to speak to a crowd of Albanian citizens at a pre-election rally in one of Athens' central squares. The police did not interfere and no arrests of illegal immigrants were made." The government of Fatos Nano was viewed by Turkey as having a pro-Greek orientation and expressed some dissatisfaction, though during that time, it still maintained close military relations with Albania in rebuilding its armed forces and a military base. p. 90. "In a broader Balkan context, Turkey has always seen the Albanians as its natural allies in the Balkans. If the Greeks and Serbs have stood on one side of the scale, the Turks and the Albanians have stood on the other. Although some kind of dissatisfaction with Nano's government is felt in Ankara over what is seen in the Turkish capital as Tirana's pro-Greek orientation, Turkey continues to have close military ties with Tirana; indeed, it is playing an important role in the re-organization of the disintegrated Albanian army. Albania's most important military base, which was destroyed during the armed uprising last year, will be rebuilt by Turkey." During 1998, Albania's ''

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 57 member s ...

'' (OIC) membership was suspended and temporarily withdrawn by prime minister Fatos Nano, who viewed it as inhibiting Albania's European aspirations. p. 164. pp. 14–24. p. 233. On 28 September 1998 Nano chose to resign and retired from political life. After the Socialist Party won for the second time, in the parliamentary elections on 24 June 2001, Nano returned to politics again after 2 years of inactivity by starting the movement called

Catharsis Catharsis is from the Ancient Greek word , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing", commonly used to refer to the purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing them. The desired result is an emotional state of renewal an ...

, with the goal to cripple the agreement between

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

and Meta to share the political power between them for the next 10 years."Opinion"
, with Blendi Fevziu, 24 September 2009. In early 2002, Nano unsuccessfully tried to run for President of Albania, but on 25 July 2002, he was appointed by newly elected president Alfred Moisiu as prime minister for the third time. Just days after retaking office in August 2002, Nano came under attack by leading Italian weekly ''L'Espresso'', which accused him of having ties to international organized-crime groups, and having been involved in a cigarette-smuggling ring with Naples-based mobsters. Nano sued the magazine in a court in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

which ruled in favor of Nano. The court found the article to contain untrue information and speculations with the purpose of harming Nano during his term in office. The news magazine was ordered to pay Nano €3 million euros, and sentenced the magazine's director Daniela Hamaoi and the authors of the article Claudio Papayani, Dina Nasecti and Giuseppe Roli with 18 months in jail for groundlessly connecting Nano to the crime and mafia in Albania. In the winter of 2004, a number of protests with over 20,000 people were organized by the opposition led by Sali Berisha demanding Nano to resign as prime minister, which came known as the "Nano Go Away" Movement. In 2004, the civil society group Mjaft! protested in front of Nano's office against the alleged import of waste from Italy to Albania.

Resignation

On 3 July 2005, the Socialist Party lost the elections and its majority in parliament. Nano resigned as prime minister and also as the chairman of the Socialist Party on 1 September 2005. Since then, he has retired from public and political life. He rarely appears for interviews on some political talk shows.

Presidential candidacy

In early 2007, Nano met with Sali Berisha to counter appeals from the Socialist Party to boycott the 2007 local government elections, which would have triggered untimely parliamentary elections. Nano was elected candidate for President in the Presidential Elections of 2007 by the request of 20 Socialist MPs. Most members of the opposition coalition led by the Socialist Party did not support him, however, and choose to boycott this Presidential Election. Nano received only three votes, while Bamir Topi of the Democratic Party won 75 votes. Topi did not receive enough votes to be elected, however. The second round of voting was held on 10 July. However, the parliament still failed to elect a president, with Nano getting five votes and Topi receiving 74. Continued failure to elect a president would have resulted in an early parliamentary election, but on 20 July, Topi was elected. In late August, it appeared likely that Nano would found a new political party. Nano tried again to run for president in 2012, but he did not even qualify for candidacy because the leaders parties in Parliament obstructed their respective MPs to elect him as a candidate.

New movement inside Socialist Party

After the election of

President of Albania The president of Albania (), officially the president of the Republic of Albania (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the Albanian Armed Forces, military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people. The president sets ...

in June 2012, Nano formed a movement called "Nano Movement for the victory of socialist" with the goal of retaking the leadership of the

. Nano's past unpopularity due to his backroom deals with the equally unpopular former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have tainted his credentials, and Edi Rama's popular judicial, administrative and economic reforms ensure that the latter maintains his position as prime minister and leader of the Socialist Party in Albania.

Bibliography

The early life of Nano is narrated by the only biographical book for him in the Albanian language "Të jetosh kohën", written by his ex-wife Rexhina Nano and published in early 2008 which is extensively used as reference for the information provided in this article, also by Nano himself in his interview to journalist Blendi Fevziu in Opinion talk show during two episodes aired on TV Klan
Episode 1
an
Episode 2
. Nano has a degree in

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

and a Ph.D. in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

. He has published three books:Google Books
/ref> * ''Socialimperializmi sovjetik në ekonominë kapitaliste botërore'' (1987) * ''Die Sowjetunion: ein kapitalistisches, imperialistisches Land'' (1988) * ''Dosja Nano'' (1994) Nano was elected as a member of parliament from the districts of

in 1991, Kuçovë in 1992,

Tepelenë Tepelenë ( sq-definite, Tepelena) is a city and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in the south of Albania. The town is on the left bank of the Vjosa River, about three kilometres downstream from its union with the Drino. Until the abolition ...

in 1997 and 2001, and

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

in 2005. In 2012, he was elected an Honorary Member by the Socialist Party.