A referendum on restoring the monarchy was held in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 29 June 1997 alongside

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. The proposal was rejected by 66.7% of voters. However, former Crown Prince Leka claimed that 65.7% voted in favour.

Results

Reactions

The

House of Zogu The House of Zogu, or Zogolli during Ottoman times and until 1922, is an Albanian dynasty whose roots date back to the early 20th century. The family provided the first president and the short-lived modern Albanian Kingdom with its only monarch, ...

never accepted the official result of the referendum. After the publication of the result by the

Central Election Commission of Albania The Central Election Commission ( sq, Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve), commonly abbreviated in Albanian as KQZ, is a permanent, non-independent partisan statutory agency responsible for conducting parliamentary and local elections in the Republ ...

, during the

1997 rebellion in Albania The Albanian Civil War in 1997 was sparked by pyramid scheme failures in Albania soon after its transition to a market economy. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. Various other sources also describe the violenc ...

, Leka returned again, this time being greeted by 2,000 supporters. After a recount it was announced that the restoration was rejected by approximately two-thirds of those voting. The former Crown Prince questioned the independence of the election. Police intervened, gunfire broke out, one person was killed, and Leka fled. On 30 November 2011, the former crown prince died, his son (Leka II) succeeding him as pretender to the defunct throne. That month, Prime Minister

Sali Berisha Sali Ram Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian conservative politician and former cardiologist who served as the second President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013. He is also the current chairman of t ...

questioned whether there was vote manipulation in the referendum, stating that "The referendum was held under the flares of a communist rebellion and cannot be considered a closed issue."

References

{{Albanian elections Albanian Civil War Referendums in Albania

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

Albanian monarchy Monarchy referendums June 1997 events in Europe