Blendi Klosi (born 13 January 1971) is an Albanian

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 t ...

politician and the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...

. On 13 September 2017, Mr. Klosi was appointed as Minister of Tourism and Environment by the 2nd Rama government.

Early life and education

Klosi was born and raised in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and 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 overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, the capital of

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 ...

. He studied for Electronic Engineering at the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, 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'' in 1957 through merging of f ...

, where he graduated in 1993. From 1994 he worked as a lecturer for the University of Tirana, leaving in 1996. He worked in 1996 at the Council of Ministers, initially in Department of Public Administration ''(DAP)'' and further as assistant of the Prime Minister.

Parliamentary career

Klosi's political career started in January 2000 when he was appointed in the government of Ilir Meta as Deputy Minister from the Ministry of Local Government. He was elected for the first time as a member of the

Parliament of Albania The Parliament of Albania ( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) 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 ...

in the 24 June 2001 elections as a member of the Socialist Party for the Fier constituency. Klosi held the post of Deputy Minister until June 2002, where after several changes made in the government, he was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports on 29 December 2003 in the 3rd Nano Government. Where he held the office until 1 September 2005. Although the Socialist Party lost the 2005 general elections, Klosi was re-elected as MP in the same electoral zone, thus becoming one of the 42 MPs of the Socialist Party's parliamentary group for the years 2005-2009. In 2009 general election he was elected MP for the third consecutive time but this time being elected as a deputy in Durrës constituency. On 23 June 2013, Klosi was elected a member of the Socialist Party for the in Durrës constituency. In these

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

the Socialist Party together with its allies won an absolute majority of 84 deputies in total, 7 of them in the Durrës district, in which Klosi was candidate. On April 29, 2015, Klosi was appointed Minister of Social Welfare and Youth, replacing

Erion Veliaj Erion Veliaj (born December 17, 1979) is an Albanian politician, who is currently serving as the Mayor of Tirana. Stemming from a civil society activism organization as the leader of MJAFT!, Veliaj joined the ranks of the Socialist Party of Alb ...

, who left the office after being elected

Mayor of Tirana The Mayor of Tirana ( sq, Kryetari i Bashkisë së Tiranës) is the head of the General Assembly in Tirana, Albania. The mayor including with his cabinet, exercises the executive power of the city and is directly elected together with the ''City C ...

in the 2015 local elections. In 13 March 2017

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

communicated the replacement of four ministers, including Mr. Klosi, with the argument that they will be included in the election campaign and make possible the Socialist Party's victory in June 2017 elections.

Olta Xhaçka Olta Xhaçka (born 25 December 1979) is an Albanian politician and Socialist Party member of Parliament. She has been the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs since January 2021. She served as Albanian Minister of Social Welfare and Youth bet ...

was appointed Klosi's place as Minister of Social Welfare and Youth. In the 2017 general election, the Socialist Party emerged victorious with an absolute majority. Blendi Klosi as the leader of the list of candidates for the Berat constituency was chosen for the fifth consecutive deputy of the

. The Socialist Party gained 4 of 7 mandates, 2 mandates won by the

Socialist Movement for Integration The Freedom Party ( sq, Partia e Lirisë, PL), formerly known as the Socialist Movement for Integration (, LSI), is a social democratic political party in Albania. The party was formed on 6 September 2004, when Ilir Meta defected from the Soci ...

and 1 mandate from

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. On September 13, 2017, Blendi Klosi was appointed Minister of Tourism and Environment, replacing

Lefter Koka Lefter Koka (born 4 August 1964 in Durrës) is an Albanian politician who served as the Minister of Environment in the centre-left Coalition Government of Albania and was also a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania for the Socialist ...

References

External links

Official Website of the Albanian Council of Ministers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klosi, Blendi 1971 births Living people Politicians from Tirana University of Tirana alumni 21st-century Albanian politicians Socialist Party of Albania politicians Members of the Parliament of Albania Government ministers of Albania Environment ministers of Albania Tourism ministers of Albania

Early life and education

Parliamentary career

See also

References

External links