The Freedom Party ( sq, Partia e Lirisë, PL), formerly known as the Socialist Movement for Integration (, LSI), is a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. The party was formed on 6 September 2004, when

Ilir Meta Ilir Rexhep Meta (; born 24 March 1969) is an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2017 to 24 July 2022. Previously Meta served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and he was Speaker of the Parliament of Albania f ...

defected from the

Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Socialiste e Shqipërisë, PS or PSSh) is a social-democratic political party in Albania. It has been described as centre-left, to left-wing. It was founded on 13 June 1991. The PS is an associate of t ...

(PS). A proposal to change its logo, name and other symbols was unanimously approved at the party's National Convention (Congress) on 25 July 2022. Through the use of the term "movement", the party attempted to give the message that it is open and inclusive. The other reason for using this term was its intention to differentiate itself from the other parties. It employed the

one member, one vote In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives ...

system in March 2005 to elect its leader, Ilir Meta.

Elections

At the 2005 parliamentary election the party won five seats in the Albanian Parliament with 8.4% of the vote. The party was mostly supported by the Albanian youth at the 2005 elections. At the 2009 parliamentary election it won four seats with 4.8% of the vote. The party along with PSV91 became the determining parties to form the government coalition. In June 2009 the PL allied with the centre-right

Democratic Party of Albania The Democratic Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSH) is a conservatism in Albania, conservative list of political parties in Albania, political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the c ...

(PD) to form the government coalition. PL successfully increased its share of the vote in the 2013 parliamentary election, winning 16 seats with 10.4% of the vote.

Leader of the Party

founded the party and remained Leader of the Party until 30 April 2017. On 28 April 2017 he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

the 7th

President of Albania The president of Albania ( sq, Presidenti i Shqipërisë), officially styled the President of the Republic of Albania ( sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and the representa ...

and left the Party.

Petrit Vasili Petrit Vasili is an Albanian politician. He was the chairman of Socialist Movement for Integration party and minister of health in the cabinet of Sali Berisha Sali Ram Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian conservative politician a ...

, a prominent figure inside the party served as the party leader, until 29 June, resigning after the election results.

Monika Kryemadhi Monika Kryemadhi (born 9 April 1974) is an Albanian politician, member of Parliament and former leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration party. She is also the wife of the former President of Albania Ilir Meta. Monika Kryemadhi refused t ...

, Meta's wife, was then voted in as party leader. Although she is the spouse of then-President Meta, she refused to take the honorific position of the

First Lady of Albania First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, conceding the post to her oldest daughter. On 25 July 2022, Meta returned to the party as leader after his presidency had ended. Subsequently, the party's name was changed to the Freedom Party.

References

External links

Official website
2004 establishments in Albania Political parties established in 2004 Political parties in Albania Pro-European political parties in Albania Social democratic parties in Albania {{Europe-socialist-party-stub