Cabinet of Albania in the context of "Parliament of Albania"

Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, in which the president of Albania is the head of state and the prime minister of Albania is the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the Government and the prime minister with its Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Albania. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of Albania is laid out in the 1998 constitution. The Parliament adopted the current constitution on 28 November 1998. Historically Albania has had many constitutions. Initially constituted as a monarchy in 1913, Albania became briefly a republic in 1925, and then a authoritarian monarchy in 1928. In 1939 Albania was invaded by Fascist Italian forces, imposing a puppet state, and later occupied by Nazi German forces. Following the partisan liberation from the Nazis in 1944 a provisional government was formed, which by 1946 had transformed into a communist one-party state. In March 1991 democracy was restored with multi-party elections.

The president represents the unity of the Albanian people in the country and abroad as the head of state and is also the commander-in-chief of the military. The president is nominated through a secret vote and without debate by the Parliament of Albania by a majority of three-fifths of all its members and is in every case elected for five years. The president maintains regular and coordinated operation and stability of the national government system, safeguards the independence and territorial integrity of Albania and appoints prime ministers on the basis of the balance of power in the Parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the president after each parliamentary election and must have the confidence of the Parliament to stay in office. The prime minister is elected on the basis of universal suffrage, through a secret ballot, for a four-year term. The constitution sets no limit as to office terms of the prime minister. The prime minister is de facto the most powerful and influential person in Albanian politics. However, in the absence of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister takes over his functions, such as chairing the cabinet and the council of ministers of Albania.

The Ministry of Defence (Albanian: Ministria e Mbrojtjes) is a department of the Albanian Government, in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and ordering, coordinating and carrying out the general guidelines of the Cabinet about the defence policy, and is the headquarters of the Military of Albania. It is Albania's ministry of defence.

The Defence Minister of Albania is the nominal head of all the military, serving under the President of Albania, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Albania. The defence minister exercises the administrative and operational authority over the military. The armed forces under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of the nation.

The deputy prime minister of Albania (Albanian: Zëvendëskryeministri i Shqipërise), officially styled the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Zëvendëskryeministri i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the deputy head of government of Albania. In the absence of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister takes over the functions of chairman of the council of ministers. The office is the second senior minister of the cabinet in the executive branch of the government in the parliamentary system in the Republic of Albania.

Although Albania has always had a deputy prime minister since its independence in 1912. A prime minister may choose not to appoint a deputy prime minister. As per the Constitution of Albania, the president of Albania appoints the deputy prime minister and swears before starting duties in front of the President. The deputy prime minister can take the position of acting prime minister, when the prime minister is temporarily absent or incapable of exercising its executive power. The deputy prime minister is often asked to succeed the prime minister's term of office, following the prime minister's sudden death or unexpected resignation. However, that is not necessarily mandated by the Constitution of the nation.