Council of Ministers of Albania in the context of Albanian government

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 present Constitution of the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Kushtetuta e Republikës së Shqipërisë) was adopted by the Parliament of Albania on 21 October 1998 and certified by presidential decree on 28 November 1998, following a public referendum which approved the new Constitution. It is split up over many different acts. The document succeeded the 1976 Constitution, originally adopted at the creation of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania on 28 December 1976 and heavily amended on 29 April 1991.

The present Constitution defines Albania as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. It has a unicameral legislature composed of 140 members, who elect the President as the head of state, the Cabinet, which consists of the Prime Minister as the head of government, Deputy Prime Minister and all other Ministers.