Maliq Bushati, political activist, deputy (1921 – 1923; 1925 – 1936), minister of internal affairs (April 1939), prime minister of Albania (February 12 – May 12, 1943) was born in Shkodër. He completed the primary school in his hometown. In 1910, he began his studies at Istanbul College. He returned to Shkodër at the end of 1911, where together with Riza Dani, he tried to unify different religious currents. In the period 1916-1918 , he was a member of the municipal council of Shkodra. During this time, he published the newspaper “Populli” (“The People”). In 1920 he voluntarily mobilized in the units led by Sylço beg Bushati for the defense of Koplik from the Serbian military forces. In the period 1921-1923, he was elected deputy of Shkodra. He was re-elected again in 1925 and from this year he would be re-elected in every legislature until 1936. In April 1939, in the “Vërlaci-2” government, he was appointed to the position of Minister of the Interior. The government cabinet chaired by him was decreed on February 12, 1943. On May 12, 1943, he submitted his resignation from the position of chairman of the Council of Ministers. On June 30, 1945, the Executive Committee of the Shkodra Prefecture Council ordered the seizure of all his property. He was arrested a few months later, on December 3, 1945, by the so-called “People’s Defense” forces. He was tried together with Lef Nosi and father Anton Harapi. At the end of twenty-one days, on February 12, 1946, the Supreme Military Court decided: “The punishment of the defendant with death, the loss of his civil and political rights and the confiscation of movable and immovable property.” Before the trial was over, on January 15, 1946, the Executive Committee of the NLC of the Durrës Subprefecture ordered the seizure of all his property. (In the photo: Maliq Bushati)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 214-215.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maliq_bej_Bushati
Graphic processing: AHCF
