On April 21, 1921 , in Tirana, the National Council (Parliament), the highest body of the legislative power, emerged from the elections of April 5, 1921. The new National Council consisted of 78 deputies, representing the two parliamentary political parties: the People’s Party, led by Fan Noli, and the Progressive Party, led by Hoxhë Kadriu. As the first Albanian parliament elected by people’s vote, the National Council approved financial, administrative, criminal laws, etc., but of particular importance was the law on the organization of the judiciary, which sanctioned the independence of the courts. The extension of the Statute of Lushnja, in December 1922, transformed this legal act into a real constitution and sanctioned parliamentary omnipotence. The National Council in the next legislature would be called Parliament, consisting of a single chamber and meeting twice a year in regular quarterly sessions. (In the photo: Independent deputies in the first Albanian parliament, 1921. Among others, there are: Luigj Gurakuqi, Pandeli Evangjeli, Ndre Mjeda, Spiro Koleka, Maliq Bushati, etc.)
Text: Albanian legislators 1912–2017 , Parliament of Albania, Tirana, 2018, page 61.
Photo: © Xhoxhi L., personal archive
Graphic processing: AHCF
