The President and the Assembly
The President of the Republic of Albania [Presidenti i Republikës së Shqipërisë] is elected by the Assembly on a five years term. The President guarantees the implementation of the Constitution and acts as a commander in chief of the armed forces of the Republic of Albania. Other tasks of the President include appointment of the government following approval by the Assembly and approval of legislation following approval by the Assembly. The current President is Mr. Bajram Begaj elected by the Parliament in July 2022 for a five year mandate.
The Assembly of the Republic of Albania [Kuvendi i Republikës së Shqipërisë] is composed by 140 deputies and 15 permanent commissions and is a unicameral institution elected by direct suffrage. It is elected once in four years. According to the Constitution, the Assembly is charged with approval of primary legislation and overseeing its monitoring. The Assembly nominates the Prime Minister and the government and approves their programme. It also nominates the members and chairman of the Constitutional Court and those of the High Court. The Assembly appoints as well members of other state agencies and overseeing bodies that are independent from the government. The Assembly monitors and oversees the way government implements the legislation. In doing so, it possesses various legal mechanisms that are either constitutional or created by specific law. The last general elections took place in 2020 and were won by the Socialist Party who has formed and approved the respective Council of Ministers cabinet.
The Executive Branch
The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania [Këshilli i Ministrave i Republikës së Shqipërisë] is composed by the Prime Minister and Relevant Ministers is the executive branch of Albania. The current Council of Ministers is composed by 1 vice-prime Minister and 15 Ministers. The Prime Minister and the government are approved in block by the Assembly and are appointed by the President. The Council of Ministers is tasked with carrying foreign and domestic policies and with directing and controlling the activities of ministries and other state agencies. It directs and controls the activities of the ministries and other state organisms. Moreover, it proposes new legislative framework or amendments to existing legal acts to the Parliament.
The Ministry of Education and Sports [Ministria e Arsimit dhe Sportit]: Is the institution in charge for drafting education policies in the country. In the area of pre-university education it has full competences while in the area of higher education it shares competences with higher education institutions in compliance with respective autonomy. VET is a competence of Ministry of Finance which shares competence for certain aspects with local governance units and Ministry of Education and Sports.