Another protagonist of the Albanian democratic transition is no longer alive. Servet Pëllumbi has passed away at the age of 89, leaving behind a key role in the most important moments of the beginning of democracy, where his decisions became a reference point for the country's political and institutional journey, writes A2CNN.
Another protagonist of the Albanian democratic transition is no longer alive. Servet Pëllumbi has passed away at the age of 89. One of the figures who marked the first steps of Albanian democracy, where in critical moments, he made decisions that were fundamental to the fate of the country.
A philosophy professor and left-wing politician, he was identified for decades with the efforts to build a democratic culture and functional institutions, in a country that was moving from isolation to pluralism. With the political changes of the 90s, he became part of active political life, contributing to the transformation of the Albanian left and the profiling of the Socialist Party of Albania towards a European party.
The position of Speaker of the Assembly was the highest institutional position that Servet Pëllumbi held in the years 2002-2005, but the highest political position was that of Vice-President of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 1996, and after 1993, when Fatos Nano was arrested, he had the heavy burden of de facto leading the Socialist Party in a difficult period of transition and reform, until 1996.
After the contested elections on May 26, his photo that went around the world with the bloody Spanish photojournalist at the protest two days later, on May 28, in Skanderbeg Square, was emblematic. Two months later, he would leave the leadership of the Socialist Party, following Fatos Nano's famous motion from prison, but not from politics, where he would actively serve until 2005.
With the passing of Servet Pëllumbi, Albania loses one of the voices that for decades tried to give politics another dimension – that of thought, dialogue, and public responsibility, on a still open path towards democratic consolidation. Thoughts that today seem more relevant than ever.
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