The problem was that Ramiz Alia purged plenty of CC members who opposed his path of reformism, and since said purged CC members (who wanted to constitute a new party) lacked access to the media and were discredited in the capital due to the "Democratic Party," little could be done. Alia himself actually referred to East Germany as "socialist" in 1989 (something Hoxha would never venture to do), and argued that because the Albanian economy was suffering due to isolation, his moves to "open up" to the outside world (read: appeal to US, UK, etc.) were justified. So it was a combination of matters, as you can see. I do not have sources from 1999-2010, but from what I hear the situation in the country hasn't gotten along much better. It's a bit less corrupt, and a bit less poor, but then again NATO doesn't want unstable countries within it.
Ismail, by your behest I took myself to read The Albanians by Miranda Vickers. It was a good read. But the history left me quite drained and sad. What I can't understand is how incredibly civil the socialist government was towards the shrewd and hypocritical 'democracy' forces. The book covered things up until 1999 - do you know of any good sources on Albanian matters from then on till the present?
