Following their political breakup, former President Meta files for an official divorce from his wife and political partner, Monika Kryemadhi

After removing his wife from all leadership forums of the party they founded together, former President Ilir Meta filed for an official divorce.

Why is this relevant

The move, which comes at a time when the power couple is being investigated by the Special Anticorruption Structure, marks the end of one of the most enduring, influential, and controversial partnerships in Albanian politics.

Context

There had long been rumors of a divorce, but few dared to believe it because Meta and Kryemadhi have been such regular figures at the highest levels of Albanian politics for most of the country’s post-Communist transition. During this time, they displayed an unparalleled ability to navigate politics and survive, rising to become the kingmakers of Albanian politics for almost two decades.

After serving as Socialist Prime Minister at the age of 30, Meta and Kryemadhi split from the Socialist Party and founded the Socialist Movement for Integration or SMI (rebranded today as the Freedom Party). They were instrumental in causing the loss of their former Socialist allies to Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party in 2005. They played a crucial role again in securing Berisha’s second mandate in 2009 by joining his government, but in 2013, they switched sides and formed a coalition with the Socialists against the Democrats, who subsequently lost the elections. Their declared objective was to strengthen their party until it could become the third pole of the Albanian political scene, which has been dominated since 1991 by the Socialist and Democratic parties.

In 2017, Ilir Meta went on to become President of Albania. Kryemadhi was elected leader of the SMI party, now in opposition to the ruling Socialists, a position she held until a few weeks ago when Meta, having completed his presidential term, returned to the party and dismissed her from all leadership positions.

This was only the latest in a series of controversial episodes in their decades-long political careers. During their time in government, both Meta and Kryemadhi, as well as their party cadre, earned a reputation for unbridled corruption. In one incident, while serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Ilir Meta was recorded by one of his closest collaborators discussing the granting of a license for a hydropower plant to an acquaintance in exchange for a bribe of 700 thousand euros. He was acquitted in a legal process marked by significant doubts.

In recent months, both Meta and Kryemadhi have made several appearances at the Special Anticorruption Structure where they have been interrogated for false declaration of wealth and money laundering. While Kryemadhi has generally supported the Special Structure in her public statements, Ilir Meta has attacked the prosecutors in very harsh terms.

In one of his most recent statements, while explaining his decision to file for divorce, Meta claimed that he made the decision because Kryemadhi had spoken to the prosecutors. Not everybody believes this explanation; some question whether the entire episode is just a tactical move for the couple to evade investigation.