Nano facts

Fatos Thanas Nano (Tirana, September 16, 1952) is an Albanian politician who was Prime Minister of Albania three times (1991, 1997-1998 and 2002-2005). He belongs to the Socialist Party of Albania. Nano has a degree in political economy and a PhD in economics from the University of Tirana.

A former communist leader, he later became a leader of his country's Socialist Party, heir to the former single party, the Party of Labor of Albania. Appointed Prime Minister by President Ramiz Alia in 1991, he had to resign after massive strikes and protests.

In 1993 he was jailed for corruption, but in 1997 he was exonerated when his party came to power. In 1997, after the collapse of various financial pyramid schemes, and the resulting riots that almost sparked a civil war, the then president and Nano's political enemy, Sali Berisha had to resign. That same year, after the general elections, Nano was appointed Prime Minister by President Rexhep Meidani, although he had to resign again in 1998 following the protests that followed the assassination of an opposition leader, Azem Hajdari.

Nano was appointed Prime Minister for the third time on July 25, 2002 by President Alfred Moisiu. In February 2004, two large demonstrations of up to 20,000 people were called, in which Nano's resignation was again called for due to the country's economic mismanagement. Because he has held the position so many times, Nano is popularly known as the "Yoyo Prime Minister of Albania".