| Ben Blushi | |
| Office: | Leader of LIBRA |
| Term Start: | 1 November 2016 |
| Term End: | 20 January 2018 |
| Predecessor: | Office established |
| Successor: | Endri Tafani |
| Office2: | Minister of Local Government and Decentralization |
| Term Start2: | 29 December 2003 |
| Term End2: | 1 September 2005 |
| Predecessor2: | Et’hem Ruka |
| Successor2: | post abolished |
| Office3: | Member of the Albanian Parliament |
| President3: | Bamir Topi Bujar Nishani Ilir Meta |
| Primeminister3: | Ilir Meta Pandeli Majko Fatos Nano Sali Berisha Edi Rama |
| Parliamentarygroup3: | Socialist Party (until 2016) LIBRA (2016–2017) |
| Term Start3: | 6 September 2001 |
| Term End3: | 13 September 2017 |
| Office4: | Minister of Education and Science |
| Term Start4: | 6 September 2001 |
| Term End4: | 29 January 2002 |
| Predecessor4: | Et’hem Ruka |
| Successor4: | Luan Memushi |
| Birth Date: | 1 January 1969 |
| Birth Place: | Tirana, Albania |
| Alma Mater: | University of Tirana |
| Party: | LIBRA (2016–2018) |
| Signature: | Ben Blushi (nënshkrim).svg |
Ben Blushi (born 1 January 1969) is an Albanian politician, writer and journalist.
Ben Blushi, born in Tirana, studied at the University of Tirana, graduating in Albanian language and literature. He was editor-in-chief of the newspaper Koha Jonë. His works deal with Albanian history and contemporary Albania. In April 2008, Ben Blushi published his first novel Të jetosh në ishull (Living on an Island). Within a couple of months, the book had sold over 30,000 copies, a record for the Albanian market. The novel covers Albanian history under the Ottoman Empire (15th–18th centuries), with a broad and not uncontroversial treatment of the country's Islamization.[1] His second novel, Othello, The Moor of Vlora won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2014. His following novels The Candidate and The Prime Minister were the best selling books at the Tirana Book Fair in 2015 and 2016 respectively.[2] [3] Blushi is an atheist.[4]
In 1999 Blushi embarked upon a political career in the cabinet of Prime Minister Fatos Nano. For several months he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in late 2000 he became Prefect of Korça. He served as Minister of Education and Minister of Local Governance and Decentralization.[5] [6]
Blushi was a Member of Parliament for the Socialist Party before creating a new party, LIBRA, in October 2016.[7] Subsequently, he was an MP for LIBRA but he failed to win his seat in the 2017 election. [8] In January 2018 he quit the party and politics and became the general director of the Top Channel with a wage that surpasses many of his European colleagues.[9]