Dr. Jozefina TOPALLI President, Parliament of Albania, Tirana

	The first woman Speaker of the Albanian Parliament in all its parliamentary history and the sixth Speaker of the Albanian Parliament in its multiparty parliamentary system since 1991. She became Speaker in September 2005 while having served as Deputy Speaker of the Albanian Parliament in the two previous legislatures (1997-2001, 2001-2005)
	She holds two Bachelor Degrees from the Faculties of Mathematics and of Law of "Lulgj Gurakuqi" University in Shkodra, Albania. She studied and did post graduate work in the field of International Relations at Padova University in Italy. She also holds a Master Degree in Public Administration from University of Tirana and is currently a Master's candidate in European Studies.
	During 1992-1995 she worked at the Chamber of Commerce in the city of Shkodra to be followed by a career as Chancellor and Lecturer at "Lulgj Gurakuqi" University in Shkodra from 1995-1996.
	In her position as Speaker of the Parliament, one of the highest officials in the Democratic Party as well as a member of the European Council since 2002, she is actively engaged in the reform process in Albania in its efforts for Albania's EU membership.

Politics as a Market of Ideas