Albanian Parliament Uses First Round of Presidential Vote With No Candidates Presented

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – Albania’s Parliament has voted today for the country’s new President without any candidates presented by the ruling center-left majority.

By burning the first out of five rounds of voting for a new president, the governing SP-LSI majority have used the constitutional provision allowing them to vote even if no candidate is brought forward, accelerating the process while giving the opposition democrats another chance to propose a consensual candidate.

The 5 minute voting session was announced by Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta after his meeting with PM Edi Rama last saturday where the two center-left allies decided to give more time to the opposition to come back to Parliament which they are currently boycotting.

After the plenary PM Rama said the majority had decided to wait for the opposition to become part of the election process.

“There’s no doubt about June 18th. And the country will not remain without a President. Be sure that this coalition will continue to govern.” Said Rama after the vote in parliament.

The Albanian constitution requires at least 20 MPs to bring forward an official candidate while the process can go through five rounds of voting, even if no candidates are proposed.

The majority socialists have said they have the necessary votes to elect a new President. However, junior partner LSI have asked the candidate is as consensual as possible while the opposition is boycotting parliament demanding PM Rama’s resignation.

The second round of voting has been fixed for tomorrow’s plenary while it is still unclear if any candidates will be brought forward by the socialist party and their allies.

If all five rounds of voting fail to produce a new president, the parliament has to be dissolved and the country goes to early elections in 45 days.