SETimes.comAlbania elects new president
23/07/2007
Albania resolved its presidential crisis at the final hour, narrowly avoiding forced early elections.
By Jonilda Koçi for Southeast European Times in Tirana – 23/07/07
Democratic Party member Bamir Topi was elected on Friday (July 20th) to take over the presidency in Albania, after three failed rounds of voting over the past month.
The deputy chief of the ruling Democratic Party received 85 votes from the 140-seat parliament -- one more than the required constitutional minimum -- after some members of the Socialist-led coalition broke ranks and ignored a boycott that had scuttled earlier rounds.
"I believe, your votes of confidence contribute towards a prestigious presentation of Albania, towards integration of our county in NATO and EU," Topi said after the vote.
The country's constitution states that the president-elect must receive three-fifths of the parliamentary votes -- or 84 total votes -- which requires consensus between majority and opposition. Outgoing President Alfred Moisiu's election was the result of such a consensus in 2002.
"It is true that we elected the president out of consensus, but this was a ten times better choice," Prime Minister Sali Berisha said. The ruling and opposition parties have been struggling to reach consensus since June without success. One reason for the failure was Berisha's insistence that some constitutional reforms -- namely limiting the term of the country's general prosecutor -- be included in the consensus. "
The fact that the parliament functioned in accordance with the constitution is a real victory of rule of law," Berisha said after the election.
Reactions to Friday's vote were mixed. Socialist Parliamentary Group leader Ben Blushi resigned, after six members of his group voted for Topi. Blushi told reporters that Topi was elected after a shameful process.
Socialist Party leader Edi Rama, who had been pushing for early elections, accused the majority of corruption of votes and said the Socialists will not attend the session parliament at which Topi will take the presidential oath.
"I would have liked to congratulate the new president, but he doesn't deserve the Socialist Party's congrats … because he is a direct contributor to this shameful process of corruption," Rama said.
In the first two rounds of voting, Topi and Nano were the candidates, but neither could gather the necessary votes, as the opposition boycotted the process. In the third round, a new candidate -- centrist Democratic Alliance Party member Neritan Ceka -- joined the race, supported by signatures of 20 members of parliament.
Nano came in third in the third round, and was therefore eliminated from running in Friday's election. On Friday, Topi managed to get the necessary votes, while Ceka received five votes.
The election of the president closed one of the most serious political crises the country has faced to date. The constitution mandates early election if parliament fails to elect the president after five rounds. As Moisiu's term ends Tuesday, early elections would have been the next step.