During first day of voting, Parliament fails to elect president, consensual process launched

TIRANA, June 120 – The Albanian parliament failed to begin the voting process for a new president Wednesday, though the main political parties said the electoral process has been set in motion.
Parliament Speaker, Jozefina Topalli, said lawmakers had to be ready to convene at any time for voting, though she did not set a date.
It has been learned, however, that the next date for voting could be June 27, though it is still unclear if the political parties will have selected candidates to present to parliament.
Lawmakers formally opened the voting process late Wednesday to replace President Alfred Moisiu, whose term expires July 24.
However, the session was eventually cancelled because neither the governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha nor the main opposition Socialist Party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama, nor any other group, had nominated a candidate.
To do so, a party must present a candidate backed by at least 20 lawmakers in a petition to parliament.
Albania’s two main political parties were working Wednesday to resolve a dispute over the election of a new president, with the threat of an opposition boycott raising the possibility of early parliamentary elections.
Earlier Wednesday, Democrats and Socialists met in an effort to agree on rules for the vote, after opposition parties threatened a boycott.
Ben Blushi, head of the opposition Socialists’ party, said a consensus president would be the topic of negotiations in the upcoming days. But he also made it clear his party would not cooperate if the Democrats again nominated Bamir Topi as a candidate, as the Socialists feel this would be a violation of the selection process.
The president is chosen by a three-fifths majority in parliament, or 84 of the 140 seats. Failure to elect a president could force early general elections. The Democrats have 80 seats, too few to overcome an opposition boycott.
The opposition said it was angry that Berisha’s Democrats had unofficially suggested their own candidate, deputy party leader Bamir Topi, without consulting them.
The Socialists noted that, when they controlled government in 2002, they allowed the Democrats to present Moisiu as a consensus candidate, and demanded they be given the same chance.
The Socialists have given no indication of which they might chose.
More talks could be held within a few days, either at higher among leaders of the political parties or possibly including smaller parties from both coalition groupings.