Nano declares his presidential candidacy

TIRANA, Dec. 12 – Fatos Nano, former leader of the opposition Socialist Party and also an ex-premier, made clear this week that he is looking forward to becoming the country’s next president.
Speaking in an interview to the private TV station Top Channel, Nano said that he is contacting friends from both main political wings in order to secure the necessary votes for the post of president next year.
President Bamir Topi’s mandate ends in 2012 and the Parliament will vote in the summer for the new one. The president is chosen with a normal majority at the 140-seat parliament.
It has been said for a long time that Nano desired that post. Still, however, it will not be easy for him to win the race.
Starting from the fact that Nano has left many displeased in his party. Though he still has influence in some leading groups among the Socialists, it is believed that the majority, including the Socialist leader Edi Rama, are not in his favor.
It can hardly be said there are supporters for him in the other party either. Democrats have long shouted against him when he was in power.
Moreover, it has also been clear that the Democrats’ Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli also ‘dreams’ of the president’s post.
It will be a very tough job for Nano to become president next year. True he has proven to be very politically agile; however, he should also take into consideration the fact that in the last six years he has been almost absent from Albania, while living in Vienna, Austria.