Presidential Race Has Already Started

TIRANA, Aug. 2 – Albania will have a new president next year. It will be up to the parliament (and this time it is easier for that) to elect the new president.
The existing president, Bamir Topi, was elected four years ago only after six opposition lawmakers agreed to vote for him. Topi, a top leader of the governing Democratic party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha then, is unlikely to keep the post.
No president has kept the post for two mandates in post-communist Albania. Berisha got a second mandate in 1997 only with votes of his party lawmakers but had to resign from that only a few months after.
This time as a premier, but still keeping the post of the party leader, Berisha has made it almost clear that Topi is not their choice this time. He has been very harsh on frictions with Topi and displeased with many of his decisions.
There are voices in the governing Democrats that the new president will come from their ranks.
Fatos Beja, a lawmaker, said openly that the new president will be from the Democrats’ ranks.
According to the 2008 constitutional amendments, if the president is not elected with the first voting in parliament to get three-fifths or 84 votes, then he is elected only with an absolute majority plus one (71 votes) at the second voting, which leaves the Democrats to rest calm on that.
The majority in the parliament, that is the Democrats, are entitled of having the first candidate presented.
There are voices that Berisha may think over of getting the post again, or to leave that to parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli.
But all top leaders avoid the question saying that the time has not come yet to speak on that.
There have been increasing voices on electing the president directly from the people, which also means adding his competencies and amending the constitution.
Alfred Moisiu, a former president, said he is organizing an international forum this November on the constitutional amendments on a direct election of the new president next year.