Questions over past lead to last minute candidate withdrawal

TIRANA, June 14 – Artan Hoxha became the candidate for the majority governing Democratic party-led coalition late Sunday evening after failed talks between Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Socialist Party leader Edi Rama in the presence of leaders of two other smaller parties Ilir Meta and Shpetim Idrizi. After being officially proposed in parliament, Hoxha abruptly withdrew from the race just minutes before a vote took place, without giving a clear explanation.
Hoxha leads a non-governmental organization, which Berisha said has been a government partner in the law drafting in the last decade. He has been an economy minister in the early 1990s under a previous Democratic Party government.
The opposition, some civil society groups and many journalists had an immediate negative reaction to Hoxha’s candidacy, primarily because he was seen as a person who could easily be controlled by the prime minister. That’s even before allegations surficed of Mr. Hoxha’s old ties with the Sigurimi, Albania’s feared communist secret service.
Hoxha, who has graduated for geology, mathematics and economy, has been also presented frequently as a government-supporting analyst in many television shows.
Hoxha came from the civic organization group as head of the Institute for Contemporary Studies, an independent non-for-profit institute established in December 1995 offering alternative and independent policy analysis and recommendations, and also leading a private university.
Albania’s governing Democratic Party-led coalition has nominated Artan Hoxha, a civic society personality, for the post of the new president, despite failure to find a consensual name with the opposition.
Hoxha, 47, was formally presented as a candidate by a group of 40 lawmakers. He needed at least 71 votes in the 140-seat parliament to be elected, which the Democrats’ coalition has. The Albanian parliament had failed three times to elect a new president, after the opposition Socialist Party did not agree on a previous name.
Following three-hour talks Sunday late evening Socialist leader Edi Rama said they had found no consensus from Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democrats and a unilaterally-elected president would endanger the country’s candidate status, it expects this autumn, after two previous failures.
“The government came with a limited offer within its courtyard, which made it impossible for the opposition to support any of the offered candidates,” Rama told reporters. But at noon it was learned that Hoxha had resigned from the race. There were not given any clear indication on the reasons. Later there came out voices in the local media that Hoxha was likely involved with the former secret police Sigurimi when he was a teenager.
There was no confirmation or denial from Hoxha himself. He only said that he understood the political class did not like representatives from the civic organizations and criticized the opposition lawmakers for using extreme words against him.
Opposition lawmakers had asked at the parliamentary commission only to do a background check, not indicating anything in particular.