TIRANA, June 4, 2022 – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Friday that the country’s defence chief, Maj. Gen. Bajram Begaj, will be the sole candidate the ruling Socialist Party proposes as the country’s next president.
A vote is scheduled to take place in parliament on Saturday, but the Socialists have the necessary votes to elect a candidate without the consensus of the opposition, so no surprises are expected.
Some members of the parliament from the opposition have said they will attend to vote against the candidate, while others said they will boycott the vote.
Begaj is Albania’s top military officer and its highest ranked general. He is currently the chief of the general staff of the Albanian armed forces. A medical doctor by training he has risen through the ranks of the military in the past 30 years, being sworn into the top post in 2020.
