TIRANA, July 3 – Bamir Topi, deputy leader of the governing Democratic party and considered the main candidate for the presidential race from his party has withdrawn from the presidential race. In withdrawing, Topi said he would not allow his name to be included with other candidates from his coalition.
The Democratic party held a late night meeting during which it was reported a clash of words occurred between Topi and party leader and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Topi said afterwards he did not wish to be included in a farcical list, as he called it, but he was open to run in a race held as the constitution sets out, not as a commercial product for consumer tables.
Other lawmakers, in opposition to their leadership, appealed to Topi to run alone since he could easily secure the signatures of 20 lawmakers needed to enter the race formally on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Berisha and his leadership compiled a list that may be exploited to prevent a third round of voting with no candidates which would take the country to early elections.
Berisha’s education counselor, Myqerem Tafaj, and his deputy education minister, Halit Shamata, were the two presidential candidates from the Democratic Party who were joined by the president of the Republican party, Sabri Godo, and Arjan Starova who was nominated by another small party in the coalition.
No results were reported during the late night meeting between the delegations of the two main opposing parties, the governing Democrats and opposition Socialists, who had also presented their list with candidates.
They did say that existing President Alfred Moisiu seems to be the most consensual one.
It is not clear how the voting will proceed.
The governing coalition may well enter the race alone and hold the presidential vote, though they cannot reach the number of 84 votes, or three-fifths of the 140-seat parliament, which is needed to elect a new president.
If they enter alone the opposition will likely abandon, or boycott the voting, and that practically means no consensus will have been met.
If the third round fails again to even produce a presidential candidate, then the parliament may be dissolved and early elections held within 60 days.
Political observers believe it would be no surprise if a last minute solution is found, possibly with questionable constitutional interpretations of the election laws.
