Albania Fails to Elect President in Second Round :: Balkan Insight

The Democrats, led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, continue to push for the election of Xhezair Zaganjori, a former constitutional court judge and diplomat, as the next head of state.

However, the opposition Socialists rejected Zaganjori?s candidature as one-sided and called for talks between the parties to select a candidate who would also receive the blessing of the opposition.

Zaganjori?s candidature was not fielded for a vote in the first two rounds. Parliament has three more rounds to elect a president.

In the first three rounds parliament needs a two-thirds majority to elect a president, while in the fourth and fifth rounds only a simple majority is required.

The Democrats and their allies in parliament have 74 MPs out of an assembly of 140 seats.

The next round in parliament is expected to be held on Friday. The election of a consensual president has become a key requirement from the EU for Albania to obtain EU candidate status in the autumn.

Despite the slow pace of reforms, diplomatic sources have told Balkan Insight that the country stands a good chance for receiving a positive response from the European Commission if the election of the new president proceeds smoothly with a broad consensus.

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