Albanian presidential election, 2007

Indirect Albanian presidential elections in 2007 were held on 20 and 27 June, [ cite news
url= http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=06&dd=27&nav_category=123&nav_id=42064
title= Albanian parliament to elect president
publisher= AP News
date= 27 June 2007 ] 8 and 11 July, [ cite news
url= http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=07&dd=11&nav_category=123&nav_id=42361
title= Albanian lawmakers fail to elect new president
publisher= AP News
date= 11 July 2007 ] 14 July, [ cite news
url= http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6215604.html
title= Majority of Albanians against early elections
publisher= People's Daily Online
date= July 14, 2007 ] and 20 July. [ cite news
url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Albanian-parliament-elects-Bamir-Topi/2007/07/21/1184560078708.html
title= Albanian parliament elects Bamir Topi
publisher= Sydney Morning Herald
date= July 21, 2007 ]

Constitutional provisions

According to the Albanian Constitution the President is elected by the Assembly. A candidate requires three-fifths of the vote in parliament and if no candidate reaches this after five votes there must be new elections to the Assembly; there also have to be early elections if there is no vote on any candidate by the third attempt of the first round of voting. [ [http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=137946&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21 Albania PM reshuffles ministers, bolsters coalition] ]

Early elections

In 2002, Alfred Moisiu was elected as a consensual president and was accepted by both the majority and the opposition parties. The parties would not agree to reelect Moisiu despite his agreement to stand as a compromise candidate. Neither Bamir Topi of the right nor Fatos Nano or Edi Rama of the left had the necessary supermajority in parliament, and therefore it was considered to be very likely that early elections would have to be held after five failed attempts to elect the president.

Current prime minister and former president Sali Berisha had advocated for a president elected by direct popular suffrage, but due to lack of time, such changes could not take place before the 2007 elections.

On 12 July 2007, Rama officially called for early elections. [ [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6213726.html People's Daily Online - Albanian opposition asks for early elections] ] A majority of Albanians were against early elections.

Vote

In the first two attempts for the first round of voting (on 20 June and 27 June), no candidate was presented. On 5 July 2007, the government and the opposition presented their proposed candidate lists to the other group, but did not accept either list; they agreed to meet on 6 July 2007 to start another attempt on finding a consensus candidate, which failed. (The opposition had proposed Albania's military representative to NATO, Brig. Gen. Arjan Zaimi, as a compromise candidate, but the government rejected him.) They then set the third attempt of the first round of voting (the first one to actually see any candidate stand for the post) for 8 July. Topi was the official nominee of the ruling coalition, while Nano did not stand as the opposition's candidate (his own party does not support him as a candidate), but de facto as an independent.

First round

The first round of voting on 8 July gave the following results (the opposition boycotted the vote due to the lack of a consensus candidate). [ cite news
url= http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/08/europe/EU-POL-Albania-Presidential-Election.php
title= Albanian parliament set to vote for new president
publisher= The Associated Press
date= July 8, 2007 ] [ cite news
url= http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/09/europe/EU-POL-Albania-Presidential-Election.php
title= Albania edges toward elections after presidential vote fails
publisher= The Associated Press
date= July 9, 2007 ]

* Bamir Topi: 75 votes
* Fatos Nano: 3 votes

econd round

The second round on 11 July was again boycotted by the opposition and had the following results: [ cite news
url= http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=07&dd=11&nav_category=123&nav_id=42361
title= Albanian lawmakers fail to elect new president
publisher= Associated Press
date= 11 July 2007 ]

* Bamir Topi: 74 votes (84 votes were necessary to secure the post)
* Fatos Nano: 5 votes

Third round

While the opposition continued its boycott on 14 July in the third round, a new candidate entered the field: Neritan Ceka, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance Party. Since he and Topi got the most votes, they proceeded to the fourth round. For the first time, more than the 84 members of parliament necessary for a valid election were present. [ cite news
url= http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/14/europe/EU-POL-Albania-Presidential-Election.php
title= Albania opposition boycott prevents election of new president in 3rd round
publisher= The Associated Press
date= July 14, 2007 ]

* Bamir Topi: 50 votes
* Neritan Ceka: 32 votes
* Fatos Nano: 3 votes

Fourth round

In the fourth and potentially penultimate round on 20 July, 90 parliamentarians were present, including ten from the opposition. The results this time were:

* Bamir Topi: 85 votes
* Neritan Ceka: 5 votes

These surprising results stifled the impending early elections; Topi's election was only possible because five opposition members voted for him instead of Ceka.

References

ee also