Albanian parliament fails to elect country’s president

Albania's parliament failed to elect the country's President on 19 April 2017, as the opposition continued to boycott the chamber and the main governing party chose not to put forward a candidate in the first round of voting.

Another round of voting was scheduled for 20 April. If a President was not elected after five rounds of voting, the legislature should be dissolved and new elections called. A candidate can be elected president with the support of 84 out of 140 MPs, a majority already enjoyed by the ruling coalition.

The Albanian opposition had been boycotting parliament since February 2017 calling for a transitional government to prepare free and fair elections. These were scheduled for 18 June, but the opposition also threatened to boycott them.

• Primary Source

Balkan Insight, 19.04.17: Albania Opposition Set to Ignore Presidential Election http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-starts-the-process-of-president-election-without-candidates-04-18-2017

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