Bajram Begaj, Albania’s current Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, will be the presidential candidate supported by the ruling Socialist Party. He is expected to be elected president by the majority of the Albanian parliament, in a special vote to take place on Saturday afternoon.
Who is Bajram Begaj?
Born in 1967 the southern city of municipality of Rrogozhinë, Begaj currently serves as Chairman of Albania’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking and most senior military officer in the Albanian Armed Forces.
Begaj was appointed to his current post in 2020, after serving as Commander of Training and Doctrine Command of the Albanian Army.
During his 33-year military career, Begaj has held several leadership positions within the Albanian Army. He served as Chief of the Military Medical Unit, as well as Director of the Health Inspectorate and Chief Inspector and Advisor of the Health Inspectorate in General Staff of the Albanian Armed Forces.
Begaj has a degree in General Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tirana, as is also Associate professor of Medicine.
In 2017, he was awarded the rank of Brigadier General, the first doctor to receive the honor.
He is married with two children.
When elected tomorrow, he will be Albania’s seventh President following the fall of Communism.
