It appears that the third voting round for the elections of the new president will fail, just like the previous two ones. Gramoz Ruçi, leader of the parliamentary group of the PS, informed the socialist deputies during the weekly group meeting that “if the opposition is not part of the process, the third [round] will be used up without candidate [from the majority].”
We don’t want the president for ourselves, because we could have elected him yesterday. We want a president who is neutral, who when the countries or the parties needs it, can bring them all together at the table.
The third voting round will be held on Thursday, April 27. The first two rounds were held without candidate, although current President Bujar Nishani indicated to be available for a second term. With the opposition boycotting Parliament, however, there were no deputies to support his candidacy.
After the third round, in which 84 votes are needed to elect a new president, the fourth and firth rounds only need 71 votes, with the fifth round a run-off between the two most popular candidates in the fourth round. If no president is elected, there will be early elections.
