Albanian presidential election, 2007

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Albanian presidential election of 2007
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  Bamir Topi 3.jpg
Nominee Bamir Topi
Party Democratic
Popular vote85 of 140 MPs
President before election

Alfred Moisiu
Independent

Elected President

Bujar Nishani
Democratic

Indirect presidential elections were held in Albania on 20 and 27 June, [1] 8, 11, [2] 14, [3] and 20 July, [4] the sixth such elections since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991.

An indirect election is an election in which voters do not choose between candidates for an office, but elect people who then choose. It is one of the oldest forms of elections, and is still used today for many presidents, cabinets, upper houses, and supranational legislatures. Presidents and prime ministers can be indirectly elected by parliaments or by a special body convened solely for that purpose. The election of the executive government in most parliamentary systems is indirect: elect the parliamentarians, who then elect the government including most prominently the prime minister from among themselves. Upper houses, especially of federal republics, can be indirectly elected by state legislatures or state governments. Similarly, supranational legislatures can be indirectly elected by constituent countries' legislatures or executive governments.

Albania country in Southeast Europe

Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and a maritime border with Italy to the west.

Fall of communism in Albania event, starting in December 1990 with student protests; political pluralism was allowed on 11 December; the Labor Party won the 1991 elections (in a coalition with non-communists), but lost the 1992 elections amid economic collapse and social unrest

The fall of Communism in Albania, the last such event in Europe outside the USSR, started in earnest on December 1990 with student demonstrations in the capital, Tirana, although protests had begun earlier that year in other cities. The Central Committee of the communist Party of Labour of Albania allowed political pluralism on 11 December and the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, was founded the next day. March 1991 elections left the Party of Labour in power, but a general strike and urban opposition led to the formation of a "stability government" that included non-communists. Albania's former communists were routed in elections in March 1992 amid economic collapse and social unrest, with the Democratic Party winning most seats and its party head, Sali Berisha, becoming president.

Contents

The President of Albania is elected through a secret vote and without debate by the Parliament of Albania by a majority of three-fifths majority of all its members. The Constitution of Albania sets a limit to a maximum of two terms in office. [5] When this majority is not reached in the first round of voting, a second round takes place within seven days. If such a majority is still not reached, a third round must take place within a further period of seven days. If even in the first three rounds no candidate has attained the necessary majority, a further two rounds must be held within seven days, with the majority needed to win being reduced to an absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) vote of the total members of the Parliament. If after five rounds of voting no candidate has attained the necessary majority outlined for each round of voting in the Parliament, the Parliament will be dissolved and a general election must occur within 60 days. [6]

President of Albania head of state of Albania and commander-in-chief of the Albanian military

The President of Albania, officially styled the President of the Republic of Albania, is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people.

Parliament of Albania Parliament of Albania

The Parliament of Albania or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of not less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal, periodic and equal suffrage by secret ballot. The Parliament is presided over by a Speaker of the Parliament, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-seat constituencies, corresponding to the country's administrative divisions.

It is the fundamental law of the Republic of Albania. The present Constitution of Albania was adopted by the Parliament on 28 November 1998. It is split up over many different acts. The document succeeded the 1976 Constitution, originally adopted at the creation of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania on 28 December 1976 and heavily amended on 29 April 1991.

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.

Alfred Moisiu Albanian politician

Alfred Spiro Moisiu is a former Albanian general, diplomat and politician. He served as President of Albania from 2002 to 2007.

Bamir Topi former President of Albania

Bamir Myrteza Topi is an Albanian diplomat and politician. He served as President of Albania from 2007 to 2012.

Fatos Nano Albanian politician

Fatos Thanas Nanolisten (help·info) is an Albanian socialist politician who was the Prime Minister of Albania several times; he was the first leader and founder of the Socialist Party of Albania and a member of the Albanian Parliament from 1991 to 1996 and 1997 to 2009. He reformed the Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist ideology of the Labor Party of Albania into social democracy for its successor, the Socialist Party. During his leadership, the Socialist Party, as a result of reforms, joined the Socialist International and Party of European Socialists. Nano was a candidate in the 2007 presidential election but did not win. He again tried in the 2012 presidential election, but he did not even qualify as a candidate, because the leaders of parties in Parliament obstructed their respective MPs to elect him as candidate in the elections.

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.

Prime Minister of Albania head of government of the Republic of Albania

The Prime Minister of Albania, officially styled the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and as well the most powerful and influential person in Albanian politics. The Prime Minister holds the executive power of the nation and represents the Council of Ministers and chairs its meetings.

Sali Berisha Albanian politician

Sali Berisha (help·info), is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the second President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013. He was also the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania twice, from 1991 to 1992 and then again from 1997 to 2013. To date, Berisha is the longest-serving democratically elected leader and the only Prime Minister to serve two full terms since the end of Communism.

On 12 July 2007, Rama officially called for early elections. [7] 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, 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.

NATO Intergovernmental military alliance of Western states

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. NATO’s Headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.

General Major Arjan Zaimi is Albania's representative to NATO.

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). [8] [9]

Second round

The second round on 11 July was again boycotted by the opposition and had the following results: [10]

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. [11]

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:

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

See also

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Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, where the President of Albania is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Albania the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the Government and the Prime Minister with its Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Albania. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of Albania is laid out in the 1998 constitution. The Parliament adopted the current constitution on 28 November 1998. Due to political instability, the country has had many constitutions during its history. Albania was initially constituted as a monarchy in 1913, briefly a republic in 1925, then it returned to a democratic monarchy in 1928. It later became a socialist republic until the restoration of capitalism and democracy in 1992.

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References

  1. ↑ "Albanian parliament to elect president". AP News. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  2. ↑ "Albanian lawmakers fail to elect new president". AP News. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  3. ↑ "Majority of Albanians against early elections". People's Daily Online. July 14, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Albanian parliament elects Bamir Topi". Sydney Morning Herald. July 21, 2007.
  5. ↑ "KUSHTETUTA E REPUBLIKËS SË SHQIPËRISË" (pdf). wipo.int (in Albanian). p. Article 88.1.
  6. ↑ "KUSHTETUTA E REPUBLIKËS SË SHQIPËRISË" (pdf). wipo.int (in Albanian). p. Article 86.1.
  7. ↑ People's Daily Online - Albanian opposition asks for early elections
  8. ↑ "Albanian parliament set to vote for new president". The Associated Press. July 8, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Albania edges toward elections after presidential vote fails". The Associated Press. July 9, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Albanian lawmakers fail to elect new president". Associated Press. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  11. ↑ "Albania opposition boycott prevents election of new president in 3rd round". The Associated Press. July 14, 2007.
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