Fehmi Abdiu, former President of the Constitutional Court (1998-2004),
and a member until 2010, says that if he was still a member of the
Constitutional Court, he would decide that the qualified majority quorum
(84 Parliamentary votes) should be indispensable for electing the
Albanian President.
This court might face a similar request today, and clarify once and for all what quorum is needed for the three first rounds of the Presidential election.
In these three rounds, the President should be elected with a qualified majority of 84 votes, and the debate is if the same number of MPs will be required for opening the session, or 71 will be enough.
In fact, when Bamir Topi was elected President on July 2007, the quorum was not even discussed, and in the three rounds there was no other candidacy.
The Albanian Constitution explicitly says that the voting is considered finished when no other candidate is presented in the competition.
But the Kosovo Constitutional Court considered Behxhet Pacolli’s election as anti constitutional, exactly because there wasn’t the necessary quorum of MPs in the first two rounds.
Since both countries have similar procedures for the election of the President, this has spurred debates in Albania.
Mr. Abdiu thinks that the qualified majority of 84 MPs, which is needed for the first three rounds, is necessary for opening the session. He refers to the Constitution:
“Article 87, which is about the first three rounds, requires a qualified quorum, with the presence of 84 MPs on the Parliament floor. The three first rounds, in my opinion, are an indispensable request for sitting the political parties on the dialogue table and come up with a consensual President”, Abdiu declared.
Mr. Abdiu says that there is also place for a final interpretation from the Constitutional Court, since there are thoughts opposed to his.
“Since there are two different opinions, it might be necessary to undertake constitutional steps and presenting a request at the Constitutional Court”, Abdiu underlined.
For this concrete issue, Abdiu thinks that the MPs are the most appropriate subject for addressing to the Constitutional Court, although the Constitution legitimizes the President too.
“They are more interested than anyone to have a President who is elected conform all rules, as the Constitution requires. A Presidential request to the Court in this moment would not compromise his figure or be understood as a political insinuation or immature action”, Abdiu declared.
But even if this request would be presented at the Constitutional Court, nothing guarantees that this court would take a decision before the next summer, because the Constitutional Court has no deadline for giving a decision regarding the issues presented for a review.
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