Albania's parliament elected its leader as the country's new president Friday, abandoning efforts to build consensus with boycotting opposition lawmakers after two weeks of delays. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Albanian parliament elected its current speaker Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Intergration (LSI) was elected the new President of Albania in the fourth round of elections. Friday's vote followed three failed rounds in which the governing coalition didn't put up a candidate, saying it wanted to include the center-right opposition in reaching a broader consensus. Albania’s new President was proposed by the Socialist Movement for Integration and was unanimously supported by ruling Socialist Party. Instead it demands that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama steps down and allows creation of a caretaker government to ensure free and fair parliamentary election. The opposition refused to take part in the presidential election, as it has been boycotting all parliamentary proceeding since February, claiming that the upcoming parliamentary election will be rigged and refusing to register for it.
Ilir Meta is elected the new President of Albania, winning 87 votes out of 140 members of the Assembly.