Ilir Meta

The Special Prosecution Against Organised Crime and Corruption said on Tuesday that two investigations of President Ilir Meta have begun after former MP Halit Valteri issued two criminal complaints accusing him of abuses related to lobbying contracts with US firms.

Albania's parliament is set to vote for a new president on Saturday, but no candidates' names are known or even rumoured, less than 24 hours ahead of the vote.

Albania's President, Ilir Meta, will end his mandate in office after winning a Constitutional Court battle with the ruling Socialist Party, which dismissed him via a vote in parliament nine months ago.

In a verdict on Wednesday, the Court said the accusations made against Meta "do not constitute serious violation of the constitution".

Albanian MPs on Wednesday voted to oust the country's president, Ilir Meta, though the final decision on the issue must go to the Constitutional Court, which will conclude if Meta will be removed from office before his term ends in until 2022.

Some 104 lawmakers in the ruling Socialist-dominated chamber voted for dismissal while seven voted against. Three abstained.

The Socialists vowed to bring down Meta the moment they secured victory in a parliamentary election on April 25, without even waiting for the new MPs to take their seats in September.

They accuse Meta, a former Socialist prime minister who quit the party 17 years ago, of inciting violence and fomenting political instability with his statements before and during the election.

Albania's parliament on Friday voted to set up a commission to examine the possible ousting of the country's President, Ilir Meta.

It came after a.group of ruling Socialist deputies requested his dismissal, accusing him of interfering in the April 25 legislative elections in violation of the constitution.

After winning an unprecedented third mandate to govern Albania, Edi Rama's Socialist Party has turned its attention to its only rival who currently has a senior institutional position, President Ilir Meta.

Edi Rama wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that his party has won the parliamentary elections and called on his supporters and "whoever wants to join us celebrate the victory" to attend a celebration in the evening in Tirana's central square despite concerns about the spreading of the coronavirus.

Tensions rose in the run-up to the weekend's polls in Albania when a young man was shot in his knee inside the electoral office of the opposition Democratic Party in the central Albania town of Kavaja late on Monday.

Judge Adrian Dvorani. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN

"Judge Dvorani developed mechanisms to reduce political and criminal influence in the justice system, steps that contributed to the EU's decision in March to open negotiations for Albania's accession," the State Department said in a statement.