Albania prime minister set on firing the country’s president

Albania’s prime minister has expressed his determination to remove the president from his post, saying he has embarrassed the country

TIRANA, Albania -- Albania’s prime minister expressed his determination Monday to remove the president from his post, claiming he has embarrassed the country. Prime Minister Edi Rama said President Ilir Meta should be discharged. Rama’s Socialist Party has accused Meta of violating the constitution by taking political sides in an election last month. Last week lawmakers formed an investigative committee to decide whether to impeach Meta. Forty-nine Socialist lawmakers have claimed that Meta failed in his constitutional duty to guarantee national unity by siding with the opposition before the April 25 election. The Socialists won 74 of the 140 seats in parliament in that vote, allowing them to form a Cabinet on their own. Yet impeaching Meta requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament, which the Socialists do not have, and approval from Albania’s Constitutional Court.