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The first vote to elect the director of RTSH fails

Politiko 2025-04-24 16:12:46

The first vote to elect the director of RTSH fails

The newly elected Board of Directors of the Albanian Radio and Television, RTSH, held its first voting procedure for the new director general of the public television on Thursday. The meeting was broadcast live on RTSH, while the secret ballot divided the votes between several candidates, with none of them able to receive a qualified majority of votes from the 11 members of the Board.

The voting results showed that journalist Eni Vasili received 5 votes, two other candidates, Xhoi Jakaj and Engjëll Musai, received 2 votes each, while candidates Ermal Hoxha and Flamur Buçpapaj received 1 vote each.

The Chairman of the Steering Council, Fatjon Hoxhalli, announced at the end of the meeting that the second vote will take place on Friday between the three candidates with the highest number of votes, Vasili, Jakaj and Musai.

The competition for the position of head of the public operator was attended by 12 candidates, who, at a previous public meeting of the Council, had the opportunity to publicly present their platforms and vision.

RTSH has been at the center of public debate for more than a year, after former director Alfred Peza resigned in June of last year, after facing criticism for mass dismissals of journalists and employees of this institution during the year he held the position.

The process of selecting his successor was strongly contested by the two major political parties, which, through the Parliamentary Committee on Media and Education, took the unprecedented act of dissolving the Steering Council in March of this year.

Parliament then voted on the composition of the new Governing Council, electing individuals closely connected to politics to this institution, which concerned organizations that protect media freedom and, more recently, the European Union.

Fatjon Hoxhalli, 38 years old, with nearly a decade of work experience as a close advisor to Niko Peleshi during his duties in the executive and as chairman of the socialist parliamentary group, was voted chairman of this council.

The 10-member board also includes the advisor to the former socialist minister, Bledi Çuçi, a former deputy minister in the "Rama" government, and names who come from the field of art or journalism, but who have a political background or closeness to the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party.

RTSH is the only public operator in the country and, based on legal provisions and media freedom standards, should be independent of politics - standards that have been completely violated with the recent election of the members of the Steering Council. Reporter.al

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