Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) has appointed Thoma Gellçi as its new Director General, EBU informs. Gellçi previously worked as the Editor-in-Chief of Zeri i Popullit (the official newspaper of the Socialist Party) and 24 Ore (a news agency and electronic newspaper he set up to provide information on Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia to the Albanian diaspora). Gellçi also worked as Director of the Press Office for Prime Minister Fatos Nano in 2000.

RTSH has been without a Director General since December 2013 when the former incumbent Petrit Beci resigned. The Steering Board of RTSH was constituted in April 2015 but, for a year, had been unable to reach the qualified majority needed to elect a new Director General. An amendment to the country’s Media Law was needed to relax the requirement for a qualified majority to appoint a Director General. Gellçi was elected with seven votes in his favour.

Gellçi has a long-term plan to reaffirm RTSH’s position in the market and reform its main structures.