Albania – Smaller coalition partner PDIU proposes ‘national pact’ to get out of political crisis

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – The Party for Justice Integration and Unity (PDIU) has proposed a ‘national pact’ which could pull Albania out of its current political deadlock, arguing an unbiased state police, amendments to the electoral code and a consensual President could get the country back on its normal political track and open the path for justice reform.

As opposition democrats are calling for the resignation of PM Edi Rama and the creation of a technical government, the smaller partner of the governing center-left coalition the PDIU has proposed a plan with 7 points which could get the opposition back to parliament and unlock the current political deadlock created in the small Balkan country.

PDIU chair and Vice-Chair of the Parliament Shpetim Idrizi has asked PM Rama, Speaker Meta and opposition leader Lulzim Basha to consider the platform as a common ground to move the country forward in its European integration process.

The PDIU has proposed the return of the opposition in parliament which would release the current paralysis of justice reform as well as changes in the electoral code.

Idrizi asked for extra guarantees of the role of state police during elections and for the change of the electoral system into a proportional national system which would give political parties the necessary space to enter elections alone and after elections to strike coalition agreements.

“Given the current climate of distrust in Albanian politics, the PDIU has proposed the de-politicization of electoral counting and administration bodies as well as the establishment of a prosecuting ‘task force’ which would have the right to investigate without delays any concerns over electoral fraud or vote buying,” said Idrizi, adding that “the option of electronic voting or counting could be foreseen after proper consensual technical evaluations of its feasibility“.

In a surprise move, the PDIU or the so called ‘Tcham Party’ has also requested a political round-table to select a consensual name as candidate for President of Albania.

It is yet unclear whether the SP, LSI and the DP would accept such proposals, but the platform seems to resonate with various political commentators in the country who judge the current electoral system as faulty and unfair for a proper representation in parliament.

Albania has been paralyzed by a non-stop protest of its opposition parties demanding the creation of a technical government which would guarantee free and fair elections. The possibility of the postponement of the June 18th elections has also been elaborated which the country’s prime minister Edi Rama insists elections would go ahead as planned with or without the opposition.

However, Albania’s coalition second partner the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) has said there can be no elections without the opposition and that it is ready to give up its political mandates in favor of creating a government of trust and solving the country’s deepening political crisis.

Albania’s elections are held on the basis of a regional proportional electoral system with ‘closed lists’ which came into effect as the result of the infamous SP-DP agreement of constitutional changes in 2008, which transferred the power of selecting names on electoral lists to party leaders

The LSI and other parties contested the changes at the time, arguing it deformed the democratic vote and favored the two bigger parties.

After the last June 2013 parliamentary elections in Albania, the OSCE-ODIHR observation mission offered a set of recommendations, saying more needs to be done to enhance public confidence in the electoral process, as concluded in the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).