EU warns that blocking judicial reform ‘harms present and future of Albania’
Pressure on Albania’s Democratic Party to take part in the country’s upcoming elections has intensified with an intervention by two senior EU political figures, writes Martin Banks for the EU Reporter.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled on 18 June in Albania but the Democratic party (DP) has announced a Parliamentary boycott.
It is now refusing to register for the June election, threatening to boycott it unless a technocratic caretaker government is installed to oversee the poll.
At the centre of the row is disagreement over implementation of a vetting and judicial reform.
Lulzim Basha, the head of the DP, has said that the opposition will not vote for the existing draft even though the EU says its adoption is the only hurdle that prevent Albania to start negotiation with the EU.
On Thursday (13 April),there were two fresh, and potentially significant, developments in the long-running saga.
First, Tirana media reported that the opposition leader’s brother recently resigned his court job so as to avoid the vetting process. Erlind Basha, brother to Lulzim Basha, reportedly worked as a clerk in the Albania Supreme Court until a few weeks ago. Local reports suggest that President Bujar Nishani, while aware of the resignation and the reason, agreed to keep the matter secret.
The second key new move came with two senior EU figures making a fresh appeal for an end to the parliamentary boycott.
The EU’s High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn issued a joint statement on the latest developments in Albania.
It reads, “We regret the parliamentary boycott in Albania and that the opposition has not yet registered to participate in the elections. The political debate should not take place outside, but inside the parliament according to democratic practise. Citizens deserve responsible leadership.”
The two said they “once again urge all political leaders to act responsibly, with respect for institutions, and pave the way for democratic elections, in line with international standards.”
The statement went on, “More specifically, the much needed justice reform in Albania has once again come under attack. We call on all parties to complete the formation of the vetting institutions. Attacking the judicial reform rather than ensuring implementation of vetting, with close monitoring of the International Monitoring Operation, harms Albania’s present and future.”
Mogherini and Hahn commented, “We expect that MPs will show responsibility, capacity to act within the democratic legitimate institutional framework, and that they stand by the people of Albania, who continue to demand that the vetting is launched and the judiciary eventually reformed, also as a crucial step for the country to join the EU.”
Coming from such high ranking representatives of the commission this is seen as a very strong statement.
The stubborn opposition of the DP for any compromises has prompted some frank reactions from members of the international community.
A Commission source told this website, “From the outside this (the boycott) looks like another way to justify blocking judicial reform.”
Eduard Kukan, a member of the parliament’s delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, opposes any attempt to block the “most important reform” in the history of the fragile Albanian democratic state.
The Slovakian said, “I fully support all efforts which lead to implementation of the justice reform. I have called several times on politicians in Albania to proceed with establishment of the vetting bodies and start with implementation of the reform. Time is of the essence here. I also repeatedly called on the opposition to reassume their work in the parliament in order to move on with the reform and make all necessary preparations for the upcoming elections. I will repeat myself again saying that in democratic systems political battles should take place in the framework of institutions created for this purpose.”
A spokesman for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, said, “We strongly support the efforts of Albanian citizens and their just struggle for free and fair elections. Albanian people should know they will always have our support in their right cause of freedom and democracy, rule of law and individual liberty.”
Mogherini has previously said that implementation of vetting and judicial reform are the only hurdle that prevent Albania to start negotiation with the EU. She also stated that those who do not vote for the vetting “do not want Albania’s EU integration.”
As of November 2015, the European Commission has been clear on the fact that “Albania has fulfilled all other requirements for the initiation of the membership negotiations and the only requirement yet to be fulfilled is the implementation of this reform.”
Source: EU Reporter
