Electoral College: “Local elections will take place on June 30”
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- Meanwhile, Albanian-American organization VATRA called on political parties to sit and talk in order to offer people a long-term solution that can secure not only democratic standards of the country, but also a peace and social unification.
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TIRANA, June 24 - Albania’s Electoral College supported on Monday the Central Election Commission’s (CEC), which decided the decree of President Ilir Meta cancelling June 30 as the local elections date is invalid and continued with the process preparation.
The college was involved by the National Unity Party (PUK), as it asked to be removed from running in the elections per Meta’s cancelation decree, but the CEC rejected its request.
By backing the CEC’s decision regarding the PUK request to be removed from the electoral race, the college virtually recognized June 30 as the local elections’ date.
The legal arguments upon which the college reached Monday's decision have not been disclosed, but are expected to be disclosed in the coming days when the college’s argumentative decision is published.
The Albanian opposition said the college doesn’t have the authority to assess the president's decree, which, according to it, can only be assessed by the Constitutional Court, which is out of function for the moment. For its part, the Socialist Party is referring to a 2017 decision of the Constitutional Court College, which, according to it, assesses the president's decree as an individual administrative act.
In a reaction which followed the college's decision, President spokesman Teddy Blushi said that according to him, Monday’s developments do not constitute "a surprise from the next long-orchestrated sketch.”
The Electoral College body that made this decision consisted of judges Tomor Skreli, Ridvan Hado, Lindita Sinanaj, Artur Malaj and Shkà«lqim Mustafa.
“On the one hand, the CEC says there will be elections, while the President says there won’t. Our party and our electorate came to an absurd situation. It looks like we were fighting windmills. We do not want to participate and we want the National Unity Party to be removed from the ballot paper,” head of the PUK Idajet Beqiri said during Monday’s session.
Meanwhile, Albanian-American organization VATRA called on political parties to sit and talk in order to offer people a long-term solution that can secure not only democratic standards of the country, but also a peace and social unification.
Through a statement, the Pan-Albanian Federation of Americans expresses concern over the situation in Albania, which it considers to be unprecedented and says it is deeply painful that even after nearly three decades of pluralism, some deep problems related to electoral processes still remain, although interference in the process is completely condemnable.
Civil conflict, which is taking ground day by day, should not be allowed, and the government has the primary responsibility to find ways to quench it. The sharpening of political disagreement unfortunately accompanies large-scale social divisions, which undermine the European objectives of the country,” the statement said.
VATRA urged the parties to sit on the negotiating table, hoping that the process will be serious and not merely transitory, and at the same time expresses regret over the loss of time, which, according to her, is taken from Albania and its people.
