Electoral reform comittee expires with no results

TIRANA, Oct. 18 – The parliamentary committee created after a consensus reached from the two main parties in late August ended its days last Sunday without achieving anything at all. The committee’s term expired Oct. 15. It was formed to draft the electoral reforms agreed by the two main parties to resolve a dispute that had threatened to delay municipal elections. The committee was set up May 18 to draft electoral reform legislation, but was unable to make progress by the end of its mid-August mandate because of disagreements between Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s governing Democratic Party and the opposition Socialist Party. On Aug. 20 Berisha’s Democrats and the Socialists agreed to increase the number of central election committee members, extend local officials’ terms from three to four years and rule out use of a disputed voters list. They also agreed to add two new members to the National Council of Radio and Television to give more voice to the opposition. The election reform committee had until mid-October to draft and present the new legislation to parliament in time for Albania, a country of 3.2 million to hold municipal elections between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20. The opposition had threatened to boycott the municipal elections and call for street protests unless the government agreed to the electoral changes. The international community welcomed the Albanian compromise, and urged that it be implemented quickly.
But there have been no results at all. Ben Blushi of the Socialist Party said Wednesday that at a meeting of the committee none of their requests were accepted to be passed by consensus in the parliament. They had asked the parliament to vote for a package of laws but the majority Democrats hesitated over some elements, he said. Ylli Pango of the Democrats said that the committee’s work could be considered as not blocked any more, but added that more debate on certain elements is needed.