Opposition MPs resume protests at the parliament

TIRANA, Oct. 24 – Opposition parliamentarians resumed Tuesday the series of protest at the People’s Assembly following a high tension between the majority of the Democratic Party and the opposition of the Socialist Party. They justified their protest with the lack of a decision to suspend from parliament participation for two weeks their MP Paulin Sterkaj who quarreled with Prime Minister Sali Berisha last week. Socialist Secretary-General Pandeli Majko asked Speaker Jozefina Topalli to present the decision on his suspension, claiming that was taken behind closed doors. Majko said that Topalli had suspended during her year-old reign more MPs than all the eight years together they had run the post before her.
That fight means that parliament’s work delays all the required amendments needed before holding the local elections between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20. The electoral reform which was agreed in Aug. 30 deal, has been practically blocked. There may be hardly passed the required laws for that.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the Democrats said his party was determined to apply the Aug. 30 agreement, also attacking the demand from the five opposition parties made a day earlier that there should be new birth certificates produced for the polls. “We shall apply the agreement voting all the amendments we have signed. Let the opposition parties discuss with each other, gather and add some eight other points. They are free to make whatever they want, but that is their problem,” he told Democratic MPs.
Head of the Democrats’ parliamentary group Bamir Topi accused the opposition of lacking the will to carry out the electoral reform, reconfirming their desire to complete the deal. “Based on the Aug. agreement we agreed to undertake the initiative for constitutional amendments and that cannot be made in an arbitrary way,” said Topi. “The problem remains the lack of the political will from the opposition… If there is political will the commission may complete within a day all the reform issues.”
The parliamentary commission that was agreed to make the required electoral reform expired its time Oct. 15 without reaching anything at all. Bujar Nishani of the Democrats said the opposition blocked its work on purpose.
The opposition accuses Interior Minister Sokol Olldashi of using more than one million false birth certificates distributed this summer in order to manipulate the polls. Olldashi on his part told parliament that was a pretext from the opposition to spoil the electoral process. Olldashi said there was a regular procedure of procurement for the new documents and it is normal that there might be a two percent mistake in their production. He said there was no time to produce new ones for the elections.