Albania Approves New Electoral System, Other Constitutional Amendments

TIRANA, April 22 – Albania’s two main political parties, the governing coalition of the Democratic Party and the opposition Socialist Party, passed constitutional amendments to create a new electoral system. However, the amendments were harshly opposed by the country’s smaller political parties.
The parliament, in session until nearly midnight Monday, voted 115-13 for a package of constitutional amendments that included changing representation from a partial majority to a regional proportional electoral system, creating a new procedure for presidential elections, instituting a revised system for a parliamentary vote of confidence, and establishing a fixed mandate for the prosecutor general.
Four smaller opposition political parties voiced concern that the amendments were meant to eliminate them from national life and accused the governing Democratic Party’s Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, of assuming too much power.
The holding of free and fair elections, which have consistently fallen short of international standards since communism ended in Albania in 1990, has been an essential requirement for closer relations with international institutions.
Earlier this month, Albania was extended a NATO membership invitation and now has to further fulfill a series of reforms to be accepted as a full member.
Berisha managed to convince his small coalition partners to vote in favor of the constitutional amendments that needed at least 94 votes in the 140-seat parliament.
Besides the new electoral system, the amendments also stipulated that the president is to be elected with at least 71 votes in the fourth round of voting if the first three rounds had failed, compared to three-fifth, or 83 votes, needed now.
Two other amendments outline how the parliament will be dissolved if the government falls in a vote of no confidence and demands the country vote in early elections. An additional amendment spells out how the prosecutor general will have a fixed five-year term in office, as opposed to the unlimited term currently in place.
All four amendments have continuously sparked harsh political debates and an ever-squabbling climate in post-communist Albania, always being resolved only by direct mediation by the international community.
The next day, opposition Socialists appealed to their allies to join the reforms and repeated they will seek to remove Prime Minister Berisha from his post.
Socialist leader Edi Rama said the new electoral system opened a renewed chapter in the political battling among the political parties.
Ilir Meta of the other opposition Socialist Movement for Integration accused Rama of having secret deals with Berisha, seeking to reduce the power of smaller parties. The smaller parties also threatened further political actions, including protests.