TIRANA, April 5- Wednesday was a busy day for Prime Minister Rama who has recently found himself in the spotlight of a political crisis that has put the elections and implementation of reforms at risk.
The Socialist Party leader held several meetings with coalition allies in an attempt to find a solution to the stalemate. His first meeting was with the junior ally, Ilir Meta of Socialist Movement for Integration, in an attempt to find consensus. For over two hours, the two estranged allies talked about the crisis but refused to take a step back on their position.
Meta insisted on the need to find a solution in convincing the opposition to participate in the upcoming elections scheduled for June 18 and highlighted that the SMI is willing to consider all possibilities in continuing the coalition with Socialist Party.
Rama on the other hand reportedly said he was willing to engage in dialogue with the opposition and provide all possible guarantees that elections will be free and fair, and “meet all requirements that do not violate the Constitution, laws or democracy standards.”
Rama said that elections must be held on June 18 as determined by the Constitution and underlined that he will continue to be prime minister of a government elected by the people until the end of its mandate.
After the meeting with Meta, Rama went back to his office and received several members of the ruling party such as chairman of the parliamentary group, Gramoz Ruci, chairman of the Socialist Party branch in Tirana, Saimir Tahiri and Mayor Erion Veliaj.
Afterward Rama arranged a meeting with the chairman of Party for Justice Integration and Unity, Shpetim Idrizi.
Idrizi has repeatedly supported the idea of not participating in the elections without the opposition. During the meeting with Rama, the chairman of the small coalition party presented the PJIU platform for a solution to the political crisis. The seven-points platform encourages political parties to enter dialogue and push the country out of stagnation.
Idrizi who was also summoned in a meeting by Assembly Speaker, Ilir Meta, has urged the opposition to return to parliament and called on the government to guarantee the impartial role of the State Police during elections.
