As municipal elections approach, calls grow for term limits on municipal leaders, many of whom have held their seats for more than a decade
TIRANA, Feb. 24 – When Artan Shkembi, mayor of the eastern city of Pogradec, resigned Monday from his post during a press conference at his ruling Socialist Party headquarters, he had a message for fellow mayors who had held their seats for more than a decade: Do not run for the same office again.
Shkembi said he was leaving to open the way for fresh faces, adding that after three terms in office, he considered it as a normal process to resign and open the way for new local leaders.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has urged all long-serving Socialist mayors to consider not running again, but Shkembi is the only one to act so far.
Rama was himself a three-term Tirana mayor who ran for a fourth time before being defeated in a razor-thin and controversial election against current mayor and opposition leader, Lulzim Basha, who has indicated he too will not run again for mayor, preferring to focus on leading the opposition full time instead.
Resignations from mayoral posts and decisions by incumbents not to seek reelection are rare in Albania, where local leaders have been known to rule for as many terms as they possibly can.
But as municipal elections approach, calls grow for term limits on municipal leaders, many of which have held their seats for more than a decade
Albania is headed toward municipal elections on June 21. This time they will be held based on a new territorial division of the country, from 384 municipalities and communes before to just 61, which the leftist majority has said will cut costs and also increase efficiency of their management.
That also means that the new mayors will be very powerful and run a greater area and population than before.
The new format has not been accepted by the main opposition Democratic Party. However, it has said it will take part in the elections, which it considers as another test against the failure of the leftist government.
But on Tuesday, the Central Election Commission called on local municipalities in the country to quickly comply with their duties for the June polls, including bringing the lists of the voters.
