Albania’s parliament convenes, opposition boycotts

TIRANA, Sep 7 – Albania’s new parliament on Monday convened for the first time with the opposition Socialist Party boycotting, claiming the re-elected governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha rigged the vote in the June 28 general election.
Democrats’ Fatos Beja opened the parliament’s session as the oldest lawmaker.
“Albania’s membership into the European Union is an aspiration of all Albanians which asks for the support of the lawmakers in every step,” he said, referring to Albania’s steps toward membership into the bloc where it has applied for candidate status.
Following tough talks with allies this week Berisha is expected to present his new 14-member cabinet following a coalition with the small leftist LSI of Ilir Meta setting the country’s further integration with the European Union as their main goal.
Berisha has agreed to nominate Meta as his deputy and also foreign minister. Two other LSI politicians will run the ministry of economy, trade and energy, as well as health.
The right-wing Republican leader, Fatmir Mediu, stripped of his previous parliamentary immunity and on trial for the last year’s blast of an ammunition disposal factory which killed 26 people and injured 300 others, is to keep the post of the environment minister.
The new 140-seat parliament is made up of Berisha’s Democrats with 68 seats in coalition with their two smaller allies with one seat each. The LSI has four seats while the Socialists with 65 seats are also in coalition with a small ally that won one seat.
Opposition Socialists boycotted the opening session asking Democrats and their allies to pass a new law on the investigation of the June 28 alleged rigging, to be followed with a parliamentary investigative commission with the presence of the international community officials, “Ʃn order to secure the transparency for our claims on irregularities,” according to Socialist leader Edi Rama, who is not a lawmaker himself.
In a message to the new lawmakers, President Bamir Topi called on all the political parties to turn to the parliament as their place of debate for the country’s future steps.
“The Assembly of Albania is the national temple of the political debate where you must conduct the civil and constitutional engagement to further develop the pluralist parliamentary democracy in order to politically confront the vision, to publicly share the responsibilities and the reciprocal ruling majority-opposition respect and especially in order to hold a conversation with the people with the great political responsibility and to serve them during the upcoming four years,” said Topi.
International monitors will issue a report later this month, but have already cited political interference in vote counting.