Democrats extend parliamentary boycott

TIRANA, Sept. 1 – Albania’s main opposition Democrats have decided to boycott Parliament, complaining that the socialist-led governing coalition pays no attention to its views.
Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha, also capital Tirana mayor, announced the move Monday at a meeting of his parliamentarians’ group. Basha said, saying that his party is “not heard but attacked.”
Later Monday the Parliament would launch its session after the summer recess.
It was unclear how long the boycott would last.
Other voices from the party said there was no timetable or no limit to the boycott.
The move is expected to have little practical impact on how Parliament conducts its business, as governing coalition elected in June 2013 has a strong majority of 84 seats in the 140-seat house.
Basha said his party would challenge all laws passed in its absence at Albania’s constitutional Court.
The main opposition Democrats’ leader also said that the precondition for them to return to parliament was basically that the governing leftists respect the laws, the verdicts of the Constitutional Court and listen to their complaints. That still did not make clear the reason for such a boycott.
Basha also mentioned specifically that they are physically attacked at the parliament, referring to the physical clash of one of his lawmakers with two of the Socialists in July. The three of them were warned by the parliament’s leadership.
Basha also mentioned that the Socialists are nominating in top government posts people with a criminal background and also referred to one of their lawmakers, one of the two involved in the physical clash, of being sentenced in nearby Italy.
But the decision did not seem to find so much support among the Democrats themselves. The local media reported that there was some contradiction to such a decision from some lawmakers. They said they were following the same line that their opponent, now in power, had followed when they were themselves in power for eight years until last year.
Democrats lost in a landslide Socialist victory of the parliamentary elections in June 2013.
Some individuals from small allies also harshly said that such a decision should serve only as a temporary tactics and not as a strategy.
Though Basha said they would also hold protests there is doubt they could have little impact and support at this moment.
And part of the opposition, four lawmakers of a smaller ally, took part at the parliamentary session. The MPs of the Cam community political grouping also voted for the territorial administrative law in late July and again took part Monday at the parliament session. They said they would hold their opposition at the parliament.
Governing Socialists on their side followed the process normally at the parliament. They re-voted on Monday some laws they had passed in late July but turned back from the president.
In speeches held from some lawmakers, including Prime Minister Edi Rama they harshly accused President Bujar Nishani of still behaving as part of the political opposition Democratic Party and not as an impartial personality unifying the people.
Rama said that the president had attacked three priorit9ies with the return of the passed laws, referring to justice, police and territorial administrative management.
The same day the Socialist-led government published the laws at the official gazette, thus they come to power in 15 days.
The government has made it clear that justice is their priority for this session in parliament.
Opposition Democrats are proceeding on their own work. They have created working groups for each of the five laws passed recently from the Socialists and they will apparently work to take their cases to the Constitutional Court.
The Democrats have said they will hold their opposition at the Court, with the international community and also with rallies and protests.