Democrats lose administrative reform case in highest court, vow to fight on

Prime Minister Rama says the Constitutional Court’s decision opens the way for the reorganization of the territory in line with the European Union directives.
TIRANA, Dec. 16 – Albania’s highest court has ruled against the opposition Democrats’ request that the administrative reform be voided, a move hailed by the Socialist-led government, which wants to implement the redrawing of internal administrative borders ahead of the local elections scheduled for next summer.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said the Constitutional Court’s decision opens the way for the reorganization of the territory in line with the European Union directives.
However, Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha said his grouping won’t the new territorial division and will continue to fight on with all means available. He did not say whether the Democrats will boycott the next elections, plunging the country into a new political crisis.
The Democrats have accused the Socialist-led government of redrawing the municipalities so they can win as many mayoral seats as possible, a charge the Socialists deny.
Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration, part of the governing coalition, said the opposition should return to parliament and strongly urged participation in the municipal elections next year.
Rama had said in an interview earlier this week that elections are not linked to any boycott of the opposition, meaning they will be held whether the Democrats participate or not.
The governing Socialist-led coalition of Prime Minister Rama approved the reform in parliament at the end of July.
The vote was boycotted by the Democrats of Tirana Mayor Basha. Only several proposed local referendums stand in the way of the reform legal implementation so far, but any further delays would put the local elections in jeopardy. It is unclear when and if the local referendums will be held.
The government argues that the reform is needed to save millions of wasted funds on bureaucracy and to improve local governance. It will drastically cut the number of local governance units from the current 383 to 61 larger municipalities or bashkias. The borders of the current 12 counties (qarqes) will not change.
The tense political atmosphere is not limited to the reform. The opposition has been boycotting the parliament over several grievances since it started the new session in September now asking for an international mediation-reached agreement with the governing majority before they turn back to parliament.
By law, the constitution, they should be back until later this month or they, the lawmakers should be replaced by new ones after abandoning the position for six months.
Last week after meeting with Rama in Brussels European Parliament President Martin Schulz said that the EU should open membership talks with Albania as soon as possible, as part of a policy to keep its ”door open to its neighbors.”