Electoral reform halted

TIRANA, May 31 – As the Albanian parliament discusses the election of a new president, the main opposition Socialist Party has been insisting the process is closely linked with the general electoral reform.
That reform has been frozen after the two sides do not agree on the way to vote next year. It is blocked at the election of the central election commission and the vote count process, the complaints process and other small details. They have also did not decide whether to count the ballots digitally or not. OSCE/ODIHR experts advised that a countrywide digital count would not be capable to be held as it needed a lot of other infrastructure. They advised it was likely that a partial digital country in a pilot area could be better used.
The governing Democrats of Prime Minister Sali Berisha are against the complaining of the vote count only by two members of any part at the polling station. They also say they are against the digital count in line with the international advice.
With a deadline for completion of the electoral reform ending May 24, Berisha called on the Socialists to back a final draft prepared by the parliamentary committee on electoral reform, saying “the reform can be easily finished.”
Chairman of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, Astrit Patozi said the blocking of the approval of electoral reform is hampering the implementation of recommendations by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule.
They also do not agree on the parliamentary reform which asks for the way it is voted and also the time of the premier and the opposition head on the other side.
What is important is the fact that such minor disagreements have turned into big obstacles that are unlikely to be resolved soon, or by the political parties themselves. It is very likely that the international interference is needed to reach a compromise. Or they will fail again.
And that means failure to reach European integration.
So do the two political groupings really mean they are focused on the European integration? Hardly so, if we consider what they do in practice.