Government, Opposition Start Talks On Political Deadlock

TIRANA, Feb. 9 – The two main political groupings are getting ready for Saturday’s meeting of their leaders to resolve the political crises. And they are doing that in their own and usual way: through daily squabbling.
Edi Rama of the main opposition Socialist Party said they were determined that recount of the June 28 vote was the indisputable reason for the roundtable which he said should resolve the democratic application of the voting in the future.
Rama also said that together with a group of Socialist leaders and lawmakers they would make a short trip to Strasbourg to talk to their leftist European affiliates for consultation.
On the other side, head of the governing Democratic Party parliamentary grouping, Astrit Ppatozi, hailed the president’s invitation for talks on the crises and at the same time said they hoped that would give an end to the Socialists’ boycott of the parliament.
The Democrats have made it very clear that they do not accept a vote recount as that would break the law.
Their words are often intensified every day with many statements from other leaders and lawmakers of both sides. They usually pronounce the hard line of their parties saying strongly their stand is the right one and also denouncing the opposing party.
That language has really heated up to hate speech and language in the daily vocabulary which common Albanians listen to.
President Bamir Topi called Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to join roundtable talks on Saturday in a bid to resolve the political stalemate in the country.
The opposition Socialists have contested the results of the poll, boycotting the country’s parliament and thus blocking the adoption of important reforms especially those needed for the country’s integration into the European Union.
The Socialists demand a parliamentary probe into the polls, a request described by the ruling rightist coalition led by Berisha’s Democrats, as “illegitimate”.
Topi called for roundtable talks after long meetings with various European officials, among them Helmuth Lohan, head of the European Union delegation in Tirana, as well as Spanish ambassador to Albania, Manuel Montobbio de Balanzo, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
He also met with US Ambassador John L. Withers II the same day and on Tuesday with the German Ambassador Bernd Bochardt.
The international community, including the Council of Europe (which passed a resolution on Albania calling on the government to create an investigative committee and on the opposition to end the boycott), support Topi’s initiative, saying that the political crisis in Albania should be resolved through dialogue.
A Council of Europe delegation is expected in Albania by the end of the month for talks focused on the political crisis in the country.
The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly said that the crisis “has deeply affected” the political situation in the country.
“In a current situation, the progress of the country towards the European integration has become more difficult,” the assembly said.
It remains to be seen what Saturday’s talks will produce.
There are voices saying that Topi has already prepared a draft agreement but none is capable of saying how the solution will work.
That will be a very tough job for Topi to convince two opposing leaders accept a compromised solution.