Opposition Ends Parliament Boycott

TIRANA, Feb. 25 – Albania’s main opposition Socialists on Thursday entered the parliament ending a six-month boycott over what they said was fraud in June’s general elections.
Following the sworn-in ceremony the Socialist lawmakers asked for the creation of an investigative committee, including a partial vote recount, and also amendments to the electoral code on vote recount.
The opposition has said they will resume street protests if the governing Democrats hinder the process, claiming conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha manipulated the vote count to secure re-election. Berisha denies that, but says he will back a parliamentary probe, though not a vote recount.
Socialist group leader Gramoz Ruci made the offer: Open just one ballot box, that of Ruzhdie in Fier, which Berisha has claimed Democrats lost a seat, and their request on recount was solved.
Following a formal response from Astrit Patozi, Democrats’ group leader, Berisha also held a speech to basically say the same answer: ready for a parliamentary probe, but not a vote recount which was prohibited from the constitution, according to him.
The Socialists insisted: let’s solve the crises, or they will turn to street protests.
The Socialists left the hall when Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli continued the agenda of the daily session.
The last moment of their presence turned into a laughing stock with lawmakers teasing each other.
The opposition Socialist Party leadership on Wednesday decided to end the boycott and resume the fight over alleged fraud in the June general elections at the parliament.
If the governing Democrats hamper the election transparency they will start street protests, according to their leader Edi Rama speaking Wednesday, in a move coming after intensive international mediation.
The Socialists have boycotted parliament for the past six months, claiming that conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha manipulated the vote count to secure re-election.
Berisha’s government strongly denies the charges.
Rama convened the Socialists’ leadership in a meeting in the afternoon where he announced the decision in his speech.
It was clear that the decision, which was hinted off-the-record in the last two weeks, was imposed from the mediation of the international interlocutors present in Tirana earlier this week.
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly delegation stayed for two days to meet with all top leaders. Though at the end it seemed they had failed to resolve the situation, they insisted soon there would be positive developments.
That became true Wednesday with the Socialists’ decision.
Later Tuesday there came to Tirana Hannes Swoboda, deputy head of the leftist grouping at the European Parliament, who said openly at a news conference together with Rama that the Socialists had to return to parliament where the voters had elected them and also that was the place where they would continue their fight for the electoral transparency, the investigation of June 28 parliamentary election.
It was also said that the Council of Europe and the European Parliament would immediately ask the Venice Commission to consider whether Albania’s ballot boxes could be open as the Socialists ask for. They said they had already agreed that if two of the Central Election Commission asked for a ballot recount that was an indisputable decision.
The Democrats say that would break the laws, the constitution, as there were verdicts from the Electoral College.
The Socialist leader said when speaking to his lawmakers and other leaders that if the Democrats tried to hinder the investigative process they would then turn to the streets, something they had done last year
The Democrats control 75 of parliament’s 140 seats; the Socialists have 65.
Important legislation, such as laws related to Albania’s EU membership bid; require a three-fifths majority, or 84 votes, to pass.