Parliament resumes sessions

TIRANA, Sep 8 – Parliament met Monday with the Speaker from the governing Democratic Party-led coalition requesting cooperation on major reforms while the opposition said the government had failed and should stop misusing public funds.
Debate on the electoral code, the justice reforms and the lustration law will be the main challenges of the assembly while in session through the end of December.
Speaker Jozefina Topalli, and also Democratic Party parliamentary group head Astrit Patozi, repeated the need of working together with the opposition on major issues.
Completing work on the electoral code, following the constitutional amendments on a new voting system passed in April, will be a major topic for debate.
A parliamentary commission needs to complete the work by the end of this month and also convince lawmakers to vote for the new code.
But the opposition accused the governing Democrats of being detached from reality and promoting itself at a time when the country had become poorer and the government was failing to implement its major reforms.
Valentina Leskaj, of the Socialists, said his party has modeled itself as a different type of opposition, not moving the country into crisis with conflicting policies. However, she added, the Democrats should not celebrate at a time when they are violating both laws and the constitution, as well as the life and security of the citizens, referring to the March 15 blast in Gerdec ammunition disposal factory that killed 26 and injured 300 persons.
The Socialists acknowledged that the electoral code was a top priority for the parliament’s work but, also, urged the government to complete work so it can issue identity cards and passports on time to all Albanians.