TIRANA, June 9 – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reiterated on Sunday that the local elections will be held on June 30, despite the decision of President Ilir Meta to abolish the previously issued decree regarding the date of these elections.
The Socialists went on campaigning on Sunday, while, according to Rama, Meta’s decision to cancel the decree deciding on the elections’ date lost him his right to stay in office.
Meta’s unexpected decision to cancel June 30 as the date of the elections did not lead to any new space for the parties to review their positions; instead, the situation now seems even more complicated.
On its part, the opposition spoke yesterday about the first victory in a battle that will continue.
“It was this union that dictated the cancellation of June 30, the criminal process of criminal junta,” Basha said.
He stated more than once that “the departure of Prime Minister Edi Rama is a non-negotiable condition.”
On the other hand, for the majority, apart from the fact that Meta has violated the constitution and should leave the office, nothing changes about the election.
As he continued on Sunday with his electoral tour, from Burrel, Rama spoke of “an act that is politically suicidal, legally null, does not exist and morally is a shame.”
Rama went even further, stating that “yesterday Ilir Meta wrote his fate as a president who has lost the right to stay in this office.”
It remains to be seen whether this is simply a political assessment, or a warning towards actual steps that will lead to the president’s dismissal.
The move, however, would remain unfulfilled in the absence of the Constitutional Court.
The president’s decision has also opened a constitutional and legal debate, although he has so far only given the political reasons that prompted him to take the decision to cancel the previously signed decree. A full judicial explanation as to what grounds Meta plans to cancel the local elections date is expected on Monday morning.
