Political roundtable destined to fail

TIRANA, March 30 – The governing Democratic Party convened a round-table with all political parties present in parliament trying to reach a pre-=electoral agreement.
But it seemed from the very start that effort would be a failure.
Democrats’ parliamentary group head Astrit Patozi launched the meeting presenting a document which could be signed. The document had 16 points related to the May 8 local elections urging the political parties to respect each other, the code of ethics and hold an appropriate electoral campaign.
But the opposition Socialists led by Patozi’s counterpart, Gramoz Ruci showed disbelief that the governing Democrats would respect what they write. They said they would agree if the document would also include some of their main request like the verification of the voters’ ID, the after-vote transparency and the like.
The parties participating in the May 8th local elections met for the first time Tuesday to discuss preparations for the process, but failed to reach a consensus on many issues. The ruling Democratic Party suggested an agreement that sets rules and conditions on the behavior of the parties in line with OSCE recommendations. The opposition Socialist Party insisted that transparency before and after the elections should be guaranteed, including through amendments to the Electoral Code.
Both groupings stood strongly in their positions and despite negotiations from experts it did not seem they had achieved anything.
The parties agreed to leave the final stage of the round table for Friday but few believe any positive result could come out. It is very likely only the governing coalition members will sign it, not the opposition.
Meanwhile the Central Election Commission (CEC) approved new lists for regional commission members, updating the names of opposition representatives. The Socialist Party and the Human Rights Party missed two deadlines for submitting their lists, forcing independent volunteers from the civil society to fill empty seats in the commissions. Those volunteers have now resigned.