Politics Fails To Complete Electoral Reform, Exchange Criticism

TIRANA, July 28 – The parliament failed to complete the proposed electoral reforms during this session, leaving them for autumn.
The delay is seen as not only due to a lack of cooperation between the two main political forces – the governing Democratic Party-led coalition and the main opposition Socialist Party – but also due to the lack of trust in each other.
Further, the interior ministry announced that the country’s identity cards (and the biometric passports) would be ready to be issued beginning early next year, as had been promised.
But the opposition Socialists doubt the ministry would do that on time and before the general elections.
The ministry it would produce some 15,000 IDs a day through their 350 offices countrywide.
Taking into account the number of voters in Albania, it is fully possible they will have their IDs by the next parliamentary elections, said the ministry in a statement.
Kastriot Islami of the socialists said that there continue to be unjustifiable delays in the ID process by the government.
They asked the government to make possible the issuing of the new IDs until as late as June next year, the most likely time of holding the general elections.
Albanian authorities have signed a contract with a French company, Sagem Securite and the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund, for issuing of the IDs and the bio passports.