TIRANA, April 30 – Albanian President Ilir Meta met on Tuesday at their own request the leaders of the political parties of the Right-Center Group: the chairman of the Republican Party, Fatmir Mediu, head of the Agrarian Environmental Party, Agron Duka, chairman of the Union for Human Rights Party, Vangjel Dule and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Party, Nard Ndoka, after they proposed big constitutional changes on Monday.
Meta found an occasion during the meeting to express deep concern for the serious constitutional, institutional, and representation crisis in the country.
Since last February, opposition parties have abandoned parliament, resigning their lawmaker mandates and deciding not to participate in the June 30 local elections.
Meta stressed that he had previously warned the necessity of urgent deployment of the dialogue between the government and the opposition to avoid escalating the conflict.
He further underlined that he has made every effort to promote the implementation of the justice reform within the terms and constitutional principles that would guarantee the balance of the system in a functional state of law.
If this had happened, the current political crisis would not have taken these proportions, according to Meta.
He also expressed concern that non-registration of all opposition parties of the last parliamentary legislature jeopardizes not only election standards, but also political pluralism in the country.
Nonetheless, Meta emphasized that it is never too late to reflect and find solutions that can restore the constitutional, institutional and democratic normality of the country and urged dialogue and reasonable voices to discourage further escalation of the crisis, but did not specify which these ways are.
Mediu, head of the Republican Party, was a bit more specific in his statements at the end of the meeting, saying the president appreciated the parties’ demands.
“In assessing our demands and attitudes, he will take his stand in discussions with other political parties as well,” Mediu said.
For its part, the majority has withheld its stand not to engage into negotiations for early elections or the postponement of local elections.
Internal developments do not favor Albania’s position in the face of June’s EU decision to open accession talks, and even more so when the situation of member states themselves, on the eve of the May European elections, is not helping.
On Monday, at the Berlin summit, the leaders of the two main EU countries, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of support for the Balkans, but overlooked the prospect of EU enlargement.
