Rama asks president’s intervention in crisis

TIRANA, Dec 12 – Leader of the main opposition Socialist Party Edi Rama visited last week President Bamir Topi to ask his intervention in resolving the political crisis that has engulfed the country.
The opposition is boycotting the parliament, though it has said it recognizes the June 28 results. They want an investigation of the recounting process in a considerable number of ballot boxes which they claim were manipulated.
The governing Democratic party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha say that would break the law as the Electoral College and other institutions had already given their verdicts on any claim.
The opposition has been embarked on a series of protests since October.
The opposition and an ally have 65 seats in the 140-seat parliament. Berisha’s Democrats and their allies have 71 seats while four seats are with the Socialist Movement for Integration who is in a governing coalition.
The lack of the opposition means that the parliament may not pass a number of important draft laws needed for its reforms along the steps of integration into the European Union.
Rama was seen with a thick file at hand when he met Topi. Their meeting continued for about half an hour.
Topi made it clear that he will continue to play his role as a guarantor of the Constitution, though he did not say if that meant directly intervening to resolve the political crisis or not.
It is believed that Topi wants to remain neutral and not get involved in the political fight. Topi was elected by the governing Democrats two years ago, after which he has been not at ease with his former leader, Prime Minister Sali Berisha.