US call on politics resolve crisis

TIRANA, Nov 16 – US Ambassador in Tirana John L Withers called on Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to find common ground and resolve the political row that has engulfed the country since the 28 June parliamentary elections.
“Our position (on the parliamentary boycott) is that it would really be for the best if dialogue could occur among the leading political actors to reach some sort of compromise that would end this particular stalemate,” said Withers in a statement.
“I think we all feel that not having the opposition in the parliament is not good for the country as a whole,” he noted, adding that: “We would like to see that resolved, but we think that it is absolutely vital (to understand) that this is really is a question for the Albanian political leadership to resolve (and) we hope that they can resolve it among themselves and things can go back to the way that they should be.”
Withers accompanied by EC and OSCE counterparts Helmuth Lohan and Robert Bosch respectively met also with Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli last week to discuss on the opposition boycott.
Withers said after the meeting the political crisis in Albania should come to an end and the solution should come from the political class saying that the boycott should also end as it is not helping the country.
The Socialist Party, headed by Tirana’s mayor Rama, has boycotted parliamentary sessions ever since the new parliament was reconfigured in September, after the June 28 poll.
The opposition is boycotting the parliament and also the partial local elections of Nov. 15 to protest against the manipulation of the vote count at the June 28 parliamentary elections.
The opposition has won 64 seats in the 140-seat parliament (one left last month to create a separate political party). Their ally, the Human Rights Union Party is taking part in the parliamentary session.
The Democrats won 68 seats and their two small allies the Republican Party and the Party for Integration and Justice one each. Ilir Meta’s Socialist Movement for Integration won four seats.
That make-up of the parliament means that Berisha’s government cannot adopt the key laws on country reforms, needed for EU integration as well as for visa liberalization, without the opposition vote. They ask for a three-fifth or 84 votes.
Rama considers the electoral process as marred by fraud and has asked for a recount of the vote as precondition for his deputies to return to parliament. The request has been denied by the Democratic Party, who has argued that the courts have already given their rulings on the election results, and the government cannot circumvent their authority.
Meanwhile the opposition continues its weekly street protests all around the country and calls for a bigger rally in the capital, Tirana, Nov. 20. It started the rallies in Tirana Oct. 10.