Venice Commission gives green light to Albanian election code

TIRANA, March 21 – The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Venice Commission said Albania’s newly adopted election code was in line with all the required democratic standards, thus giving a blow to the small opposition Socialist Movement for Integration asking for a referendum against the constitutional amendments last year.
After evaluating it, the two organizations said the new code was a good legal basis for holding free and fair elections in June. Adopted in December, it triggered harsh criticisms from the small parties in parliament, which argued the new legislation adversely affected their chances.
The new electoral code has been at the center of the frictions between the SMI’s leader Ilir Meta and the main opposition Socialist party leader and Tirana Mayor Edi Rama.
Following that Meta came out to turn away all the hints that he could side with the governing center-right Democratic Party-led coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Meta said openly that though for the moment there were many disagreements with the Socialists they were the only grouping they could side following the elections to create a new government.
Before that Meta had angrily said that his party, though a small one, would win enough to create a government on its own, thus excluding a partnership with the Socialists. That has been wisely used by the governing democrats who often refer to what the two leftist parties say against each other.
It was very likely the same conflict in 2005 which gave many seats to the governing Democrats due to the division of the votes of the two political groupings.
This time the electoral code has changed and it is now a regional proportional one that normally favors the two main political groupings and gives little choice to the smaller political parties but to join the big coalitions.