TIRANA – President Ilir Meta has been sharp and cut in his announcement that he would not hold any consultations on setting next election date warning that whoever wants to particioate in the general poll may do so.
“I will not hold consultations on the date of the elections. One must walk with the spirit of consensus. I will address the democratic world for the next elections and their monitoring,” Meta said in a press conference on Friday.
Albania will hold general elections next year having as backdrop the unusual experience of the last local elections which were boycotted by the opposition. There is a breakthrough on the political scene with a political council on electoral reform which is trying to conclude the reform on May 31.
“I am very enthusiastic that there has been progress in the Political Council on Electoral Reform. I will sign that consensus immediately,” said President.
However being aware of the unpredictability of the behavior of political forces he said he
would announce the next date of the general elections by consensus or not because everyone expected that.
Further on Meta made a harsh warning that
if the Electoral Code is not adopted by consensus, the negotiations with the EU would be canceled.
Albania has got the green light to open accession talks with EU and electoral reform is among 15 recommendations it has to fuffill to get going into the negotiating process.
According to Meta, if electoral reform is not concluded talks will not start even in the next election but also after the next election. “Whoever wants to participate in the elections may do so,” said Meta.
There are only two days left until the deadline set by political parties of the round-table on Electoral Reform which held a 4- hour meeting on Friday with many pending unsettled issues. There are possibilities that the deadline of the Commission could be extended for some more days to create room for a thorough consensual deal./argumentum.al
