‘Mystery’ Veils a Supposed Meeting of Political Council of Electoral Reform

TIRANA – Blackout has veiled a supposed meeting of the Political Council of the Electoral Reform, has said a senior official of the opposition Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) who expressed surprise on a greeting extended to its restart of work by the Head of the EU Delegation to Tirana, Ambassador Luigi Soreca.

“Damiani with friends blocked the Political Council. While Ambassador Soreca surprisingly greeted the restart of the Political Council. No one has any information about the place and time of the meeting of Political Council. We are asking them publicly: When have Damian along with Soreca decided to convene the Political Council,” said SMI Secretary General Endrit Braimllari on Wednesday.

Braimllari made that comment as he asked for information on what was happening with the Political Council of the Electoral Reform as nobody has details on where and when the Council would meet. He publicly questioned when the co-chair of the Electoral Reform Committee, Damian Gjiknuri of the ruling Socialist Party (SP) and EU Ambassador to Albania Soreca decided to convene that political roundtable.

Previously, Braimllari pointed the finger at Gjiknuri and his friends for blocking the Political Council. He also stated that Soreca surprisingly welcomed the resumption of Council’s activity.

The mystery on this issue becomes more complicated as SMI’s number two Petrit Vasili denounced earlier on Wednesday the SP for cheating on Ambassador Soreca about the Electoral Reform. SMI’s Vice Chairman Vasili blamed the co-chair of the Electoral Reform Committee, Damian Gjiknuri and his assistants for the cheating. According to Vasili’s explanations the Electoral Reform Commission would meet and not the Political Council. According to SMI’s Vice Chairman,”The Renaissance deceived and tried to create confusion,” he said. But Vasili like his SMI colleague Braimllari quoted Soreca as saying: “The activity is restarting. Tomorrow, the Political Council of the Electoral Reform will restart.””Here is how they lied to Ambassador Soreca, Gjiknuri with friends.

EU top diplomat in Tirana Soreca told a local TV on Tuesday that the Political Council of Electoral Reform would convene on Wednesday.

“In fact, the Commission of Electoral Reform convened, but the Renaissance lied and tried to sell it differently to create confusion,” said Vasili.

But this story seems to become more mysterious as the representative of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) at Political Council’s round table, Oerd Bylykbashi warned Prime Minister Edi Rama not to dare make a one-side electoral reform, because the “bill” on manipulated elections will fall on him. Bylykbashi reiterated the old demand for the creation of a transitional government stressing that the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform has little value. “The Political Council has the mandate for conducting the Electoral Reform,” said DP senior official. In addition, Bylykbashi clarified that opposition’s proposals are not on the table of the Committee, but on that of Political Council, responding in this way to co-chair of Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform, Damian Gjiknuri who warned that they will approve the reform even without the non-parliamentary opposition. /argumentum.al