Parliament Starts Winter Holidays after Sealing Legislation of Next Year Elections in Albania

Albania’s Parliament has closed its deliberations for this year to restart them on January 18, 2021, according to the Speaker, Gramoz Ruçi.
At the end of the plenary session on Wednesday, Ruçi wished the deputies to spend happy holidays, while he did not forget to remind them and citizens to respect the anti-covid protocol.
“On January 18, the new parliamentary session begins. Happy holidays and goodbye while maintaining the protocol,” said Ruçi in his closing remarks.
In the meantime, the head of the SP parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, declared that Parliament concluded all the legislation related to the June 5 political agreement on the electoral reform and the legislation, according to him, guarantees not only free and democratic elections but elections with the highest standards which will manifest the best democratic standards in the country.
Albania goes to general election on April 25 next year with opposition being critical of the changes made to electoral reform unilaterally by the majority. Although it could not prevent the majority to do what it wanted with the legislation the opposition has knelt down accepting to go to the polls.
“I call on every political party from the moment we enter the 4-month pre-election process to give up unnecessary rhetoric that does not do well in the election process. I call on the DP and the SMI to welcome the vote of the whole legal framework related to the observance of the June 5 agreement even though it was not in Parliament.”
Balla, the SP number two, boasted that thanks to the cooperation with the parliamentary opposition, it was adopted the provision that electors will vote not only for the party, but also for the candidates in the April 25 elections. “It is the first time in 30 years that Albanian citizens do not vote only for the party but also for the candidate,” Balla said. /argumentum.al