Albanian opposition parties have blasted the Socialist majority’s decision to change the Constitution in order to open MP candidate lists in elections and ban pre-electoral coalitions.
The Parliamentary Committee for Legal Affairs approved changes in the Albanian Constitution to implement a proportional regional electoral system with open lists, which will effectively avoid pre-electoral coalitions.
In their joint statement, the opposition parties accused the majority of violating the electoral reform agreement with the extra-parliamentary opposition, mediated by the EU and US. The reform is one of the conditions for Albania to sit in EU accession talks.
They blamed Prime Minister Edi Rama for attempting to undermine Albania’s EU accession path, its political and social stability.
The opposition allies claimed that the unilateral decision by Rama showed his tendency to manipulate the public and Albania’s interests for his own.
“The constitution and electoral system are determined only by the people, by popular referendum. The United Opposition obeys only the decisions taken by the people and not for the criminal interests of Edi Rama’s personal power,” they stated.
They recalled the US and EU support for the adoption of the electoral reform agreed between the extra-parliamentary opposition and the majority as the minimum basis for creating a normal climate for elections in Albania.
