In an interview with RTSh, MEP Eduard Kukan declared that “holding elections without the participation of all the political parties, with abstentions or boycotts of opposition party is not in the favor of anyone in Albania.”
He warned that “this will be very bad for the country, independent of who wins the elections. […] It would would be very destructive for all the political life in Albania.”
Kukan also called upon the PD, which is allied with Kukan’s European People’s Party, to take part in the elections:
We tell our partners in Albania that the only way to get out politically now is to participate in the elections, it is a political agreement of all important political actors to sit down and to agree on how to organizer credible, free, and fair elections.
In February, MEP Kukan had declared in the European Parliament:
[S]ustainable political dialogue is crucial for the country. Therefore, I want to appeal to Albanian politicians to make efforts and address the OSCE recommendation before the upcoming elections. The elections are an important test for a functioning democratic system and a mature political culture. These elections will be also an occasion for political parties to observe the implementation of the decriminalisation law. It is a chance for a new political culture, avoiding the nomination of people with a criminal past to public office.
Meanwhile, Parliament has failed to implement any electoral reform before the elections, while the Central Election Commission (KQZ) has sabotaged several efforts of the General Prosecutor to implement the decriminalization law.
