Albanian President Ilir Meta postponed the June 30 local election.
The decision was announced few minutes ago, just before an opposition protest was about to start. The announcement stated that the President assesses that safeguarding constitutional principles is more relevant that any legally set date.
Current conditions do not allow the for real, democratic, representative and inclusive elections to take place. Free and fair elections are the main criterion of the Copenhagen [Document] and under the current conditions, due to both sides not taking up their responsibilities, we are heading towards a one party election.
The president added that his decision and constitutional arguments for the cancellation will be made public on Monday, June 10.
A few minutes after, Prime Minister Rama dismissed the President’s announcement, replying that local elections are going to be held on June 30. Rama said that the President was wrong and his decision was not surprising, adding that this was an attempt to take the government down and hinder the justice reform in Albania.
