The Union of Student Councils (UKS) have asked the Ministry of Education to push back university elections, scheduled to take place on June 12, until students return to class.
UKS’s request claimed that the decision of the Tirana University Institutional Election Commission (KIZ) that announced rector and senate members candidacies is unlawful.
This decision is in contradiction with article 38 of the Regulations for organizing university elections that stipulates:
Elections may be cancelled in cases of:
[…] b) natural disasters occur, to such extents that prevent the participation of voters in the elections.
UKS claim that there is talk of students voting electronically, while students have not been given sufficient information regarding this process.
On March 26, two days after the government announced the state of natural disaster, Minister of Education Besa Shahini announced June 12 as the date public university leadership elections would take place.
On the same day, KIZ announced the registration of candidates for rectors and senate members of public universities.
