Vice President of the European People’s Party David McAllister and Albania rapporteur Knut Fleckenstein have returned home without achieving any concrete solution for the political crisis in which the country has been plunged since February 18. In a painful repetition of the failure to solve the Macedonian crisis, the EU once again is sidelined as another Balkan country closes itself off to European mediation.
McAllister and Fleckenstein had arrived yesterday at noon, meeting first with Prime Minister Edi Rama and Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta. McAllister subsequently met privately with opposition leader Lulzim Basha, who left the meeting abruptly after 30 min.
In a common declaration distributed by the EU Delegation in Tirana, McAllister and Fleckenstein state:
The Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister (EPP) and the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Albania Knut Fleckenstein (S&D) met both majority and opposition and had a good discussion. The two MEPs presented proposals for the way forward that included points on decriminalization, the fight against narcotics, technical measures for improving the conduct of elections, and the political confidence building measures. They also proposed ideas for discussion on the date of elections and possible pre-electoral changes to government structures to build long term confidence in the system. For the majority side there was agreement on the points provided as long as vetting would be voted in parliament. The Democratic Party held to its position that a technical Prime Minister be appointed, and that an electronic voting system be adopted for the sake of free and fair elections.
According to several media, Prime Minister Rama had proposed to postpone the elections to July 16 and to reshuffle his cabinet with four new ministers. Rama had previously already installed four new officials under the pretext of the election campaign. He however refused to give in to the opposition’s demand for a caretaker government and an electronic voting system, and made all his concession conditional on the voting of the vetting committees in Parliament.
In a declaration on Facebook, Basha responded that
I also want to denounce and to condemn the shameful act of conditioning the war against drugs and criminalization with the supposed vote for vetting. Today I want to say to every Albanian and our international friends that it is not a question of “either… or…,” either decriminalization and war against drugs or vetting, but of “both… and…”
Basha also announced that the opposition will escalate its protests, including “civil disobedience around Albania.”
April 29 is the next deadline for the elections that are still supposed to be held on June 18. On that date the PS, LSI, and the other 43 registered parties need to provide their candidate lists. As there are no registered electoral coalitions, all parties will have to meet a 3% voting threshold around the country.
