Damian Gjiknuri, co-chair of the Committee on Electoral Reform, stated that today’s agreement was a tool to include the opposition in the reform after it had publicly refused to seat in the committee he co-chairs.
Following the first meeting he had with opposition representatives today, Gjiknuri informed that a consensual electoral reform will be completed before March 15, 2020.
“We have an agreement among political parties to include the united opposition in talks on the electoral reform,” said the former Socialist minister, who has previously been repeatedly accused by the opposition for rigging elections. He was also heard in the Albanian Electiongate wiretaps allegedly speaking with those suspected of rigging elections in Diber, among them a local gangster.
Gjiknuri also informed the public that the agreement with the opposition included not changing the electoral system:
“The issue of electoral system is not a recommendation by the internationals and no one can give any opinion on that.”
He implied that today’s agreement was reached earlier, but they needed to find a way to include the opposition after its repeated refusals to seat in the Electoral Reform Committee. Indeed, both parties today agreed to create a body called “the Political Council”, where opposition members will seat.
“The opposition has a seat in it [the Committee on electoral reform co-chaired by Gjiknuri] which it has not used. We found a particular mode for the opposition to be part of the work on electoral reform.”
