Experts from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) have arrived in Tirana to work with the Albanian political parties on the electoral reform.
They will meet today with the “Political Council on Electoral Reform”, a quadrilateral group comprised of one member each from the majority, parliamentary opposition, non-parliamentary Democratic Party and Socialist Movement for Integration.
ODIHR experts will support the Council to find solutions on issues of disagreement, and ensure that electoral reform is in line with OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.
The presence of foreign experts was the request of the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Commission on Electoral Reform, Damian Gjiknuri and Rudina Hajdari. The role of this Commission was taken by the Political Council after the Albanian majority and opposition reached an agreement on January 14 to work together on the reform.
The parties have agreed to complete the electoral reform before March 15th. However, with just one month remaining, they have only made public a calendar and issues to be discussed. It remains unclear what issues have been discussed so far and what have been the parties’ stances on them.
