PACE asks its Presidential Committee to visit Albania as soon as possible

The Assembly notes that “the absence of parliamentary dialogue seriously hampers the democratic functioning of the state’s institutions”.

At the close of its debate on the functioning of democratic institutions in Albania, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) yesterday asked its Presidential Committee, accompanied by the Monitoring Committee's co-rapporteurs for Albania, Jaakko Laakso (Finland, UEL) and David Wilshire (United Kingdom, EDG), to visit Albania as soon as possible, “in order to support the process of resolving the current political situation and assist President Topi in his role of mediator and his efforts to restore political dialogue”.

The Assembly urged the Albanian government and the opposition “to put an end to the current political crisis in the country and assume their responsibilities in order to proceed with the vitally needed reforms”. In particular, it called the government “to set up, without further delay, a parliamentary inquiry committee into the June 2009 elections”, and urged the opposition “to return to parliament and fully participate in its work”.

The Assembly notes that “the absence of parliamentary dialogue […] seriously hampers the democratic functioning of the state’s institutions”. It further regrets that, “in the absence of any meaningful parliamentary dialogue, inflammatory rhetoric is being increasingly used by all involved”. This, PACE said, “could further destabilise the country”.