Albania Socialists Sets Terms to End Standoff

Socialist leader Edi Rama on Friday outlined his shopping list of conditions for rebuilding a political consensus in the country and resolving a two-year divisive political stalemate

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Edi Rama | Photo courtesy of the Socialist Party

Underlining the opposition’s vital role in passing reforms that require more than a simple parliamentary majority, Rama said a possible political agreement would speed up Albania’s EU integration process.

His proposal includes new rules and procedures for MPs in the assembly and the creation of a new commission for the institutional reform of parliament.

The Socialists also want the signing of an agreement between political parties to complete electoral reform before March 2013, based on the recommendations of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

The proposal also includes the selection though consensus of a series of high state officials, such as a new governor of the central bank, the ombudsman, and the director of the High State Auditing Office.

The Socialists also call for the creation of parliamentary commission to discuss an amendment to the constitution remving top officials' immunity from prosecution.

Rama also said the agreement would include a joint request by both main parties to the prosecutor’s office to probe the deaths of four protestors during the January 21 anti-government riots, and a request for prosecutors to question all officials that are described as corrupt or tied to organized crime in the US secret memos released by WikiLeaks.

The opposition leader also said that they would request a new media law, which would put a stop to political pressures and create political balance on the board of directors of Albania’s state television.

Its unclear what the response of the government will be to the opposition’s proposal. The Socialists and the Democrats, Albania’s main political parties, have been at loggerheads with each other ever since the 2009 disputed parliamentary elections.