Albanian government, opposition agree on parliamentary commission

After months of wrangling, the government and the opposition have agreed to establish a parliamentary commission to investigate the disputed 2009 general elections. The ruling Democratic Party’s Astrit Patozi and the opposition Socialist Party’s (SP) Gramoz Ruci met on Wednesday (July 14th) and agreed that the SP will lead the panel and comprise the majority of members. The biggest stumbling block however, is agreeing on the object of the exercise. The SP wants a thorough investigation and transparency, while the government wants the electoral code to be respected.