CoE calls for Albania inquiry

A Council of Europe, CoE, delegation that intervened to solve Albania’s ongoing political crisis urged on Tuesday the country’s opposition and the government majority to end the stalemate.

The CoE delegation led by the head of the parliamentary assembly, Mevlut Cavusoglu, called for the creation without further delay of a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the June 2009 elections, chaired by a representative of the opposition and in which the opposition will have an effective majority; leading a probe within the constitutional framework.

“The delegation considers that this is sufficient to enable the opposition to permanently participate in the work of parliament,” the statement read. “It urges them to do so without further delay,” the statement added.

During their visit, the delegation met the president, the speaker of parliament, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama.

Talks held on Monday in the office of President Bamir Topi between Rama and Berisha, failed to materialise in a solution acceptable to both camps.

Berisha and Socialist leader Edi Rama have been locked in a stalemate over the results of the June 28 parliamentary elections, which Berisha’s party narrowly won.

The Socialists have boycotted parliament since the new session began in September, claiming that the government’s alleged fraud was to blame for their electoral loss.
They have conditioned their return to parliament on a recount of the electoral ballots of the parliamentary poll.

Although declaring his openness to a parliamentary investigation of the election, Berisha has stubbornly rejected the possibility of a recount. He argues that the opposition has exhausted all legal options and that he cannot override the judicial process.