Rama-Basha bazaar/ Two special commissions are back

10 Shkurt 2022, 21:51, English CNA

Parliament has approved tonight the creation of two special parliamentary committees, that for Electoral Reform and Territorial Reform. Two commission, which return to the Albanian parliament.

The Territorial Reform Commission was set up immediately after the 2013 elections, and in 2015 there was a new map of Albania?s administrative division. The commission was headed at the time by Bledi Çuçi, who held the post of State Minister for Territorial Reform, and from hundreds of communes and many municipalities, it was finally decided to have only 61 municipalities.

A proposal made mainly by the Socialist Party with some interventions at the end by the then Socialist allies, the Justice, Integration and Unity Party, and an opposition that boycotted it. So it was Lulzim Basha?s Democratic Party, it was Lulzim Basha himself who boycotted the Territorial-Administrative Reform.

At the time, Basha said there would be no administrative division without the opposition. In fact, the Territorial Reform was carried out, and local elections were held in 2015. Also in 2019, when elections were boycotted by Basha.

And now on March 6 he is going for the first time to the local partial election, with the territorial division made by the socialists. On the other hand, his bargaining with Edi Rama has continued. And today the political consensus of Rama and Basha has produced two commissions.

The Territorial Reform Commission, a total failure of Lulzim Basha?s opposition, will once again discuss territorial division. Maybe for the next elections in 2023, we will have a new administrative division to give Basha the opportunity to win more municipalities, as he currently left them all on the table, and apparently on March 6 he will not have a chance to win none of them, and could most likely end up as a third political force.

The second commission is that of Electoral Reform, a commission that had a consensus before the April 25 elections. He will probably consider future bargains that may occur between Rama and Basha, a duo that will try to fight former Prime Minister Berisha, incumbent President Ilir Meta and other political forces, which could cause them problems.

The fact is that the Constitutional Court has overturned the current Electoral Code, which prevents the opening of the lists, as it had set a threshold of 10.000 votes for breaking the list of candidates. The list will be open now, but it is still unknown whether this decision of the Constitutional Court will be implemented. Because there may be a change in the electoral system, again according to a consensus Rama-Basha, who apparently are continuing the bargaining of rotation and consensual co-government in Parliament.

They have extended the vetting process, restored the Territorial Reform Commission and the Electoral Reform Commission. These are just 3 of the first steps taken by Rama and Basha. But there are many other signs of cooperation, such as the silence of the opposition on the scandal of the demolition of houses in the area of ?”5 May? and others like these, for which the Democratic Party of Lulzim Basha that holds the seal and has occupied the headquarters, didn?t react, but only remained silent.

With the establishment of 2 special parliamentary committees, it became clear that the Rama-Basha agreement is a real fact. It is now simply being implemented./CNA.al

Pazari Rama-Basha/ Rikthehen dy komisione të posaçme