"The commission's deadline should be extended"/ Zhupa to "Territorialja": We need the opinion of international experts on the new division

2026-07-15 16:00:00, Aktualitet CNA

"The commission's deadline should be extended"/ Zhupa to

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa requested at the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Territorial Reform to extend the deadline for the committee's work.

Zhupa stated that the commission's obligations have not yet been fulfilled, while emphasizing that a request should be sent to the Congress of Local Authorities for an opinion on how they see the best division of local power in Albania.

Among other things, the MP said that the public hearings were interrupted because the more they talked, the more the failure of the Territorial Reform was understood. According to her, there was criticism of the reform even from the Socialists themselves.

"The Electoral Commission also has a deadline like this and they have not yet completed the tasks set, and that is why they are postponing it. We have not completed the obligations we have for this commission. It is shown that the deadline is not written in stone. As they extend it, we should extend it for the same reason, that we have not completed the tasks set from the beginning. This commission should have been addressed to the Congress of Local Authorities. We cannot close a commission without getting the opinion of international experts on how they see the best division and the best efficiency of local government in Albania. They received the opinion of the Venice Commission and now the parties have a material. We must do the same, so that we have a material, but first the request must be submitted.

The main problem with stopping the hearings was the fact that in every hearing there was no socialist, democrat or civil society who said that it was a good reform. Even the socialists said that the reform was bad, because the institutions in our municipalities have disappeared. And that is why you want to stop it, because the more it was talked about, the more the failure would be understood. Just as the term of the Electoral Commission will be extended, the term of this commission should also be extended and a request should be sent to international experts. Otherwise, there is no point in you bringing a ready map and approving it without any discussion ," said Zhupa. /CNA