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"The elections had a number of defects"/ Hispan: Even though you are a large majority, the opposition has its voice

2025-10-21 11:13:00, Politikë CNA

"The elections had a number of defects"/ Hispan: Even though you are a

The President of the Council for Democratic Elections at the Council of Europe, Pablo Hispan, in his speech at the conference "30 years of partnership and progress: Albania, the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission" said that the elections of May 11, 2025 were problematic.

Hispan stated that the opposition should be part of the discussions on Electoral Reform even though Albania has a large majority.

Pablo Hispan said that the changes so far have been made for the sake of party interests and not to make real changes.

" In our view, the frequent changes are driven by party strategies more than by potential improvements."

Some of the changes are in contradiction with the transparency program that was agreed upon. Electoral reform must also be done in the context of major discussions, the stability of the electoral system is very important to guarantee investment in the electoral process so that the election results are accepted.

There are several issues that we have shared with the government, constitutional and electoral reforms.

Even though you have a large majority, the opposition should have its voice in all these reforms. The main issues of democracy should be that the reform should be done together, there should also be dialogue between the parties. We think that the comprehensive changes that need to be made will move the country even further towards a democracy where all groups and minorities are temporary.

"The Parliamentary Assembly's observations and the Venice Commission's opinions are very important, they have emphasized that the legislation on elections in Albania is adequate, but it remains to be seen whether it is implemented properly with the necessary confidence. More than the elaboration of procedures, electoral reform should focus on ensuring that the legal provisions are implemented ," Hispan declared.

Hispan stated that electoral reform must address a number of issues:

"Electoral reform must address all those shortcomings and open a discussion about the electoral system.

Secondly, electoral reform must guarantee that electoral legislation is implemented.

in accordance with the spirit of the law.

These two directions are very important because this has nothing to do with what is brought out by election observers, which should focus on the elections.

The politicization of the commissions must be avoided. We are closely following the political situation in Albania and, like in all countries, it is facing problems, therefore democratic measures, independent institutions, transparency, accountability must be strengthened, the Electoral Commissions must be strengthened and I think that these elected commissions should be independent but elected in a partisan manner.

Our delegation found that the elections had a number of defects.

The intimidation of the administration's human resources must stop. The electoral processes must be evaluated.

The role of the state must be divided and the capacity of institutions to fight corruption and organized crime must be increased.

"The Council of Europe has drafted models to increase the efficiency of the electoral administration, I invite you to adhere to the recommendations," said Hispan./ CNA