EP: Opposition must return in Parliament. Parties must decriminalize Parliament

As already reported by Top Channel, the German Social-Democrat, Fleckenstein, and the Slovakian Eduard Kukan from the right wing, have published a joint declaration reduced to only two main points, after one week of negotiations with the persistence of the leader of the European People Party, Josefph Daul. The two points are only about the return of the opposition in Parliament and for a process that brings the decriminalization of the Parliament and other public institutions.

“The members of the European Parliament, Knut Fleckenstein and Eduard Kukan, have agreed to cooperate and support the respective political leaders in Tirana, find a solution to the recent stalemate, to create a cooperation agreement within the constitutional framework and of other public institutions. Both members of the European Parliament will meet with the Albanian political leaders in Tirana with the same message: “Encouraging the opposition to return to Parliament and reestablish political dialogue and inclusiveness in parliamentary work. All parties are encouraged to get involved in the process that brings the decriminalization of the Parliament and other public institutions”, the declaration says.

Different from the preliminary draft that included “a draft-law from the Democratic Party for voting it with consensus within the first semester of 2015”, the final declaration emphasizes the start of a “process for the decriminalization of public institutions”, and not only for the Parliament. But it is unclear if this process will include institutional or constitutional amends, or other concerns from the opposition.

The joint declaration confirms the one-day visit of Fleckenstein this Thursday on December 18th, until Friday December 19th. It will continue by Eduard Kukan this Sunday on December 21st, and will leave Tirana the next day, only two weeks before the last parliamentary session. The individual visits are made for discrepancies of the respective agendas.

This is the second time that the European parliament gets involved in resolving the political stalemate in Albania, after failing in 2010 with the famous dinner at the “Crocodile” restaurant in Strasbourg.

In the joint declaration, the main European political groups confirm their constant support to Albania for European Integration, and that they feel responsible for this process, but by including at the passage of conclusions of the EU Council that “a stable and constructive political dialogue is vital for the country’s accession process”.

Prepared by: Arta Tozaj

Top Channel