TIRANA, June 10 /ATA/ – Albanian President Ilir Meta announced on Monday the arguments over his last weekend’s decision to cancel a decree by which he had set June 30 as a local elections date, saying the tense political situation would not provide the conditions for normal and fair elections in the country.
Speaking at a press conference at his office, Meta stated “the President is the only institution having the Constitutional competences to set the election date.”
“Pursuant to the Article 92, President of the Republic is the only Constitutional body with the powers to set the election and referendums date. It is this provision of the Constitution that determines the election date. With no election date set by the President of the Republic, no local or general elections can be held in the country. The election day should in no way be a divisive day,” Meta stated.
“The free and democratic elections constitute the very basis of a democratic society. As one of the democracy instruments, elections serve to reflect the will of the people. In this respect, holding free elections without a race between political parties runs counter to the democratic principles. The constitutional right to elect is not applied in such a case. Referring to the data gathered by the parties in the previous polls, elections without an election race and in the absence of opposition violate the Constitution. According to the Article 1, point 3, governance is based on a system of free elections. The constitutional concept cannot be considered fulfilled only in terms of the possibility of participating in the polls. This would send Albania to the list of non-democratic states,” he said.
The head of state said that the election day should be a unifying and not a divisive day for the nation, adding that the June 30 had been set as election date at a time when a normal political climate existed in the country.
Meta also stated that “holding elections in a tense situation would provoke not only boycott, but also the risk of a civil conflict in the country. It is the President’s duty to safeguard democratic co-existence.”
Meta said that his decision to call off the decree on election date means that the June 30 municipal elections are canceled and the elections are postponed beyond the election deadline.
But, according to him, does not present constitutional barriers. There is a difference – the President went on saying – about the rules ending the mandate of the Assembly and those of ending the mandate for the local government bodies.
He said that the next election date will be set within a reasonable deadline and it should be a politically agreed date.
The head of state also called for a political agreement to resolve the political situation in the country. “Needed time and space should be created in order for parties to discuss ways to resolve the crisis.
According to him, “the country is in real danger of plunging into an unpredictable social escalation that could have major consequences.”
/u.sh/
