TIRANË, 23 korrik /ATSH/
Socialist Party parliamentary group leader Taulant Balla opposed the opposition’s request in Parliament to extend the mandate of the Special Commission on Administrative-Territorial Reform, arguing that the commission’s mandate had already expired and could not be prolonged.
Balla said the majority would vote against the extension request, maintaining that such a move would violate Parliament’s rules of procedure.
“This commission cannot be revived. Its mandate has come to an end. We will vote against extending a deadline that has already run out, as we cannot act in violation of Parliament’s rules of procedure,” Balla said.
He likened the opposition’s request to someone trying to board a train after it has already left, arguing that the process cannot be rolled back.
“The request that has just been submitted is like a passenger who missed a train a week ago and then comes back a week later saying: ‘I want to board the train I missed a week ago.’ Meanwhile, this is a process that cannot be reversed,” he said.
According to Balla, the opposition had the opportunity to raise the issue earlier. He cited as an example the case of the Special Commission on Electoral Reform, where, according to him, the request for an extension had been submitted by both co-chairs and approved by consensus.
He said that, unlike the Electoral Reform Commission, the Administrative-Territorial Reform Commission had not received a request for an extension jointly submitted by both co-chairs.
Balla stressed that the purpose of today’s session was to present the commission’s findings, not to approve a new administrative-territorial reform.
“Today’s session is about hearing the findings; it does not mean that a new administrative-territorial reform will be adopted today. At a later stage, all political parties, as well as any individual MP who wishes to do so, may submit their own proposals,” he said.
The Socialist parliamentary group leader maintained that the commission had completed its mandate and that any future discussion on the reform should take place at another stage of the parliamentary process.
“This commission cannot be revived. Its mandate has come to an end,” Balla reiterated, urging MPs to continue with the review of the findings submitted by the two parliamentary groups.
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