At the end of the year news conference, Gjiknuri said that “the opposition should have proposed concrete names that have not been involved with political parties.”

“There is high speculation about horse-trading, as some labeled it this way, or an attempt to swap votes for the candidate of the Constitutional Court member Ardian Dvorani and Ledio Braho. The majority of the votes cast by the majority lawmakers showed that there was no tendency, no attempt to ensure a certain majority in exchange for giving approval to the People’s Ombudsman. This is the real answer and the facts confirm this because the voting also happened like this,” Gjiknuri emphasized.

Gjiknuri went on saying that “the People’s Ombudsman is supposed to be a consensual figure and even in the past the efforts have been made to find a figure endorsed by the opposition on condition that he does not turn into a party office. During discussions, we concluded that the name in question is highly politicized and is an extension of the DP in all the activities of the People’s Ombudsman office.”

“I think that the majority should thrash out a candidate that will have the consent of the Albanian opposition and this means that there can be a second discussion. We must find a suitable name, names that resonate beyond political parties,” Gjiknuri said.
/k.s/j.p/sm/