Albania risks experiencing boycott of election process

All opposition parties, led by the Democratic Party of Albania (DP), decided Tuesday not to take part in the country's general elections on June 18.

The deadline for the political parties the register for the election with Albania's central election body expired Monday at midnight.

This means that Albania has officially entered a period of institutional crisis, given that both political camps have not started any talks that would end the political deadlock here, despite calls from the international community to do so.

Now that the constitutional deadline has been breached, Albania may experience its first-ever boycott of an election process.

Opposition leader Lulzim Basha reiterated Tuesday his request for the formation of a caretaker government and for the current Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.

According to Basha, the upcoming elections would be jeopardized by dirty drug money being injected into the electoral campaign by criminals linked to the ruling Socialist Party of Albania (SP) led by Rama.

Basha said that the creation of a caretaker government would guarantee free and fair elections.

But the request has been rejected by Rama, who has also firmly declared to media here that he did not intend to resign, instead vowing to stick to the June 18 election date.

"The Socialist Party has no mandates to give up. My mandate to govern is a responsibility, not a privilege that I can give up," Rama said after the opposition unanimously decided to boycott elections.

On the other hand, parliamentary speaker and Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) party head Ilir Meta, an ally of Rama, has suggested the creation of a government of trust. He has also called on both the DP and SP to sit down and talk in order to find a solution to the current situation.

Local media have reported that SMI might withdraw its ministers from the government, as a way to force Rama to reformat the composition of the government and honor the opposition's request for a caretaker government.

Meanwhile, Albania's parliament will convene Tuesday evening in a special session to vote on the vetting bodies and names of those who will deal with the vetting of around 800 judges and prosecutors in the Albanian justice system.

Since the opposition is continuing its parliamentary boycott and has been protesting for nearly two months now, even the prime minister has admitted that little can be achieved without opposition Members of Parliament being there, given that an equal representation at parliamentary committees is required. Endit