EC: Respect election standards, a new opportunity for decriminalization
13/06/2015 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
Brussels seems more distanced to the frequent accusations made among
Albanian parties during this electoral campaign, but they repeat that
the June 21st elections shold be according to the international
standards and the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. “This is what we expect
from the Albanian political parties and institutions, on behalf of the
Albanian citizens”, says for Top Channel the spokesperson for the
European Commission, Maja Kocijancic.
“After the passing of Electoral Code amends with the new administrative and territorial amends, Albania has the appropriate legal structure that now has to be implemented fully. Respecting of the democratic values is par of the Copenhagen criteria and is valued regularly by the Commission”, she reminds by adding that these local elections are a new opportunity for the government and opposition to show dedication for treating the issue of people with criminal records who hold public posts, as foreseen by the agreement between parties on December 2014”.
Although the European Commission does not comment any specific case, such as the verdict of the Supreme Court for the Socialist Parliament Members who punched their Democratic Party colleague, the EC services note “as positive the first thorough analyze of the Albanian judiciary system, which is an important step for the perspective of future reforms”.
The completion of this analyze marked the end of the first phase of the process. The Commission notes that “key local and international representatives appealed for an all inclusive process, meaning there is a need for an active inclusion of the opposition in the reform agenda”.
On the other hand, they note that the presence of Albanian and international high level experts has reinforced the image of the reform in a transparent and professional way. The second phase of the process is key to progress with the reform agenda, by bringing clear and tangible propositions for Constitutional amends.
Officials of the European Commission do not comment specific corruption cases, but four months before publishing the progress report on Albania, they say that the reform is expected to help consolidating an independent, efficient, credible, professional and accountable judiciary, and that clear ruels are needed for preventing conflicts of interest and corruption”.
Prepared by: Arta Tozaj
Top Channel
