Parliament, new season started

Today’s session is being followed by the US Ambassador, Alexander Arvizu, and other diplomats accredited in our country.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha declared in his opening speech that the local elections were assessed by the international community as competitive and transparent.

Emphasizing that the international referee made a series of recommendations for the elections, Berisha invited the opposition to participate in the electoral reform with the presence of the OSCE-ODIHR experts, the Commission of Venice and the Albanian Civil Society.

“The Majority is determined to cooperate with you for realizing through laws each of the recommendations”, Berisha added.

The Prime Minister invited the opposition to vote the law for removing the immunity, and a series of other laws that are connected with the integration process.

“The vital reforms are very important for a country that wants to develop. War against corruption is the priority of this majority. This war will be more efficient if the opposition will participate by giving its contribution”, Berisha decalred.

Topalli: Let us work the country’s best interests

“We have all taken our oath in front of the Constitution, to work on behalf of our country’s best interests. I wish good luck to all of you”, the Parliament Speaker, Jozefina Topalli, declared in the opening of the session.

According to Topalli, the Parliament is facing the integration agenda, and the sessions that will be held in these months will be very important.

Topalli commemorated in her speech the late MP Gezim Dibra, who passed away a few weeks ago due to a serious disease, and invited the MPs to keep one minute of silence in his honor.

Ruci: Berisha, responsible for manipulation

After the greeting of the Parliament Speaker, the Socialist Parliamentary Group leader, Gramoz Ruci, emphasized right in the beginning that this is not the moment to be proud of anything, since Albania has recorded stolen elections, the responsibility of which falls on the Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

“I am convinced that us, the opposition and our leader, did everything in our hand for guaranteeing democratic standards, therefore we cannot share this failure among us, because it belongs only to Berisha and his government”, Ruçi declared.

The head of the Socialist MPs, Gramoz Ruci, mentioned the OSCE-ODIHR report, according to which the country has failed and he underlined that this message was very clear.

“Your regime, Mr. Prime Minister, is dignified for being called like this. You, Mr. Prime Minister, challenged the diplomatic corpus of OSCE-ODIHR, but your arrogance this time challenged democracy and the rule of law itself. In Tirana, the loser became winner with stolen votes. The votes came out the pocket of the regime, for stealing the mandate of Tirana’s real winner”, Ruci declared.

The Socialist Parliament Group leader declared that all of them who manipulated elections will not remain unpunished forever. According to him, justice did not pass the impartiality test, because the decisions taken by the Central Election Commission and the Electoral College were signed in the Prime Minister’s office.

Ruci emphasized that the right to vote should be returned to the Albanians through the electoral reform, by guaranteeing real free and honest elections, by turning the lacking legitimacy to the Central Election Commission, and that today more than ever the Parliament should be liberated by the usurpation of the Speaker and the Prime Minister, while the culture of impunity should be left behind.

Prime Minister Berisha commented the speech of Mr. Ruçi as a lament of defeat, and congratulated the Socialists for their return in Parliament.

The head of the Socialist Movement for Integration, Ilir Meta proposed to the leaders of the Parliamentary Groups to meet and assign the working schedule for passing the laws of the 12 recommendations.

“I wish the Albanians’ interests to prevail over any other interest. For the 100th anniversary of our independence, let us give all Albanians a significant message”, Meta added.

Patozi: Opposition to be part of the reforms

Same as the Parliament Speaker, the DP Parliamentary Group leader, Astrit Patozi, declared that the new Parliamentary Session is very important for passing important laws that will serve to the EU integration future of the country.

“We are coming today after the free and transparent elections of May 8th, while the opposition never learned to read the OSCE-ODIHR report. SP is incredible, even ridiculous, when it says that these elections were manipulated. The colleagues of the opposition must know that they were defeated as real men in the Albanian capital. You did not enter the race for the Municipalities of the other cities of the country or the Municipal Councils. You aimed only the head of the Tirana Municipality”, Patozi declared.

According to Patozi, the next elections should be better, but the Majority cannot make this all alone; they need the cooperation of the opposition.

“We invite you to establish the commission for the electoral reform and approve every OSCE-ODIHR recommendation. The door is open, although there is no need for invitation, because the opposition should be part of the talks for the reforms”, Patozi declared.

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