SP sues CEC decision at Electoral College

The Socialist Party submitted through Deputy Fatmir Xhafaj a suit against the Central Election Commission (CEC) at the Electoral College, requesting the revocation of the CEC decision, which allows political parties to decide the broadcasting time that will be divided between the candidate and the party leader. The CEC decision also obliges media to divide the campaign broadcasting time in the way that the political parties decide.
This decision was approved only by the four members of the Democratic Party, and has been voted against by the remaining CEC members.

The CEC decision was approved by four members, not five, as article 24 of the Election Code provides.

According to the socialists, this method conflicts with the law, infringing several articles of the Election Code.

The suit goes further and accuses CEC of ordering amendments on the Election Code, a competence that belongs only to the Albanian Parliament.

“CEC cannot dictate the political parties on the way they organize their campaign and how they present it to the media”, says the suit.

The Albanian Helsinki Committee also reacted against the CEC decision, and considers it a violation of media freedom, saying that it is indispensable that the media should cover the campaign with its own journalists, in a professional and impartial way.

As for the electoral video materials pre-edited by the political parties that do not allow journalists to participate in their activities, the Albanian Helsinki Committee says that this would violate the media freedom and would transmit biased information to the public.

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