“The President of Albania violated the Constitution when he canceled the elections and decided to postpone them without having any such competence”, says the conclusion of the Venice Commission opinion obtained exclusively by Top Channel.
“Cancelling the elections and postponing them has violated the citizens’ right to vote”, the opinion underlines.
“The President has surpassed his Constitutional competence by canceling the local elections and then by postponing them. It is up to the Parliament and the Constitutional Court to decide whether this is a severe violation or not. The local elections can only be canceled for emergencies, but even in this case it should be done in full accordance with the Constitution, and the President doesn’t have this power”, the opinion says.
“The President’s decision to cancel the election wasn’t preceded by a political agreement to create an ad-hoc legal solution. The President has exceeded his constitutional competence by canceling and postponing the elections without basing it on special constitutions”, the opinion says, giving a series of elements to determine the significance of this constitutional violation.
But could this be enough to remove the President from his power? The Venice Commission says that the Parliament is the institution that has the power to decide on this. This procedure is a legal and political process and it is up to the parliament to decide about the nature of the violation and whether it could make it legitimate to remove the president from his post.
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