12/02/2009 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 12.02.2009 – The co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for Albania have made it clear that there is scope for a major party-political confrontation ahead of June’s election over Albania’s new Lustration Law and urged all concerned to do all they can to avoid this.
Jaako Laakso (Finland, UEL) and David Wilshire (United Kingdom, EDG) spent two days in Tirana discussing the new law and the way in which decisions on Albania’s delegation to PACE were taken.
They urged the Constitutional Court and the government to send the adopted Lustration Law to the Council of Europe Venice Commission to ensure that it fully complies with Albania’s obligations as a Council of Europe member state.
One way to avoid creating a crisis, the co-rapporteurs pointed out, might be to delay implementation of the Lustration Law until the Constitutional Court has reviewed its constitutionality and the Venice Commission has had the opportunity to consider it.
Regarding the way in which Albania’s PACE delegation was decided, the co-rapporteurs reaffirm that it must be for each of the 47 member states to take their independent decisions whilst keeping in mind the need to honour their obligations to the Council of Europe and to work within their own internal rules.