26/04/2010 Bureau
Strasbourg, 26.04.2010 – The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting this morning in Strasbourg, adopted the following declaration:
“The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is concerned about the continuing political crisis in Albania following the June 2009 parliamentary elections, notwithstanding the partial return of opposition Socialist MPs to the Albanian Parliament after the visit of PACE’s Presidential Committee to Tirana in February this year.
On 25 February, MPs of the Socialist Party entered the Parliament and took their oath after their six-month boycott of the Parliament’s work, making their further presence in the Parliament conditional on the approval of two draft acts they had prepared which they claimed were designed to render the June 2009 elections fully transparent. On 19 March, Parliament approved a draft decision establishing a committee of inquiry into the June 2009 parliamentary elections.
In the absence of an agreement between the two main parties on the mandate of this committee of inquiry, Socialist Party MPs refused to join the committee. Its sitting was put on hold and it did not convene.
Given this deadlock, and the fact that demonstrations of both opposition and governing parties are due to take place on 30 April and 1 May 2010, the Bureau of the Assembly calls on all political leaders to ensure a resumption of the political dialogue within the Parliament and garner the support of the population for this democratic process. All political forces should take part actively, and on a permanent basis, in the work of the Parliament. The democratic functioning of the state’s institutions should resume without delay, so as to tackle the urgent reforms needed for the European integration of the country.
Furthermore, the Bureau reiterates the possibility, already mentioned during the visit of the Presidential Committee, for the Constitutional Court to request the opinion of the Venice Commission concerning the scope of the committee of inquiry’s investigation, in particular regarding the issue of the reopening of ballot boxes.”