Electoral reform: Berisha calls on opposition parties to unite, says shared interest comes before the Democratic Party’s and backs open lists

Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha called on opposition parties to unite around electoral reform. He said the party was ready to take all their concerns into account and put the interests of a united opposition ahead of its own to reach a legal framework as acceptable as possible to everyone. Berisha also expressed support for open lists.

He made the appeal during a meeting of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, where electoral reform and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations were the focus of discussion. Berisha said lawmakers would be briefed on the work of the head and members of the working group on reform before discussing how to respond to each recommendation made after the most recent and the previous elections. He said the European Commission had found in its reports that the Albanian authorities had barely addressed those recommendations.

Berisha accused representatives of the governing majority of violating the rules of the bipartisan commission. He said the decisions establishing the commission gave each side a veto, meaning no steps could be taken without agreement. He claimed that Damian Gjiknuri, Prime Minister Edi Rama’s representative in the process, and his fellow members had sought to set the commission’s agenda unilaterally, following what Berisha said was a scenario similar to that of territorial reform.

Berisha called the unilateral setting of the agenda illegal and contrary to Parliament’s decision. In his criticism of Rama and Gjiknuri, he used the terms “gangsters” and “individuals involved in crime.” He also claimed that under Rama, “every mafioso feels safe” because they submit to him and succeed. Berisha added that, for the Democratic Party, the law was the only guide.