Parliament to Set Date on Thursday for Presentation of Socialist and Democratic Party Reports on Territorial Reform

The final plenary session of this parliamentary term was scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 23, with the presentation of the Socialist Party and Democratic Party reports on Territorial Reform also expected to be part of the agenda.

However, the report of the Special Committee on Territorial Reform does not appear on the agenda published by the Albanian Parliament for the July 23 session. The committee’s mandate expired on July 15.

The Conference of Chairpersons will meet on Thursday morning to review the parliamentary schedule for July 27-31. The meeting is expected to discuss whether to convene another plenary session, whose agenda could include the report on Territorial Reform, along with the ratification of a defense agreement.

If the Conference of Chairpersons decides to hold an additional parliamentary session, July 27 is considered the most likely date.

The Socialist Party had stated that the report would be presented on July 23. In addition to assessing the 2014 territorial reform, the Socialists will also present their proposal for dividing the country into municipalities.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is expected to submit to Parliament on Wednesday only its analysis of the 2014 territorial reform, without presenting a proposal for the new territorial map.

Neither the Socialist Party’s report nor the Democratic Party’s report was presented to the committee, and they were therefore not put to a vote.

Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the report on Territorial Reform must first be reviewed by the committee and only then referred for debate in a plenary session.

The decision on Thursday, July 23, will clarify whether the report on Territorial Reform will be added to the agenda at the last minute or whether another parliamentary session will be required.