PD seeks extension of Territorial Reform Commission mandate, Boçi: Steps cannot be bypassed. Mazniku: Opposition has deliberately wasted deadlines

The Special Committee for Administrative-Territorial Reform held a session today to review the progress so far and the materials submitted by the expert groups.

MP Luciano Boçi, in his role as co-chair, expressed concern about the majority’s tendency to accelerate work by bypassing previously approved phases in the work calendar. He called on the Committee to show respect for itself and its decisions, stressing that there is an approved plan and its phases cannot be bypassed.

According to Boçi, the documents presented so far are based mainly on the 2014 reform, while the Committee must first carry out a comprehensive evaluation of that reform and then decide the guiding principles for the new reform. He questioned the possibility that the majority’s experts could have advanced with a new territorial model when the basic principles and intervention methodology have not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, the other co-chair, Arbjan Mazniku, objected, stating that it is the opposition that has repeatedly tried to block progress, remove parts from the work chain, drag out deadlines and discussions. He recalled that the deadlines were clearly documented and that he had warned from the creation of the committee that the work should be completed by autumn, so that the 2027 elections could be held under the new system, to avoid losing eight years. Mazniku added that the final product, the map, stems from a process and principles that are built along the way, while the problem lies in the opposition’s continuous stance to prevent reaching that point.

He described the majority’s behavior as transparent and claimed that the opposition has followed a deliberate tactic to destroy the committee’s work by exceeding deadlines. Mazniku said that the responsibility of his governing side is to submit a report and a map to the plenary session, as tasked by the Parliament. According to him, nine months have passed since the constitution and there were episodes when meetings were refused due to protests, while the majority has shown readiness to accommodate every request, but has faced a systematic blocking agenda that has hindered the holding of many other sessions and the completion of thematic hearings.

Boçi also drew attention to the fact that the hearing process remains unfinished, especially that for the Tirana Region. He noted that the mayors of Tirana, Vlora, Shkodra and Lezha have not appeared before the Committee, although they had the obligation to do so. Moreover, Boçi listed a series of other unfulfilled obligations: sessions with communities and interest groups, meetings with international institutions, the public survey and the planned study visits.

He questioned the absence of the political document and the alternatives that should have been presented, and argued that a final report cannot be discussed when most of the approved commitments are still unrealized. For this reason, Boçi proposed extending the Committee’s deadline until October, so that the work can be properly consolidated and aligned with the constitutional deadlines for legal changes. He supported his request by citing the example of the extension of the Electoral Reform Committee’s mandate, underlining the close interdependence between the two bodies. The current mandate of this committee expires at the end of the month.

According to Boçi, only two and a half points of the work plan have been completed so far, and it is imperative to close off the third point in order to build a reform that serves citizens, not a truncated and prejudiced process. He stated that from the hearings held, it has emerged that the proposal to reduce the number of municipalities does not have broad support and that part of the testimonies favor maintaining or even increasing the current 61 units. To conclude, Boçi clarified that they are not seeking to impose their viewpoint, but simply the implementation of the rules approved by the vote of the Committee members themselves.