Shehi and Spahiu call for the withdrawal of territorial reform: Political consensus is needed

The Movement for National Development has called on the Socialist majority not to put to a vote the draft administrative-territorial reform, which is expected to be reviewed in Parliament tomorrow. In a statement to the media, Dashamir Shehi and Ekrem Spahiu stressed that the territorial map should be changed only after broad agreement has been reached among the political forces.

According to LZHK representatives, territorial reorganization should not be limited solely to changing the map, but should also include a review of the number of municipalities, the restoration of communes and a reduction in the number of counties. They called for these changes to be based on European standards while also taking Albania’s specific characteristics into account.

Shehi and Spahiu also made LZHK’s positions on electoral reform public. Their proposals include electing mayors through a two-round system if no candidate secures 50% plus one vote in the first round.

The platform also provides that elections should be considered valid only if turnout reaches 50% plus one vote, and that the process should be conducted through electronic voting and counting.

LZHK said these proposals have already been included in the opposition’s platform and will be presented to Parliament. According to the political force, territorial and electoral reform should be designed as long-term solutions, not as initiatives dictated by the interests of a single governing mandate.

Referring to Article 81, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, LZHK recalled that laws on general and local elections are approved by three-fifths of all members of Parliament. For this reason, it said, achieving political consensus is essential.

Shehi and Spahiu called on the Socialist majority to withdraw the draft and not pursue, as they put it, the same approach used in 2014, when the administrative division was approved by the majority of the time without a broad political agreement.

The current draft law on administrative-territorial reform provides for reducing the number of municipalities from 61 to 46. The vote in Parliament is scheduled to take place on October 8.

In its statement, LZHK also commented on developments in Kosovo. The two co-chairpersons welcomed the election of academic Justina Shiroka-Pula as the new President of the Republic of Kosovo, describing it as a development that contributes to the country’s institutional stability.

LZHK also expressed its support for the draft law concerning amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo. It linked its position on this issue to the national interest and the preservation of institutional stability in Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited territories.