Socialists and Democrats return to negotiations on electoral reform
In the final days leading up to the deadline for approving changes to the Electoral Code, the two major political forces have resumed dialogue. The Socialist Party and the Democratic Party failed to implement a comprehensive electoral reform that would incorporate recommendations from the OSCE/ODIHR. However, today, both parties have expressed optimism that they will unite their votes in the last session of this season to address two constitutional court decisions: enabling external voting for the Albanian diaspora and addressing the calculation of mandates.
Context
Regarding the external voting, representatives from both parliamentary sides have agreed in principle to ensure voting not only for Albanians in the diaspora but also for those abroad for employment, studies, or who are part of diplomatic and military missions. As long as they have a valid address, they should be able to exercise their voting rights in the 2025 elections.
On the issue of whether the candidate lists should be fully open or not, the parties have not reached a complete consensus. They have given their experts time to draft concrete proposals. Nonetheless, the representatives of the two main parliamentary forces, Damian Gjiknuri of the Socialist Party and Oerd Bylykbashi of the Democratic Party, believe that by Wednesday, the experts will have addressed both issues. The final document is expected to be voted on in the plenary session on July 25th.
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