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Redrawing Albanian electoral zones: a need for further work seen by OSCE Presence and Council of Europe
TIRANA 4 February 2005
TIRANA, 4 February 2005 - The OSCE Presence and the Office of the Council of Europe in Albania express their regret that the Expert Working Group on redrawing Albanian electoral zones, which both organizations have supported, has not so far been able to present an agreed outcome of its work to the Albanian Assembly.
After three weeks of intensive work, the Chairman of the Group, John Bambrook, has only been able to register the agreement of the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party to redrawing 28 electoral zones out of 100. The rest of the zones remain disputed as the Parties have failed to go along with the Chairman's proposals.
The work of the Expert Group was suspended on Friday. The outcome of the Group's work will be transmitted to the Albanian Assembly which will be informed of the proposals made so far and also of the impossibility observed by the Group's Chairman of arriving at a solution which would fully respect all the legal requirements. Therefore, the conflicting provisions of the Electoral Code, namely those which are not supported by the international standards, ought to be reviewed.
The OSCE Presence and the Office of the Council of Europe hope that the Assembly will be able to consider the way ahead as soon as possible.
"For the work on the zones to successfully conclude, the Albanian parties concerned will need to show more political will and respect for existing international standards than hitherto," said Ambassador Pavel Vacek, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.
The OSCE Presence and the Office of the Council of Europe will keep following the development and remain available for further assisting the Albanian Assembly and political actors in the remaining work on redrawing the electoral zones, both within the Expert Working group and beyond.
After three weeks of intensive work, the Chairman of the Group, John Bambrook, has only been able to register the agreement of the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party to redrawing 28 electoral zones out of 100. The rest of the zones remain disputed as the Parties have failed to go along with the Chairman's proposals.
The work of the Expert Group was suspended on Friday. The outcome of the Group's work will be transmitted to the Albanian Assembly which will be informed of the proposals made so far and also of the impossibility observed by the Group's Chairman of arriving at a solution which would fully respect all the legal requirements. Therefore, the conflicting provisions of the Electoral Code, namely those which are not supported by the international standards, ought to be reviewed.
The OSCE Presence and the Office of the Council of Europe hope that the Assembly will be able to consider the way ahead as soon as possible.
"For the work on the zones to successfully conclude, the Albanian parties concerned will need to show more political will and respect for existing international standards than hitherto," said Ambassador Pavel Vacek, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.
The OSCE Presence and the Office of the Council of Europe will keep following the development and remain available for further assisting the Albanian Assembly and political actors in the remaining work on redrawing the electoral zones, both within the Expert Working group and beyond.