Venice in Tirana, to meet president, majority, opposition

Venice in Tirana, to meet president, majority, opposition

On Tuesday, the Venice Commission will land in Tirana for a fact-finding and consultative 2-day visit regarding the reasons for the proposal to dismiss President Ilir Meta.

The Commission has published the agenda of meetings that the delegation's experts will hold in preparation of an opinion on the powers that the president has in the electoral process.

The European experts are scheduled to meet in parliament with representatives of the majority and parliamentary opposition.

There will also be meetings with the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and representatives of the Central Election Commission.

Whilst the European legal experts have included the officially mandated parliamentary opposition on the agenda, it remains unclear if they will meet with the Democratic Party or the Socialist Movement for Integration.

The visit by the Venice Commission to Tirana is expected the day after the Head of State will sit before lawmakers in the Assembly to be questioned by the Investigative Commission set up to dismiss him.

The opinion of the Venice Commission was requested by the Albanian Assembly in a letter directed to the European institution regarding if the President has violated the Constitution with the decree of the cancellation of June 30.

In a letter signed by Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruçi, the Venice Commission has been asked for their opinion on eight constitutional issues, mainly on the role the president has in relation to electoral processes.

Following the visit to Tirana, experts from the Venice Commission are expected to draft a preliminary opinion, while the final opinion will be approved on October 12th.

EMISIONET