The Albania rapporteur for the European Parliament, Knut Fleckenstein, called on opposition to return to the Parliament while protesting for what they believe is right.
“I really ask my colleges and friends from the Democratic Party to continue what they feel is necessary but to come back to the work,” German Member of European Parliament (MEP) and EP’s standing rapporteur on Albania, Knut Fleckenstein said Wednesday in Tirana, as the opposition protest has entered the fifth day.
Fleckenstein held a news conference after meeting with the political leaders in Albania, including PM Edi Rama, and opposition leader Lulzim Basha.
Albanian Democratic Party led opposition forces have vowed not to give an end to the protest they started on Saturday, until the Edi Rama government resigns in favor of a caretaker government, which would be a guarantor for free and fair elections on June 18. The Democratic Party has vowed to boycott the Parliament for the time its supporters are occupying the square in front of the Government.
He refused to comment on opposition protest, saying it was an internal matter of Albania, but he stressed the need for the opposition to return to the Parliament and take part at the committees of judiciary reform.
“When we discussed the judiciary reform it was a hard fight to secure for the opposition the 50-50 rule of the committee. And I really ask my collages front eh Democratic Party, don’t give us the feeling that you have misused it. The minimum that I would ask you is a devote to the committee work do not stop the vetting process and the implementation of the judiciary reform.”
Commenting those who voiced criticism against EU and U.S. ambassadors in Albania, who have pushed hard for the judiciary reform, he said “this is not a private fight of Don, or Romana or Knut, but we are really united and stand for the institutions of the European Union and the United States.”
