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Southeast Europe
May 19, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
retary of State Hoyt Brian Yee had made tremen- dous efforts to persuade the DP leader to partici- pate in the election. Yee’s proposals included the so-called “McAllister Plus” package, an integrated compromise proposal tabled by MEPs last month.
“An agreement was reached. All details will be made public during the next 24 hours,” Basha was quoted by Albanian Daily News. The same news was confirmed by Rama.
After the consensus was reached, opposition sup- porters dismantled the marquee pitched in front of the prime minister’s office, which had been there since February 18 when anti-government protests were launched.
The DP had been insisting that a caretaker gov- ernment be formed to organise free and fair elec- tions, and for Rama to step down. It claimed that the Socialists would buy votes with money gained from criminal activities.
Meanwhile, Rama has accused the opposition of launching the boycott in an attempt to obstruct ongoing judicial reforms.
“We won. Albania will have free and fair election.
We will participate in the parliamentary election. Let’s dismantle the tent,” Basha said at 2am on May 18 after the agreement was reached, accord- ing to Albanian Daily News.
There were already signs the two sides were approaching an agreement, as on May 17 Ba- sha sent a letter to Rama expressing his readi- ness for a consensus based on a US proposal for overcoming the crisis.
After the agreement, the complaint filed by the opposition Environmental Agrarian Party to the Electoral College that aimed to put into question the legality of the registration process for candi- dates was withdrawn.
The Environmental Agrarian Party was the sole party from the opposition registered for the general election, and was used as an instrument by the DP for filing the complaint to the Electoral College.
Holding free and fair elections and implementa- tion of judicial reforms are key for Albania to start the long-awaited EU accession talks this year. The country gained candidate status in 2014, but has not yet opened any negotiation chapters.
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