Amendment No. 14 | Doc. 13586 | 01 October 2014
The honouring of obligations and commitments by Albania
In the draft resolution, replace paragraph 7 with the following paragraph:
"The Assembly welcomes the priority given by the new authorities and the support expressed by the opposition to administrative-territorial reform and the strengthening of local self-government as a main pillar of the democratic consolidation of Albanian society. The Assembly considers that a comprehensive, inclusive and consensual administrative-territorial reform that encompasses both functions of local authorities and their territorial boundaries is a solid foundation for the further development of democracy in Albania. It welcomes the establishment of a special parliamentary ad hoc committee, on the basis of equal participation of the ruling majority and opposition, to prepare the administrative-territorial reform. In the view of the Assembly, this should be seen as a signal that the authorities intend to draw up these important reforms on the basis of a wide consensus between the political forces in the country. The Assembly takes note of the concerns voiced by the opposition on gerrymandering and other election-related malpractices in the re-districting prior to the 2015 administrative elections. In addition, while timely, there is concern that the reform was mostly focused on the administrative division of the country and less on the functional aspects of local self-government. As a result, this reform is controversial. In that respect, the Assembly regrets the decision of the opposition to boycott the work of this committee. With regard to the administrative-territorial reform, the Assembly:"