Albanian Leaders to Hold Crisis Talks

Albanian President Bamir Topi announced in a statement on Tuesday that he has called for talks to be held between the ruling and opposition leaders on February 13 in an effort to solve the country's ongoing political crisis.

Following a diplomatic effort from US and EU ambassadors in Tirana in the past week, both Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama accepted the recommendation of the Council of Europe to hold talks under the mediation of the president of the republic.

The efforts aim to solve the political stalemate that has gripped the country since the end of the June parliamentary elections.

However, the two archrivals have continued to exchange jibes, accusing one another of being unwilling to compromise while holding firm in their entrenched positions over how to deal with the investigation of the June 28 parliamentary elections.

Led by Rama, the Socialist opposition has boycotted parliament since the new session began in September, claiming that the government’s alleged fraud was to blame for their electoral loss.

The Socialists have conditioned their return to parliament on a recount of the electoral ballots of the parliamentary poll.

Although declaring his openness to a parliamentary investigation of the election, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has stubbornly rejected the possibility of a recount. He argues that the opposition has exhausted all legal options and that he cannot override the judicial process.

The boycott has poisoned the political climate in the country and brought to a halt the functioning of the assembly, which requires more than a simple majority to pass EU accession related reforms.