OSCE Presence welcomes solution to Albanian Assembly's impasse

TIRANA, 10 April 2006 - The OSCE Presence in Albania welcomes the way out found by the Council on Regulation, Mandates and Immunities of the Assembly of Albania to the issue of secret voting which has been one of the causes of the parliamentary impasse in recent weeks.The Presence hopes that this decision will help break a deadlock that has hindered the Assembly's work, particularly on electoral reform, in the last few weeks.

"We expect that the work on the electoral reform will be resumed as a matter of priority and without further delay," said Ambassador Pavel Vacek, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania. "We hope the work in the Assembly will be primarily focused on issues relevant for the next local government elections and will pursue the recommendations of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights."

The OSCE Presence is ready to provide expertise and technical assistance to the Ad hoc Committee of the Assembly, which will work on furthering the compliance of the Albanian Electoral Code with OSCE commitments and other international standards for elections.