Diaspora vote, Kaso presents amendment: The main problem is the validity of documents

Regarding the problems encountered in the diaspora vote process, the opposition has introduced an amendment that will address the problems encountered in verifying documents for Albanian citizens living across borders.

The Secretary for Legal Affairs at the Democratic Party, Ivi Kaso, said in a statement to the media that the issues have also been raised by the State Election Commission.

" Regarding the proposal, the amendment that we proposed and how we got here."

The moment that we materialized this with the initiative of the code for legal amendments was also the moment that the Assembly encountered the proposal of the State Election Commissioner, previously discussed with the political parties.

The main issue raised by the State Election Commission was the deadline for preparing this process for a large number of voters who were expected. It is being verified every day that there is a relatively high interest from the Diaspora to register. If the alarm raised by the State Election Commissioner at the end of October regarding the insufficiency of time to effectively prepare the ballot for citizens abroad and their return within the legal deadline, which is voting day,

The opposition has shared the same concern about this issue. It has also shared the same concern about intervening in the Electoral Code to address the issue of payment, which fortunately was taken over by the state.

It must be remembered and taken into account that this process is not a separate voting process, it is not a separate election organized for the Diaspora, abroad, but it is a part of that process that must be administered according to the same rules.

If there are dozens of problems related to diaspora voting, their main problem is the validity of citizens' documents. For those who have them and they have expired, for those who have never been provided with an Albanian document, and for those who, for one reason or another, do not have an Albanian document but have a document from a foreign country.

These are precisely what we have included in this amendment, which we have presented to the Assembly. We aim and appreciate that there should be the same legal value and the same opportunity for those who have not only an identity card valid in the Republic of Albania, but also for those citizens whose identity cards have expired and those who do not have an Albanian biometric document.

There is no legal reason why this should not be implemented in the electoral process, but should also create equal treatment among voters.

Our goal has been to make this right equal and effective. It is a concern that we are not raising for the first time. We have raised it in meetings and committees. We have announced to all parties that we will raise this concern. The opposition would have it quite simple if it saw the diaspora vote as an instrument of trade, as an instrument of blackmail against the majority, it could link this to any kind of request that would give the opposition an advantage.

It has decided to extend this to all citizens living outside Albania. This is the context for which we made this amendment.

If the government had conducted a process without harming anyone, it would have done so before the 11th. It is no longer the government's duty, but the Assembly's to take action.

"For the first time, we have a government that also controls the process of issuing a document to Albanian citizens ," said Kaso.