By-elections in 3 municipalities remain in Rama's hands, despite the law

Ervin Demo resigned from his position as mayor of Berat on March 11 to pave the way for his candidacy for deputy on the Socialist Party lists. Within the day, his resignation was filed with the Berat Prefect and on the same day the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers notified the Central Election Commission of the act of resignation, legal actions without which his candidacy could not be formalized by the deadline on March 12.

The same procedure was followed with the resignation of the mayor of Mat, Agron Malaj, and that of Tepelena, Tërmet Peçi, both winning candidates on the SP lists in the May 11 parliamentary elections.

But while 3 months have passed since the resignations of the socialist mayors, the President of the Republic, Bajram Begaj, has not yet announced the date of the partial elections in these 3 municipalities, even though the law provides for a mandatory deadline for their holding of up to 45 days from the moment of notification of the resignation.

The Constitution of Albania recognizes in Article 92 the President the power to set the date of elections for the Assembly, local government bodies and for the holding of referendums. This power is limited in time by Article 10 of the Electoral Code, which specifies that : “In the event of termination of the mandate, for the reasons provided for in Article 115 of the Constitution, elections shall be held no earlier than 30 days and no later than 45 days from the date of notification of the termination of the mandate”.

The presidency did not respond to BIRN's question about the reasons for not implementing the law, while in a similar situation in the Kukës municipality in June 2023, this institution claimed that it could not make decisions without being officially notified in writing by the prime minister about the created vacancy.

The Prime Minister's Office also did not comment on the created impasse and the role this institution has in the procedure, but sources in the SP parliamentary group told BIRN that the party was preparing for local by-elections to be held in the fall.

And while the situation where institutions do not implement legal deadlines is not isolated, for experts this indicates a lack of institutional accountability and a dysfunction of the rule of law.

Kristaq Kume, founder of the Civic Alliance for Democratic Development, describes the situation created as "a manifestation of the dysfunction of the rule of law, of disrespect for approved legislation."

Kume explains the entire chain of legal procedures leading to the announcement of the election date, believing that this procedure has stalled at the Council of Ministers, but he emphasizes that this procedure should have been carried out from the moment the resigned mayors were registered as candidates for deputies.

"The Municipal Council that has accepted the resignation should have notified the Prefect and he should have sent it in writing to the Council of Ministers, and this institution sends it to the president for the vacancy," says Kume, adding that "the chain has not worked because we do not have an official letter from the president."

He refers to previous precedents such as the one in the Shkodra municipality in 2019 when the then-president, Ilir Meta, did not announce the election date for more than two years after its newly elected mayor resigned.

For Agron Haxhimali, director of the Institute for Municipalities, the president can act on his own initiative to implement the Constitution and the Electoral Code, in a case where the vacancies are publicly known, or he can ask the Council of Ministers to act with official notification.

"Clearly, here we have a violation of legal and institutional deadlines," said Haxhimali, emphasizing that legal deadlines determine the president's obligation to set the date of partial elections for new mayors.

"If the President has not issued a decree setting the date of the partial elections within 48 hours of the notification of the end of the mandate, this constitutes a violation of Article 10, point 3 of the Electoral Code..." - he emphasizes, while appealing for local institutions not to remain "hostage to political will".

Haxhimali also speaks of the "serious consequences" that the indefinite postponement of the election of new mayors has on these municipalities.

Not holding new elections creates, according to him, "blocking the political and executive decision-making of the municipality, especially for priority policies and the budget; inability for institutional representation in relations with the central government and internationals; weakening of political accountability, as the deputy mayor does not have the same public and electoral legitimacy, as well as a risk of maladministration, due to the lack of a clear leading and accountable figure."

Vacancies in local government are expected to increase, as for more than 3 months, the municipality of Tirana has been in a legal situation where the mandate of Mayor Erjon Veliaj, arrested in early February on several charges by the Special Prosecution Office, SPAK, could be terminated.

In this case, the procedure for dismissing Veliaj is interpreted the same way by Kume and Haxhimali.

"The municipal council is in a position where it must meet and decide on the termination of Mr. Veliaj's mandate according to the law on local government," says Kume.

While Haxhimali specifies that "if the mayor is absent for more than 3 consecutive months, this constitutes grounds for dismissal from office according to Article 62, point c, by decision of the Council of Ministers, upon proposal of the relevant municipal council". According to him, the legal procedure was not followed and this shows that "there is a violation of the law and institutional dysfunction"./ BIRN