Friday, March 18, 2016
Academy of Political Studies aims to be part of professional expertise during the process of upcoming electoral reform. This commitment was announced today during the seminar organized in Tirana by the Central Election Commission and the Center for European Perspective (CEP). Representatives of political parties, electoral experts, representatives of organizations that monitor and report on electoral processes, through their discussions provided ideas and proposals for finding mechanisms for strengthening the independence of the election administration.
APS participated in the event as one of the organizations that contributes to youth electoral education in Albania since 2011. The director of ASP, Mr. Erjon Tase, recalled the positive experience followed by the parliamentary committee on Justice Reform, as a concrete example of how can contribute the experts and stakeholders on the electoral reform. The co-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform, Mr. Oerd Bylykbashi, present at the event, welcomed this proposal and pledged that the Commission would try all means possible to ensure transparency and involvement of groups of interest during its work.
Another important discussion during the event was the proposal for the education and training of election commissioners by a Training Center, as the most efficient way of performing their duties in the correct application of the law, free from political interference. The success of this initiative is associated with the necessary legal ammendaments in the new electoral code for compulsory recruitment of commissioners from political parties only by a database of certified people from the Training Center.
The chairwomen of CEC, Ms. Lefterije Luzi, also pledged that she will provide technical expertise to the Electoral Reform ad-hoc Commission, not only as a result of institutional experience, but also what resulted by the best experiences divided along the seminar, including the ideas of civil society and foreign election experts.
