Electoral system reform is an urgent demand that needs to be carried out as soon as possible, while also listening to the voice of small parties.

This was the request presented this Thursday in a roundtable discussion on electoral reform, which brought together small parties.

From this roundtable, a document with 12 proposals came out, calling for several changes to the electoral system, starting with the electoral zones, which are proposed to be no more than 4. Changing the formula for mandate allocation, entire opening up of party lists, and expanding preferential voting are some of the proposals put forward in this roundtable organized by Thurje Initiative.

“These are merely to initiate a national discussion, which essentially aims to do something that hasn’t happened for many years. The electoral system has remained in the hands of party leaders, as if it were their property. The electoral system is the domain of the people,” said Endrit Shabani, leader of Thurje Initiative.

The document was also welcomed by leaders of parties that have been traditional allies of the Democratic Party until 2021.

“We have reached a Prime Ministerial Republic, where everything is controlled by only one person. We have an electoral reform commission that meets only formally and has done nothing to ensure free and fair elections in Albania,” said Fatmir Mediu, the leader of Republican Party.

Dashamir Shehi, leader of the Movement for National Development stated that holding a referendum to enable these changes should be at the center of political actions leading up to the next parliamentary elections.

“We have taken this initiative to change something that truly matters for Albania. Now, the next elections are a year and a half away. It has been so many years where the problem is not that the Albanian opposition cannot bring about a change through a law, but with the existing law, the road has become mountainous,” said Shehi.

Part of this proposal made by these small parties includes the voting rights of the diaspora in the countries where they reside, as well as lowering the voting age from 18 to 16.