On the eve of the start of the new legislature, the Albanian Parliament is expected to approve a reorganization of the structure of permanent parliamentary committees, increasing their number from 8 to 11.
The changes include not only the addition of new committees, but also the merging and splitting of existing ones. Specifically, the Committees on European Affairs and Foreign Policy will be merged into a single one, which will be led by the majority, removing the opposition from the current leadership of the Committee on European Affairs.
There will also be changes to the Committee on Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights, where human rights issues will be handled by a special committee, which according to forecasts will be led by the opposition.
The National Security Committee will change its name to the Committee on Internal Affairs. Meanwhile, the Committee on Productive Activities will be dissolved into three new committees: Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Agriculture.
Another innovation is the creation of a new commission with an anti-corruption focus, which in the preliminary draft was named the Commission for Civic Initiatives.
With this restructuring, the number of members in each committee will be reduced from 27 to 13. The majority is expected to take the lead in 7 committees, while the opposition will lead 4. The implementation of these changes will require the approval of amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
