Tomorrow at 13:00, the meeting of the Special Commission for Territorial Reform is expected, but the Democratic Party has announced that it will not participate. The SP had called the meeting as a last chance for the DP, while Gazment Bardhi, at the Conference of Speakers, hinted that the DP would be present and justified his absence in previous meetings with other commitments and not with a political decision.
But the statement by the head of the DP parliamentary group seems to have been a spur of the moment statement and without consulting the party leader, Sali Berisha. The latter, at a press conference two days ago, confirmed the boycott, emphasizing the refutation of any cooperation with the majority.
"Any form of cooperation with the criminal mandates of this majority is impossible," said Berisha.
As a result, the Territorial Reform is expected to be a "deja vu" of the 2014 one, where the Socialists will decide for themselves which municipalities to remove and which to keep. The Socialist Party has warned that in the absence of the Democrats, it will change the composition of the commission, taking one more member and removing the opposition co-chairman.
But the DP boycott could turn into another boomerang for the Democrats like the one 12 years ago. The Socialists took advantage of the fact that they had no opposition in the commission and removed a large part of the municipalities that were right-wing bastions, to join them to the large municipalities dominated by the left. This time too, the formula could be the same, as the SP has requested a reduction in the number of municipalities.
The majority has more than 84 votes in parliament, enough to approve the reform by July, so that it can be applied in the next local elections.
The DP boycott comes after the voting process for Endri Shabani as Ombudsman and after accusations by SPAK against government officials, radicalizing the opposition action. The Democratic Party focuses on protests for the removal of the prime minister and the creation of a caretaker government that will lead the country towards early elections.
