
The Laws Committee has begun reviewing the initiative for the country's new territorial map, with the Socialist Party seeking to move forward with the option for 46 municipalities.
At the same time, the Democratic Party has presented an alternative variant that envisages 100 municipalities. The opposition demands that this initiative also be subjected to a round of public consultation, objecting to the procedure followed by the majority.
In the committee, Democratic MP Oerd Bylykbashi accused the majority of continuing what he described as the failure of the 2014 territorial reform.
"From bad to worse, you are making it even worse. We have proposed the transition to 100 municipalities. The 2014 reform has brought social and institutional erosion. People have left. Your public consultations with the community are fake. You are doing it as the prime minister wants. Municipalities should be able to govern the country on a daily basis for the citizens, even if they are without a government for 1 year. You have not consulted with the communities," declared Bylykbashi.
He requested that the two initiatives be treated in the same procedure and that the opposition proposal also go through public consultation.
"Your initiative and our initiative should be merged. The public consultation procedure that you did for your draft should also be done for our initiative. You killed the consensus that you wanted to publish your map with 46 municipalities. Merge your legislative initiative, merge the two initiatives and do the same procedure," said the Democrat MP.
From the majority, the head of the Laws Committee, Ulsi Manja, declared that the procedure will continue on the draft law submitted by the Socialist Party.
"Bring your initiative, when we have it on the table we will talk. This committee will continue with the review of the draft law brought by the Socialist Party", said Manja.
There was also a debate by Democratic MP Saimir Korreshi, who ironized the manner and speed with which the reform is being handled.
"What kind of pie is this, one of those frozen ones that you put in the oven and it comes out in 4 minutes? This is no longer done. Even if the Sun had come with AI, it wouldn't have been done. We can't tell Albanians this. This is our other option. Good or bad, let's see. We need to hear the other option," Korreshi declared.
He also raised concerns about the consequences that changing the administrative map may have for citizens, especially in areas where distances to municipal centers are large.
"We are completely finished. The ceilings of the units are falling. The citizen will take the bus for 2 hours, to go to the municipality to wait in line, and not to solve anything. I am cutting my neck, the mayor is violating the territory. Will that mayor deal with the fence?", said Korreshi.
The majority, meanwhile, insists that it will continue with the procedure for its variant with 46 municipalities, while the opposition demands that another consultation process be held for the alternative with 100 municipalities before approval.