07 Oct 2010 / 09:58
The US embassy in Tirana has expressed disappointment over the Albanian parliament's failure to pass the Administrative Courts bill, as a result of which it has forfeited the U.S.-financed aide package attached to the law.
Besar Likmeta
“Failure to pass this law has resulted in the withdrawal of continued U.S. assistance to the Administrative Courts component of the nearly $16 million (€11.47 million) Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement,” the embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Administrative Courts Law was designed to reduce opportunities for corruption, improve transparency in the judicial system, strengthen the rule of law, boost citizen trust in public institutions, and further align Albania's judicial system with required European Union integration standards,” the statement added.
The draft law has been pending in parliament since early last year.
Under the Millennium Challenge agreement, USAID was planning to work with Albania’s government and judiciary to establish the Administrative Courts after the law was passed.
Albania’s business community has long supported the creation of the court, which they see as a means to protect the rights and legal interests of all citizens.
To pass the new law, the Albanian government needs to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament, which means it needs the support of opposition parties.
However, opposition leader Edi Rama has declined to offer his party's support to consensus reforms in parliament following the contested June 28 parliamentary elections, narrowly won by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
The Socialists want the government to instruct a parliamentary investigative commission to recount the election ballots, and say that in return they will vote on bills requiring more than a simple majority.
However, the government has so far refused the opposition's request, claiming that they have exhausted all legal means to contest the election results.
balkaninsight
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