Today's meeting of the Electoral Reform Commission between the majority and the opposition was accompanied by accusations, debates, but also irony and jokes between the member deputies. Socialist MP and former Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja, ironized the opposition's request for increased expertise for voting and counting centers. He said that, according to this logic, all that remains now is for experts from the UN to agree.
This statement caused laughter in the hall. Manja emphasized that during his 13 years as an MP, 15 commissions have been established for electoral reform. "We know the challenges, we know the issues, we also know the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR. As soon as we finish one set of elections, we immediately start the reform for the others. Even this Commission, at the level of expertise, I don't know how Albanians think, but maybe we should also bring in experts from the UN," he said with irony.
Further, Manja added that the current experts are sufficient and that the issues raised during the counting process should be addressed and coordinated now. "Next year we will discuss them again. I don't know what more you are looking for in the counting, technology has advanced a lot", he said. Regarding the number of voters in the polling stations and the expert system, the socialist deputy said that surveillance cameras could be added if necessary. "I don't understand what philosophy is needed to count 1 thousand voters, when we currently have up to 700 voters per center. The box with observers and cameras is opened, the counting is done and it is over in two hours. Do we need more expertise? Let's take it, let's install two more cameras if necessary", he declared.
Finally, Manja made another joke about the “soap opera” of electoral reform, emphasizing that in 13 years he has seen 15 electoral commissions and that the only ones who have not changed during this time are the two co-chairs of the commission, Damian Gjiknuri and Oerd Bylykbashi. “We need changes for the next elections. There are many countries that have problems with elections, but few have created as many commissions as we have,” he concluded.
