The Democratic Party demands that SP candidates who have not resigned from the positions they hold be prevented from participating in the elections.
The spokesperson for the Anti-Corruption Unit in the Democratic Party, Genta Vangjeli, says that according to the CEC, only 35 candidates from the full list of SP candidates have been declared suspended or resigned from office.
Vangjeli emphasizes that "the mandate obtained in violation of the law is invalid and the DP is pursuing and will continue to pursue each case."
Statement by the Anti-Corruption Spokesperson, Genta Vangjeli:
In response to the official request of the Democratic Party with the subject: "Provision of information", the Central Election Commission presented the list with the names of candidates for deputies of the Socialist Party who have declared suspension or resignation from the relevant function through the declaration of acceptance of candidacy according to the relevant model approved by the Instruction of the State Election Commissioner No. 2, dated 22.01.2025.
Specifically, according to the CEC, only 35 candidates from the full list of SP candidates have been declared suspended or resigned from office.
The Democratic Party is closely following the implementation of legal obligations for all candidates, not just these 35, and under these conditions:
You were redirected to the CEC to verify the legality of the candidacy of other senior officials who are not part of the list of 35 names administered by the CEC, not considering the legal standard.
In compliance with Article 69 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and with regard to the Electoral Code as supreme laws over all other laws, and in compliance with Article 63, point 4/g thereof, the legislator has categorically defined "renunciation" as a legal obligation that must be fulfilled by each candidate, which means removal from state duty and has not left any optional space such as "suspension" which means temporarily stopping the function or interrupting it for a certain period of time to return to duty in the event of the inability to win the deputy's mandate.
Therefore, for each candidate who has chosen suspension based on other legal provisions that do not prevail over the electoral code or the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, where "withdrawal" is briefly and clearly cited, the Democratic Party requests the CEC not to treat "withdrawal" as equivalent to "suspension" and to exclude candidates for these reasons:
a. non-implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, Article 69;
b. non-implementation of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Albania, article 63 point 4/g;
c. non-implementation of SEC Instruction no. 2 dated January 22, 2025, “On Determining the Rules for the Deposit and Verification of Candidacy Documentation…….”,
d. failure to implement the Declaration of Acceptance of Candidacy;
dh. clarification on how to complete the Candidate's Declaration document for opening a special bank account,
e. Preventing the use of the institution's assets and human resources for electoral purposes under Article 91 of the Electoral Code, also considered a criminal offense under Article 328/a of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania, by candidates and simultaneously undismissed but currently suspended incumbents with the potential for reinstatement after the election results.
The categories of state officials defined in Article 69 of the Constitution cannot run for or be elected as deputies without resigning from office.
The mandate obtained in violation of the above is invalid and the DP is pursuing and will continue to pursue each case.