Three socialist mayors chose to be in Parliament, interrupting their work as local government leaders. After the resignations of Ervin Demos, Tërmet Peçi and Agron Malaj, Berat, Tepelena and Mati have not had an elected mayor for almost three months.
Although their resignations were made public on March 11 and all three will be in Edi Rama's next parliamentary team, the Council of Ministers has not yet notified the President of the Republic about the vacancies in these three local units. The Office of the Presidency confirmed this fact to A2 CNN, confirming that there has been no communication from the Council of Ministers regarding this issue.
In order to hold partial local elections, there needs to be a coordination of the law on local government, the Electoral Code and the Constitution, which, in the case of resignation, leave more room for interpretation. The law on local self-government refers to the Electoral Code, which stipulates that elections must be held no earlier than 30 days and no later than 45 days from the notification of the termination of the mandate. However, this deadline is given by point 3 of article 10 of the Code for the reasons provided for in article 115 of the Constitution.
This article does not speak of the mayor's resignation, but of his dismissal by the Council of Ministers for serious violations of the Constitution and laws.
While for the municipalities of Berat, Tepelena and Mat, the vacancies are due to the voluntary departure of the leader, the socialists may face a different situation in the Municipality of Tirana. Erion Veliaj's absence from duty for more than three months due to his arrest may set the Municipal Council in motion, based on point 3 of article 62 of the law on local government.
According to Article 62, point 3:
The mayor is dismissed by decision of the Council of Ministers in cases where:
a) commits serious violations of the Constitution or laws;
b) is convicted of committing a criminal offense by a final decision of the court;
c) is proposed for dismissal by the relevant municipal council for failure to appear for duty for an uninterrupted period of 3 months.
So far, there has been no meeting by the Tirana City Council on this issue, despite an official request from two Democratic councilors, Ilir Alimehmeti and Ilda Zhulali, since May 9.
Like Tirana, the Municipality of Tropoja does not have a city mayor in office, as he has been under house arrest for abuse of office since September.
The Special Court of Appeal will decide on the fate of the socialist mayor of Rrogozhina, Edison Memolla, after, even though he was convicted by the Special Court for electoral crime, he has refused to step down from office. (A2 Televizion)
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