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C O N F I D E N T I A L TIRANA 000920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2016 
TAGS: PGOV AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA:  LULL IN GOVERNMENT-OPPOSITION WARFARE 
 
REF: A. TIRANA 905 
     ¶B. TIRANA 872 
     ¶C. TIRANA 809 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Paula S. Thiede, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Thanks to EC-OSCE-hosted "coffee 
negotiations," the Democratic Party (the largest party in the 
majority) and the Socialist Party (the largest opposition 
party) broke the logjam preventing forward movement on 
electoral reform and organization of local elections.  The 
agreement addresses opposition demands for changes in the 
Central Election Commission, media oversight commissions, and 
temporary voters' lists.  We have welcomed the fragile peace, 
and our European partners will do the same.  The truce should 
create conditions for a peaceful opening session of 
Parliament on September 4, but it is uncertain if the peace 
can hold.  Both sides remain extremely distrustful, and they 
have not reached agreement on the date for local elections. 
While the accord has been mostly welcomed in political 
circles, some politicians and some in civil society criticize 
the parties for amending the Constitution in order to resolve 
their differences.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Late in the evening of August 30, three 
representatives of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) (Bamir 
Topi, DP Parliamentary Group Leader; Ilir Rusmali, Deputy PM; 
and Ylli Pango, Vice Chair of Parliament's media commission) 
and three from the opposition Socialist Party (SP) (Ben 
Blushi, Political Secretary; Ylli Bufi, Deputy Speaker of 
Parliament; and Valentina Leskaj, Chair of the media 
commission) signed an agreement that may pave the way for 
further cooperation to organize local elections.  (Points of 
agreement follow in para 8.) 
 
¶3.  (C)  There were no international observers at the 
signing.  Diplomats will not publicly acknowledge brokering 
the deal; if asked, our European colleagues will admit to 
offering "coffee, tea and hospitality" for occasional 
meetings between Albanian politicians.  In fact, however, EC 
Charge Hubert Petit was a leading facilitator of the 
negotiations, together with OSCE Head of Presence Pavel Vacek 
and FRG Charge Joern Beissert.  (Cover for the negotiations 
was provided by a request from the GOA for an EC and Council 
of Europe (COE) review of media legislation for compliance 
with EU standards.  Therefore, Petit and the COE 
representative initiated the negotiations, folding in Vacek 
and Beissert (Germany represents Finland as the EU Presidency 
country) when talks moved into the political realm.) 
 
¶4.  (C)  The media has occasionally credited the Embassy and 
the Ambassador with a role larger than the moral suasion 
actually offered and has speculated on the nature of foreign 
involvement.  We have agreed to keep the spotlight on the 
Albanians )- in the hope that in the future, they may be 
capable of negotiating on their own.  The agreement was 
reached only after the international facilitators withdrew, 
essentially telling the Albanians "time is up."  This 
prompted a flurry of mobile phone negotiating rounds, leading 
to final resolution.  Petit and his colleagues described an 
atmosphere rife with distrust. 
 
¶5.  (C)  The date for the next elections was not addressed, 
although SP leader Rama attempted to insert a delay into the 
text toward the end of negotiations.  Petit told him it had 
not been one of the opposition's original conditions and 
refused to consider it.  Rama's recent public remarks seem to 
have softened, slightly, demands that elections be held next 
spring, suggesting only that it would be difficult 
technically to have elections in the winter.  (The OSCE 
agrees.)  The PM announced that he thinks elections should be 
held December 24, but that they could be November 20-January 
¶20.  President Moisiu's Diplomatic Adviser told Charge he 
thinks it would be better to delay elections until January 17 
to avoid holiday conflicts for both voters and possible 
international monitors.  (The Central Election Commission 
(CEC) has said the elections should be held between December 
20 and January 20.  There is debate within the legal 
community about the legal deadline for elections.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  Most in political circles have welcomed the 
agreement, if with doubts about implementation.  Some, 
however, in both political and civic/intellectual circles, 
have criticized resorting to Constitutional amendments to 
settle petty political feuds.  Albania's Constitution has not 
been amended to date, and according to these critics, should 
not be for the sake of political expediency.  Several points 
in the agreement will require cooperation between opposition 
and majority to amend both law and the Constitution, 
providing more opportunities for renewed breakdown. 
 
¶7.  (C)  COMMENT:  The fact that the parties reached 
agreement is clearly positive.  It would have been better had 
they had the courage, will and responsibility to do so 
without international intervention, but virtually no one, 
especially Albanians, thought that could happen (Ref A) as 
the dispute dragged on.  Tensions remain high, although we 
are guardedly optimistic that the September 4 opening session 
of Parliament will not replicate the physical melee of July 
28,s closing (Ref C).  A big question remains whether the 
parties, who have limited trust or confidence in each other, 
can take the next steps to implement the agreement.  We will 
continue to press them to do so, and OSCE will be pushing to 
organize elections. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The agreement reached by the majority and 
opposition has twelve points: 
¶1.  Expands membership on the Regulatory Council for Radio 
and Television (KRRT) from five to seven members, with the 
two new nominees to come from civil society, nominated by the 
opposition.  (The KRRT issues radio and TV frequencies and is 
generally considered a lucrative board to which to be 
appointed.) 
¶2.  Expands membership on the Council for Public Radio and 
Television (KRTSH) from seven to eleven members, with the 
four new members to represent civil society and to be 
nominated by the opposition, with one nominee to have 
majority agreement.  No vote on the new members can occur 
until agreement is reached between opposition and majority on 
the fourth nominee.  (The KRTSH regulates public TV and 
radio.) 
¶3.  Calls for legislation to require qualified majority 
voting for decisions in both councils on &major issues8 to 
be determined by Parliament. 
¶4.  Calls for a joint initiative by MPs from opposition and 
majority to introduce the amendments required above. 
¶5.  Calls for amendments to provide for qualified majority 
voting on future appointments to the KRRT and the KRTSH. 
¶6.  Calls for amending the Constitution to enlarge the CEC 
from seven to nine members.  Both new members would be 
selected by Parliament, with the Social Movement for 
Integration (LSI, opposition) and the Demo-Christian Party 
(PDK, governing coalition) jointly nominating for the 
positions. 
¶7.  Stipulates that simple majority on the CEC is five-four 
and qualified majority is six-three. 
¶8.  Makes the opposition Deputy CEC Chair a co-chair, to 
replace the chairman if required, co-represent the 
institution and co-sign all issues. 
¶9.  Agrees that temporary registers will be "cleaned up" 
before 20 October 2006 and will thereafter cease to be used 
as a source of voters' lists for elections, that both sides 
will cooperate at all levels to achieve this objective, and 
that both sides agree to delete all references to the 
temporary register from the Electoral Code. 
¶10.  Calls for resumption of the work of the ad hoc committee 
on electoral reform. 
¶11.  Calls for amending the Constitution to extend the 
mandate of local officials to four years.  (Note:  The EU 
called for this, in conformity with EU norms.) 
¶12.  Calls for future general and local elections in either 
Spring (April-May) or Autumn (October-November), every four 
years. 
CRISTINA