Statement of the opposition coalition

17 July 2020

The United Opposition reconfirms its adherence to the June 5 agreement and the repeated appeal of the strategic partners for its approval as soon as possible in the Assembly, without any changes and without unilateral constitutional changes.

The constitutional amendments drafted unilaterally by the Socialist Party, outside the Political Council and after the June 5 Agreement, invalidate the agreement reached between the parties.  These unilateral constitutional changes also run counter to the 30-year tradition of adopting electoral rules, which have always been done through inclusiveness and consensus, in order to increase citizens' trust in elections and strengthen pluralistic democracy.

The adoption of the Electoral Reform, all-inclusive and consensual, is also a requirement of the European Union for the opening of negotiations.  The United Opposition has been and remains seriously and in good faith committed to fulfilling this major objective for the country and has made a real contribution to meeting this condition.  This common achievement must not be undermined by narrow political interests.  The January 14 political agreement and the June 5 agreement reached with the help of the US and EU strategic partners must be fully respected, without changes by all parties.

According to these agreements, the issues agreed on June 5 must be approved without any changes and without further delays to enable the implementation of new election provisions, including the establishment of a new CEC and the start of work on the implementation of biometric voter identification.  Consequently, any further discussion according to the Agreement may NOT delay or impede the codification of the June 5 Agreement, and must be in line with OSCE and Venice Commission Recommendations and best practices.

We reconfirm our position that if the Socialist Party is genuinely interested in discussing other issues related to electoral reform, it is bound by the January 14 Agreement and the June 5 Agreement to submit them for discussion and consensual decision-making in the Political Council.  The parties agreed on the continuation of the work in the Political Council also in point 11 of the Agreement of 5 June.  The United Opposition expresses its readiness to continue the discussion and work in the Political Council on any topic and issue related to the elections, starting today, but without hindering or delaying the approval without changes, as soon as possible of the June 5 agreement.