Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi finally relented and invited the opposition Albanian parties to nominate a candidate for the State Electoral Commission. The SDSM – DUI coalition was trying to keep the seat on the SEC that is reserved for the Albanian opposition parties for itself, which raised concerns of election manipulations.

The seat is held by the Alliance of Albanians party, and was given to it when it was the largest opposition Albanian party. But AA joined the coalition, after reported bribery from DUI. It was expected that AA will remove its member on the SEC and give it to the actual opposition parties – BESA, Alternative and Movement for change, which are united in a bloc called European alliance for change. But Xhaferi refused to put the issue on the agenda, even as the spring elections are drawing closer, and this would give SDSM, DUI and AA a majority in the SEC, allowing them to manipulate the outcome of the elections.

Xhaferi has now invited the Albanian opposition parties to submit a candidate early next week.