Albania to hold parliamentary elections next June

17/07/2008

TIRANA, Albania -- Parliamentary elections will be held in June 2009, Fatmir Xhafa, head of the parliamentary committee on election reform, said on Wednesday (July 16th). The mandate will be four years. The committee also discussed a proposal by the Socialist Movement for Integration to include the Albanian diaspora in future elections.

In other news Wednesday, Defence Minister Gazmend Oketa announced plans to send 95 more soldiers to Iraq in September. Right now 120 Albanian troops are serving in the southern region of Mosul. (Koha Jone, Shekulli, Shqip, Gazeta Shqiptare - 17/07/08; Top Channel, Shqip, Shekulli, Xinhua - 16/07/08)