TIRANA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Albanian President Ilir Meta said on Monday that he cancelled June 30 local elections date due to classified information he had on possible destabilization efforts.
Meta was questioned for about two hours by a special Parliamentary Commission of nine members formed to investigate the president for allegedly violating the country's Constitution by cancelling June 30 as the date of local elections.
"The President has had sufficient information both in official and state ways, and through other sources, of destabilization efforts in the country," Meta said in front of the commission.
He said that specifically, on June 7, the day before he announced his decision to cancel June 30 as the elections date, he received "secret and classified information that certain individuals would try to exploit the opposition rally and set fire to the Albanian Parliament."
According to Meta, his decision was also based on the statements of the Ministry of Interior, which during May and June reported a number of injured policemen during the opposition rallies.
He underlined that this event could have had consequences on the citizens' lives as well as would have destroyed the image of the country.
Moreover, the president declared that he cancelled June 30 elections because he thought the elections would be "undemocratic" without the participation of the opposition parties that boycotted the voting.
The ruling Socialist Party lawmakers have initiated the procedures to dismiss Meta, who, according to them, has violated the Constitution by cancelling the June 30 local elections and decreeing a new date for Oct. 13.
