Albania has passed constitutional amendments to create a voting system that increase proportional representation in parliamentary elections, local media reported on Tuesday.
The new voting rules replace the former partial majority system in favor of proportional representation within each of Albania's 12 administrative regions.
Lawmakers in the 140-seat parliament voted 115-13 to approve the reforms, which have been backed by Albania's governing Democrats and main opposition Socialists.
But the rules have been widely contested by the smaller parties, which they believe will make winning national representation a harder task.
The new amendments, which take effect immediately, introduce new parliamentary procedures for confidence votes, presidential elections, as well as the status of the country's prosecutor general.
Under the new rules, the parliament will need only a simple majority of 71 votes to elect the country's president in the fourth round of voting. This is down from 83 deputies, or three-fifths of the assembly.
Albania's prosecutor general will have a fixed five-year term instead of an unlimited one, and parliament will automatically be dissolved and early elections declared if the government loses a confidence vote.
Source:Xinhua
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