Clause (3) of Article 129 grants the President of Albania the power to “decide that a referendum requested should not be held” and, after making such a decision, “advises the CEC in writing of his reasons, which the CEC transmits to the initiators”. This is tantamount to granting the President power to overrule the Constitutional Court’s decision under clause (2) and empowering the President to quash the constitutional rights of the 50,000 citizens who initiated the referendum. The OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommend that Article 129 be amended in order to comply with Articles 150 and 152 of the Constitution.[38] It should also be noted that clause (2) of Article 129 stipulates that the Constitutional Court decides whether a request for a referendum is formulated in accordance with clauses (3) and (5) of Article 126. However, it appears that the Constitutional Court should also decide whether a request for a referendum contains the data specified in clause (4) of Article 126. The OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommend that this be clarified.
