It is a core feature of contemporary democracy that the legislature is renewed in periodic elections. As indicated by the Venice Commission in its 2019 Opinion on the scope of the powers of the president to set the dates of the elections Albania:

‘The principle of democracy requires that the elections have to be held periodically – including on local (municipal) level. This stems from Article 25(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and has been identified as one of the principles underlying Europe's electoral heritage in the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters. Without periodic elections at the local level, local self-government would lack the required legitimacy.

Periodic elections are thus both a requirement of the principle of democracy and a fundamental right. Any restriction of the right to take part in periodic elections has to be provided for in the law, have a legitimate aim and be proportionate’.