Albanian president says ready to step down to solve political crisis

TIRANA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Albanian President Ilir Meta said on Wednesday he is willing to step down from his post if this would help resolve his country's Political crisis.

During a meeting in the city of Pogradec, Meta said that he is willing to resign if this will assure the country a Political, constitutional and solid solution to the current Political crisis.

"I have made lots of efforts as a president to solve the Political crisis. We don't have a constitutional court. The opposition's act is unacceptable. Parliament has 82 legitimate lawmakers, including three who did not agree to resign from their seats, but this does not solve the crisis,"said Meta.

For a month now, the country has been going through a Political crisis with the opposition parties holding several anti-government protests involving violence, asking Prime Minister Edi Rama and his cabinet to step down for early elections.

Lawmakers of Albanian opposition have resigned from their posts and refused the calls of the European Union (EU) and international organizations to hold talks with the government and end the Political crisis.

Earlier Rama said he is ready to reach a dialogue with the opposition, but does not intend to resign.

The Socialist Party holds 74 seats in the 140-seat parliament.

Albania hopes to start talks on accession to European Union membership in June this year.