Moore: CEC should represent all sides

Published: April 18,2013 - 12:44

Tirana - The official of the U.S. State Department Jonathan Moore expressed concerns for the tense situation in Tirana following the voting that took place in Parliament, resulting with the replacement of a member of the Central Election Commission. After a series of meetings with Albanian politicians, Moore emphasized that there is strong argument that raises questions on the way how parliament voted. "In some of these meetings we have discussed the developments in parliament on Monday, and as it was clear from what our embassy stated, there are several concerns about a change of balance on the CEC formation. We believe that there is a strong legal argument that that raises questions on the way how parliament voted. However, we want to see a functional CEC. If this does not happen, it is impossible to hold elections on June 23. We will see how the process develops. We are very concerned from what we have seen. There is a high level of political tension on the eve of the elections," declared Jonathan Moore, Director of the Office for Southern and Central Europe at the State Department. He said that in other NATO member countries as well there have been cases when elections were jeopardized. "There are also NATO member countries, and sometimes even the United States, when elections have been jeopardized. However, we have all the reasons to think that elections will be held," Moore said. And over this issue, the political leaders have expressed their commitment that they will hold elections on due time and that they will accept the final result. "All of them shared with me their position that they want elections to be held on June 23. All of them said that they will respect the result and will support the great efforts from international observers and that they want to remain partners with the United States of America," Moore said. The U.S. State Department official stressed that the situation will be observed in its entirety, adding that a great number of long-term OSCE observers will come to Albania. He also noted that June 23 elections in Albania will be also discussed in the U.S. Congress. Taulanta Boja