Albanian Opposition threatens street protests

By LLAZAR SEMINI

TIRANA, Albania (AP) . Albania's opposition Socialists charged Saturday that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before all ballots from last week's national election were tallied. Albania joined NATO in April and has been under intense international pressure to ensure the June 28 vote was free of the fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country's communist regime fell in 1990.

But the Socialists threatened to hold street protests after election authorities declared late Friday that Prime Minister Sali Berisha's Democrats had won enough seats to form a government. The country's electoral commission is re-counting ballots from some polling stations following complaints about irregularities and the Socialists insist it cannot declare that the Democrats won 71 seats while recounts are still pending. They accuse Berisha of trying to sway the electoral commission.

"I appeal to Berisha to abandon the idea of imposing himself on the Albanian people ... unless he wants to meet and face the people in the street," said Gramoz Ruci, a senior Socialist politician.
Both main parties ran on similar platforms, pledging to lift Albania out of poverty and secure its goal of joining the European Union. Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued preliminary findings saying there were improvements and fewer irregularities in this year's voting, but that some violations such as family voting and the late opening of polling centers persisted.

Election officials said late Friday that Democrats won 46.69 percent, giving them 71 seats in the 140-seat parliament — the exact number needed to form a government. Tirana Mayor Edi Rama's opposition Socialists won 45.36 percent, or 65 seats, with a former prime minister's coalition in third place, the Central Elections Commission said. Berisha, acknowledging that he could at best form a weak government if the current results are upheld in the re-count, invited the third-place SMI to join him in a coalition if the final results confirm the current vote count.
SMI's head, former Prime Minister Ilir Meta, accepted the invitation, saying it was "the only one in the country's interest."

Full final results are now expected in days, after all disputed ballots are counted.
Based on the partial count, the election commission said 50 percent of Albania's 3.1 million registered voters had cast ballots.

Greeks in Albania have not still their Political Ethnic Party

The comment below is a fals propaganda to manipulate with the right to vote in Albania by International media in which HURP is an ethnic Greek Party. This is not true. HURP has real support from minorities and mostly by Greeks but over all it is an Albanian Party. Under this philosophy of the "democratic values and the peace" between Tirana and Athens, as old propaganda of "Friendly bridge" Tirana shows to the observers of NATO and the European Union, the presence of Greeks in Albania, there is only one mandate to the Albanian Parliament in total of 140 PM included to HURP.

Three months ago, the statistics of the Albanian state claimed for the ethnic Greek minority to be only 1%, of 4.2 million inhabitants of Albania.
The propaganda must stop continuing to claim that Albania respect all the human rights in the country. The Greeks have not still an official language together with political and civil rights of much of the population which lives in southern Albania historically known as the northern epiriote, mostly emigrant in Greece and USA.

At the last parliamentary elections, which unfortunately still not finished, there were three registered parties with background ethnic minority; The Party for Justice and Integration (PDI) with nationalist program against a democratic country such is Greece, the party of Macedonians in Albania and the Party of Albania's Roma.
Meanwhile the country is to declare that Ethnic Greek Minority in Albania, have still not an ethnic Greek party to guaranty political and civil rights as long as Tirana does not recognize the official Greek language in autonomous municipalities where the Greeks live from thousands of years, in southern Albania known as Northern Epirus.

See web official page about the Program of HURP (PBDNJ): http://pbdnj.com/mbipartine.html

The original article of Balkaninsight

Albania's Ethnic Greek Party To Stay LeftTirana

The Union for Human Rights, PBDNJ, which represents the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, rejected on Thursday speculation that it will return to the governing coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha after Sunday’s parliamentary elections. “We will not change our position,” said in a press conference, the party boss Vangjel Dule. “Our trait has always been loyalty, integrity and coherence in decision-making,” he added.

PBDNJ has ruled with Berisha's centre-right government for the last four years but internal rifts before the elections pushed them towards a coalition with the Socialist Party headed by Tirana mayor Edi Rama.

more see: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/20783/

Albania's electoral shortcomings could delay EU bid

The Balkan nation's vote Sunday struggled to meet international standards – potentially embarrassing the US, which backed Albania's successful bid for NATO membership.

By Besar Likmeta

Photo: An armed policeman stands by as ballot boxes are transported to counting offices in the Albanian capital Tirana after voting to elect 140 new lawmakers ended Sunday.
Hektor Pustina/AP

Tirana, Albania - At the George W. Bush cafe, next to the table where the former US President sat to discuss a US-funded microloan program with a baker, a barber, a tailor, and a shepherd when he visited Albania in June 2007, Ertion Muca had a hard time convincing his friend why he voted for the Albanian opposition.

As elsewhere in this tiny Balkan nation of 3.6 million, the crowd was spilt between the ruling Democratic Party of incumbent Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the Socialist Party led by his arch rival, Tirana's mayor, Edi Rama. Three days after voting ended in Sunday's parliamentary elections – seen as a crucial test of the country's democratic credentials as Albania, a new member to NATO, applies for membership to the European Union – near-complete results showed the Democrats were ahead by just more than one percentage point.

Democrats claimed victory Wednesday, but it was unclear whether Mr. Berisha had secured enough seats in Parliament needed to govern alone. Senior Socialist party official Ditmir Bushati accused the Democrats of hatching a "black plan to grab our victory," adding that "these elections, unfortunately, have fulfilled no standard. The result has been significantly deformed."
International election observers agreed that the vote did not meet international standards.

But in a joint statement issued on Monday, the foreign monitors concluded that Albania's election process demonstrated "marked improvements" over past elections marred by fraud and violence. The overall progress, including the lack of violence Sunday, will have to be weighed against these most recent electoral shortcomings as Europe considers Albania's bid to join the EU.

"The country has matured, it has made progress, and many of the fears we had only some months ago have not materialized," says Wolfgang Grossruck, vice-president of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) parliamentary assembly. "I'm certainly happy about the progress we saw, but there are also a considerable number of issues that need to be tackled, in particular the polarized political climate."

'No losers today'

The Democrat-led government, which was in charge of organizing the electoral process, sounded a far more positive note. "There are no losers today," Mr. Berisha commented when the polls closed. "The poll has been a victory for the Albanian people on their route to the European Union."

However, not every one is convinced. "By failing to make greater progress, Albania has missed a golden opportunity to put the question of its [EU] candidate status beyond doubt," says Gabriel Partos, an Eastern Europe analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "If Europe's economic problems exacerbate [EU] enlargement fatigue, Albania's electoral shortcomings could yet be a set-back to Albania's EU hopes over the next year or two."

US credibility on the line?

The US invested a lot diplomatic credit for Albania's accession to NATO in April, and if fraud is once again presented in the electoral process, Washington could be deeply embarrassed. More details about alleged voting irregularities are expected to emerge in coming days.
However, some analysts believe that despite Albania's shortcomings the decision to offer it NATO membership was the right one.

"The fact that the elections were far from perfect doesn't undermine the sound reasons for including Albania in NATO," says Gabriel Partos, an Eastern Europe analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "In any case, NATO itself is not an alliance of democratic saints, but like other multinational organizations, such as the EU, it helps 'level up' democratic standards among its newer members so they can catch up with the established democracies."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0701/p06s12-woeu.html

Chameria Politic Party wins one deputy directly to the Albanian Parliament

Photo: New PM of Chameria Party PDI, Dashamir Tahiri

Dashamir Tahir is the deputy of Vlora - Saranda area (140 in total) of new Parliament of Albania. Dashamir Tahiri, known in Vlore is also member of the Municipal Council of Vlora, the chairman of PDI the Party of Chameria Community for this area. Tahiri is biznesman which cooperates with Italian-Romanian Consorcium "Petrolifera" in Vlora Region.

This result is an effort of the policy regarding the interests of the Chameria Community in Albania, often seeing in the role of albanian nationalism cooperating with Kosovo. Tahiri is known as sponsor of Chameria Community regarding the property rights protests against Greece.

Also other member of chameria Community inside the new Albanian parliament will be some other figures included into tow big parties, SP and DP. Shpetim Idrizi from the Socialist Party is new PM elected directly in Vlore and Leonard Demi, from Democratic Party elected from area of Vlore-Sarande.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Pan Epirotic Convention, New York, USA

Photo: Demetrios Koutoulas, Gus Bilirakis (US, Republican Congressman) , Leonora Malo, Chrysostomos Dimou, president world council epirotes

Albania rivals neck-to-neck in parliamentary vote

Mon Jun 29, 2009

By Benet Koleka

TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania's ruling center-right coalition had just one more seat than the opposition Socialist coalition after more than half of the parliamentary election ballots were counted on Monday.

International monitors said Sunday's election showed improvements over past polls but still saw marked violations and told Albania to stage future elections better. The European Union and the United States view the ballot as a test of Albania's readiness for integration with Europe. The EU's Swedish presidency will review Albania's application for candidate status in light of the monitors final poll report.

Results from 2,745 out of 4,753 voting centers showed the ruling Democratic Party coalition had 69 seats while the Socialist-led coalition had 68 seats. The Socialist Integration Movement coalition had three seats.Under the regional proportional election system being implemented for the first time, the Socialist Integration Movement coalition might become a kingmaker should the current trend be confirmed when all votes are counted.
Final official results are expected late on Tuesday.

The main opposition Socialist Party of Edi Rama, 44, and the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, 64, traded accusations of intimidation at vote counting centers.
Releasing the findings of some 500 monitors, the International Election Observation Mission said the elections showed improvements over previous votes, but new NATO member Albania needed to do more to meet standards.

more see: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55S6X120090629

ALBANIA SECURITY NEWS

There are still no winners in Albania, the country could slide into collapse

By STAMA

Electoral process in Albania means that elections are "called as voting process day" and not the final results. The electoral process has three days from the date of the voting process finished and half of voting boxes of the country are not numbered.

Foreign observers said for the standards are not be accomplished and they are preparing for a second report at the end of the process to show that how and when will completed elections in Albania (?)

Currently Albania has not made historically free and democratic elections since its creation in 1913, while the country seeks to join EU. But according to foreign observers, the country could slide into collapse outside of authority control, if Tirana will not end the voting results and all the responsibility of faliment will be a part of the Albanian government.

"The government can use state police to manipulate the vote" called yesterday Edi Rama the leader of political opposition. Washington, Brussels and NATO, have appealed that is the last chance to Albania to hold elections with the standard, while the economic and political results of Albania can be put down.

Climate propaganda continues to be controlled by the polarization and the electoral failure of elections in Albania, and Albanian media have not translated as an alarm by which the electoral process failed or problems can be destabilizing fatality for the future of Albania.

Albania Poll Considered “Marked Progress”

NATO DELEGATION DECLARED THAT, ALBANIA HAS NO STANDARDS ON ELECTIONS

Tirana 29 June 2009

Audrey Glover In a joint statement issued on Monday, the international election observer missions for Sunday's parliamentary poll concluded that Albania's election process demonstrated “marked improvements” but did not yet meet international standards.

The mission included more than 400 short-term and long-term election monitors from the OSCE, ODIHR, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and a delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Facing a difficult and often tumultuous transition to democracy since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991, Albania’s former elections have been marred by fraud and violence. Now newly promoted to NATO membership and having filed for EU candidate status as well, the ballot was seen as a crucial test of the country’s democratic credentials.

The observers said the elections marked tangible progress with regard to the introduction of new voter registration and identification procedures, and the adoption of an improved legal framework.But the observers also noted that these improvements were overshadowed by the politicization of technical aspects of the process and violations observed during the campaign, which undermined public confidence in the electoral process.Election day was largely calm and peaceful, and the atmosphere was improved. Observers assessed the voting process slightly more positively than in previous elections, but noted procedural violations related in particular to inking procedures and widespread family voting.

"The country has matured, it has made progress, and many of the fears we had only some months ago have not materialized,”said Wolfgang Grossruck, vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Coordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission.“I'm certainly happy about the progress we saw, but there is also a considerable number of issues that need to be tackled, in particular the polarized political climate,"

Grossuck added. "These elections demonstrated that the Albanian people have the ... potential for building a democratic society like that in other European countries. Now there is a huge responsibility of the authorities and main political stakeholders to work hard in order to establish confidence among the citizens for a democratic electoral process," said Corien Jonker, head of the delegation of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.Jonker also criticised the Albanian media for acting as the mouthpieces for political parties, rather than serving and informing the public.

"Progress has been achieved since the last parliamentary elections in 2005,” said Bruce George, head of the delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. “However, greater efforts still need to be made by all political forces in order to meet demanding international standards," George added. "The new electoral code agreed to by both main political parties introduced a number of important improvements and safeguards, in particular with regard to voter registration and identification,” said Ambassador Audrey Glover, head of the long-term election observation mission of the ODIHR.

“It is unfortunate that the high level of distrust among parties, the use of official events for campaign purposes and allegations of pressure on voters did not increase public confidence in the election process," Glover added. Votes were still being counted on Monday afternoon, with the process moving slowly. Although exit-polls gave a lead majority to the Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, toward his Socialist rival, Tirana Mayor Edi Rama. Unofficial results from 1,416 out of 4,753 polling stations showed the two main parties evenly split in Albania’s 12 voting regions.

Pan Epirotic Federation of America

Election Results-2009-11

The Pan Epirotic Federation of America ended the 36th Biennial Convention today June 27th, 2009 with the Election of New Officers to serve a 2 year term 2009-2011.

The Election results are as follows. President Fotios Galitsis, Eleonora Mihopoulou V.P., Dimitris Koutoulas Secretary, Eva Obrien Assistant Secretary, Eva Karlis Treasurer. Board Members are Stefania Tsoumbanos (35)votes, Georgios Nanis (32), Lazarus Yiannos (29), Kostantinos Ioannis Rammos (23), Dimitrios Moustopoulos (20), and Athina Xynogalos (19).