Albania’s Opposition Toys with Election Boycott

The Central Electoral Commission moved on Monday to fill the vacancies for election officials for the May poll after the opposition parties failed to nominate candidates, yet another sign that they may boycott the upcoming ballot.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

The Commission has launched a public announcement for candidates to fill the positions, after the opposition missed a deadline to nominate candidates of their choice.

The vacancies in question are the opposition slots for representatives on the Commissions of Electoral Administration Zones, CEAZs, the local bodies which actually count the ballots in Albania’s twelve electoral zones.

According to the Electoral Code, the political parties should have proposed their candidates for commissioners by January 24 and the CEAZs should have been established by February 7.

Although Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama only a few days ago said that his party will not boycott the May 8 ballot, the Socialists say they are seeking additional assurances that the polls will not be marred by electoral fraud.

They continue to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, arguing that his ‘corrupt’ government, which they say is responsible for the death of four opposition protesters during the January 21 unrest, cannot guarantee free and fair elections.

The Socialist stance against the poll has come under fire from international officials, which see the upcoming ballot as a way to diffuse tensions and stabilise the country before the political crisis gets out of control.

The OSCE on Monday backed the CEC’s move to push the preparations for the elections forward, while panning a possible opposition boycott.

“The public announcement of the vacancies in the CEAZs to be filled soon is an important and decisive step guaranteeing full transparency of the election process vis-à-vis citizens,” said OSCE head in Albania Eugen Wollfarth.

“I welcome this step and note that it only became necessary after some parties' refusal to participate in democratic procedures according to rules they had co-authored and decided themselves,” he added.

Albania has been facing renewed political crisis in recent weeks following the violent clashes between state security forces and protesters on January 21 in Tirana.

The protest of January 21 turned into a riot when several hundred anti-government protesters attacked the police barricade set up to protect the prime minister’s office, using sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails.

Police responded with tear gas, water cannons and later with live ammunition fire, leaving four dead and dozens wounded.

Prosecutors are currently investigating the murders, the organisers of the protest and the violent demonstrators that attacked the police.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha claims that his government is the victim of a failed coup attempt, part of the January 21 protests, orchestrated by the Socialists, the president, the secret service, the general prosecutor and four journalists.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Edi Rama accuses Berisha of turning a peaceful protest into a bloodbath and attacking any institution that does not agree with his version of the facts.

The recent tension between Rama’s Socialists and the ruling majority of Prime Minister Berisha has aggravated an already poisoned political climate which has been in a troubled state since the disputed June 2009 parliamentary elections.