No stability unless free and fair polls, says Meta

TIRANA, Nov. 1 – The Leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration and a former Socialist premier, Ilir Meta, said Wednesday that unless the forthcoming local elections are conducted in a free and fair way, there will be no stability in the country. Speaking at News24 in a talk show he said that was the reason why his political party has been insisting on electoral reform since last year. In a response to the Democratic Party’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha saying that the unrest in 1997 was caused by the Socialists in the form of a rebellion, Meta said that those events came as a result of Berisha’s illegitimate power he got with illegal elections in 1996. “Ten years after, Berisha has not understood that what happened 10 years ago came about as the result of the elections,” he said. Meta continued to insist that the country needs early elections next year justifying that with the disintegration of the governing majority. Meta also blamed parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli for much of the tense situation created recently, together with Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Meta also openly said his party would strongly support the candidacy of the Socialist Party leader Edi Rama for re-election for the Tirana city hall post.