TIRANA TIMES
The worst fears about the outcome of the local elections are coming true as Albania is headed for another political confrontation filled with potential for civil strife.
An extremely close vote in the Tirana mayor race – ten votes difference – led to a recount of challenged votes that infuriated Socialist Party supporters who say they are the clear winners – even by a mere ten votes.
The Socialists have called their supporters to protest across Albania, using extreme terms like “a popular revolt” if the Central Elections Commission doesn’t certify the original results which would see Socialist leader Edi Rama reelected as mayor of Tirana.
Calls for revolt are an absolutely hideous and extreme thing to do in the Albania of 2011, particularly since at least half the people cast the vote for the other side, and no one is contesting that. As this newspaper went to press, protests were taking place across much of Albania, led by Socialist officials. And European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso announced that he cancelled a planned trip to Albania.
This deplorable situation did not come as a surprise. These elections were built as must-win war aiming to destroy the other side.
The defeat of Edi Rama in his race for Tirana mayor would have meant his political elimination as head of the opposition.
His rival Lulzim Basha’s victory would be mostly a political victory for Prime Minister Sali Berisha, especially after the events of Jan. 21. On the other hand, Basha’s defeat could be interpreted as Berisha’s capitulation.
The worst part of the elections in Tirana was the candidates picked by the two major parties. Imagine for a moment example that the race would have featured two other candidates. In other words, imagine if the chief of the opposition did not face the interior minister accused by the opposition of being involved in the killing of four protesters.
The Tirana elections developed as a life-or-death battle if we look at the behavior of the election commissioners, delays in the counting process and the intervention of the international representative to help finish counting the ballots.
We called the Tirana race “The Battle of Stalingrad” in an earlier editorial. We wish we were wrong, but the developments proved us right.
Even with what has happened so far Albania has digressed quite a bit from its path toward a European future. It now risks making more dangerous steps backward that could have a very high cost.
Zero sum politics is not a concept that can be implemented in a democracy. This theoretical concept seeks total defeat or victory, but it clashes with the fundamentals of democracy.
It is imperative that Albania exit this grave situation by having the parties reach a compromise. And Albanian politics need to undergo fundamental change.
At the end of the day, as the saga of political conflict continues, there appears to be no rest for those weary Albanians, the country’s silent majority, who want to live their lives in a normal, stable country where a society functions based on rules, respect hard work and democracy.
