More than 70 percent of those eligible are planning to vote, but less than half the respondents believe the elections will be free and fair, House of Europe survey found
TIRANA, June 8 – The majority of Albanian voters believe the central party leadership selected the candidates for mayor in the upcoming local elections, according to the findings of a survey released this week by House of Europe, a local NGO, with funding from the U.S. Embassy in Tirana.
About 70 percent of Albanians indicated the decision was made in the capital by party leaders rather than in the cities and town the candidates are running to manage, the survey found.
“This is obviously concerning for local democracy in Albania,” said Gergj Sinani, a university professor who heads House of Europe.
The report stayed away from measuring the likely outcome of the local administrative elections scheduled for June 21, but looked at things that concern the voters most, according to Sashenka Lleshaj, the researcher who presented the findings at a Tirana press conference.
“We do not want the findings of this survey to be misinterpreted for political purposes,” Lleshaj said, adding that the survey aimed to document voters’ concerns and the fairness of the process in general.
The survey found that a vast majority of respondents were planing to vote, but a considerably smaller share believes that the upcoming elections will be free and fair. More than 70 percent of respondents in Tirana, Durrës, Lezha, Peshkopi and Pogradec reported that they would vote in the upcoming elections and more than 80 percent of respondents reported the same in Berat and Korça. On the other hand, around 50 percent thought these elections would be free and fair in Berat and Korça while less than 50 percent thought so elsewhere.
The survey also found that the personal qualities of the candidate was generally the most popular option among respondents, while the candidates’ political party was only the third chosen option.
When it comes to indicating the main concerns of each community — unemployment, poverty and corruption are top overall concerns indicated by a vast majority of respondents.
The survey was intentionally conducted in March in order to be far from the electoral campaign period, the authors noted.
A total of 1,600 questionnaires were administered in six municipalities: Berat, Lezha, Durrës, Korça, Peshkopi, Pogradec and Tirana.
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