Announcing final results, CEC head says the country has reached new heights in its ability to conduct proper elections, despite delays, recounts and accusations
TIRANA, Aug. 7 – Six weeks after voting took place in Albania’s June 23 general parliamentary elections, the electoral process has officially ended with the issuing of final results by the Central Elections Commission and distribution of mandates by the Electoral College.
Despite the fact that the composition of the new parliament – 83 MPs for the winning leftist coalition and 57 for its center-right rival – was known within a few days after the election was held, appeals and requests for recounts – some of which were approved – led to a delays in the process.
As a result, three days before CEC issued the final results, the Electoral College, a judicial election appeals body,had already ruled to distribute the MP seats based on the results, a decisionthat mirrors the final results later issues.
The college’s ruling effectively superseded CEC’s authority, because CEC was unable to form a quorum. Four of its members, nominees of the Socialist Party-led coalition had resigned before the elections to protest the replacement of a fellow member by parliament, as part of a political row between the two groupings.
This year’s electoral process, which is leading to a transfer of power, is largely seen as one of the best Albania has held as a young democracy, something Albanian authorities hope will push forward the country’s EU bid.
It was not completely conflict-free, however. Despite accepting the results, Democratic Party representatives said they were denied full transparency in the post-election process and added they believed the winning coalition had been able to “buy” many of its votes using “dirty money.”
The Socialite Party legal representative at the CEC, Genc Gjoncaj, said the commission had come under pressure from the Democrats, who had tried to hurt the validity of the process after their loss.
“The Central Election Commission unfortunately did not justify public trust bestowed on it to be the arbiter of elections in Albania, and every good outcome of the process belongs to the sovereign, the Albanian people,” Gjoncaj told reporters.
However, Gjoncaj’s Democratic Party counterpart, Ivi Kaso, praised the work of the commission, but he accused the elections’ judicial appeals body, the Electoral College, of being under the pressure of the Socialists, saying it had “usurped the rights that the law has granted to the CEC. ”
The fact that CEC had only Democratic Party coalition nominees in it was criticized in the interim report issued by international observers ahead of the elections. In addition some decisions of the CEC after the election to reopen ballot boxes to perform recounts drew ire by the Socialists. They found a few discrepancies which would not affect the preliminary results and would ultimately be voided as decisions by the Electoral College judges.
Despite the concerns over CEC’s work, the head of the commission, Lefteri Lleshi, said the four remaining members had worked with impartiality and respect the law. She said that faced with an unprecedented situation with the missing members CEC had managed to keep the “confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.”
Final results confirm Socialist win
In the final results of the June 23 elections which the CEC issued to journalists this week, the Socialist Party had gathered the most votes nationwide: 713,000, or 185,000 more than the Democrats in second place. The surprise strong showing of the Socialist Movement for Integration, 180,000 votes, meant that the SP ally pushed the overall coalition win into landslide territory.
The winning coalition will have a total of 83 seats in parliament, of which 65 will be for the Socialist Party, 16 for SMI and one each for the Greek minority party, PBDNJ, and the Christian Democratic Party.
The center-right coalition in opposition will have a total of 57 seats in parliament. Of these, 46 belong to the Democratic Party, five to the Republican Party, four to the Cham community’s PDIU and one seat each for two smaller parties that benefited from being offered seats in the Democratic Party lists.
International community welcomes end of process
The decision to close the electoral process was greeted by international representatives in Tirana.
“We congratulate Albania on the completion of the electoral process and look forward to working together with new Parliament and Government,” EU Ambassador to Tirana Ettore Sequi said on his Twitter feed.
The acting head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Robert Wilton, said he welcomed the conclusion of the electoral process in Albania, which was marked by the declaration of the final results by the Central Election Commission.
“We now look forward to co-operating with the new parliament and government, which I hope will be constituted without delay, in pushing forward the country’s reform agenda and strengthening the rule of law,” Wilton said. “A functioning democracy – which was an aspiration expressed by citizens at the polls – can only be achieved with the dynamic participation of all parties represented in the assembly.”
The OSCE statement added that fostering the relationship between a strong, transparent assembly and its constituents is a core OSCE activity in Albania, and we will be working closely with the speaker and the members of parliament to support this process.
He added that the OSCE Presence would remain active in election-related work in the country, also drawing on the findings and recommendations of the forthcoming final report of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission.
