Albania election and international standards

TIRANA, July 14 – Albania’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha has claimed election triumph in the 28 June polls, but the Socialist Party head and Tirana mayor Edi Rama contested Berisha’s declaration of victory, arguing that the battle was not over till the final results came in.
Besides the results needed for the country’s future government, the June 28 parliamentary elections, considered a crucial test of Albania’s future chances of integration into the EU, and are closely linked with the issue of whether they have fulfilled international standards.
While the result was still unclear, a future government was not when a small opposition party agreed to enter a coalition to form a government. Ilir Meta, head of the Socialist Integration Movement, opted for a breakaway from the Socialists and joined the Democratic Party led by Berisha, thus granting it power for the next four years.
Still, it seems to be a fragile government.
Berisha can, however, keep his promise by focusing on putting Albania on track to join the European Union. This election has been seen as a crucial test of the country’s democratic credentials as Albania, a new member to NATO, applied last April for membership to the EU.
The main goal for the near future seems to be including Albania among the other Balkan countries that will enjoy a visa-free regime, hopefully next year.
Regarding the election, Berisha has commented that “there are no losers”, stating that the poll has been a victory for the Albanian people on their course to the European Union.
A day after the voting, the independent observers reported some improvement but cited a need for further progress to comply with international standards including an end to widespread family voting and the polarized political climate.
Last week they were harsher.
International observers said that political interference had delayed the vote count of last month’s general election in Albania.
Some 500 international election observers have been monitoring Albania’s election process, considered an important test for the tiny Balkan country’s progress of democracy.
“The vote count was protracted and marked by high levels of mistrust among political parties and their representatives at all levels of the election administration,” said an interim report by an international observer mission headed by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The observers assessed the count as bad or very bad at 22 out of 66 voting centers, which “provoked tensions among parties, especially where results were or appeared to be close.”
They also noted procedural problems due to the lack of sufficient training and guidance, and criticized the Central Elections Commission, the leading administrative body, of insufficient guidance of lower level administration and inconsistent handling of complaints.
Albania has been under intense international pressure to ensure the seventh post-communist vote was free of the kind of fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country’s communist regime fell in 1990.
Following this election, the EU will now consider Albania’s bid to join the EU. Consequently the overall improvement, including the lack of violence and fighting on the day of the election, will have to be weighed against these most recent electoral shortcomings.
As before, international observers have said that many of the fears that they had only some months ago have not materialized and this is a testimony of maturity and development in Albania’s politics.
But they add there are still a significant number of issues that need to be tackled, above all the entire polarized political atmosphere. One must not forget that if Europe’s economic exertion aggravates the EU’s enlargement fatigue, Albania’s electoral shortcomings could yet be a set-back to Albania’s EU hopes over the next year or two.
The problems, especially at the vote count or, in other words, failing to make greater progress throughout the general election campaign, Albania may have missed a unique chance to put this question of its EU candidate status beyond doubt.
International standards mean in practice that the tiny Balkan country must be capable of convincing Europe it has made tangible progress which could lead to more aid and more reward for its poor population.
EU enlargement officials have reaffirmed several times that ‘the future of the Western Balkans lies within the EU’ and that the joining of Albania and the rest of the Western Balkans to the EU has been set as a right of way. On the other hand, Albania’s admission to the EU depends on the country’s economic and political stability.
There is political stability, there is economic stability, such as it is. But does that mean Europe sees Albania positively?
Hard to say. Albania did not join the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, or Serbia which were given the green light to a visa-free regime next year.
Albania needs to do a lot more to get that green light, especially with its election process.
One could hardly be surprised if listening to Europe, or Sweden during its presidency through the end of 2009, we hear that Albania’s election was a shortcoming or the obstacle to its further progress into EU integration.