Albania should not expect international mediation in political dispute, says Europe

TIRANA, Dec. 12 – The European Commission on Tuesday told Albania that its political parties should take responsibility for the electoral reform and the forthcoming local polls and not expect international community to sort out their problems. That followed the boycott of the Albanian opposition parties for the Jan. 20 local elections, claiming that the governing Democratic Party-led coalition was unwilling to reform the electoral code. Socialist leader Edi Rama said that it was the international community who had suggested the postponement of the elections and that was not their request. But that has not been accepted officially by any international institution working in Albania The European Commission appealed on the Albanian government and the opposition to “work together constructively to ensure the free and fair conduct of the local elections,” according to a statement at the end of a routine meeting between the Commission and Albanian authorities. “All Albania’s political leaders bear a responsibility to its citizens for the conduct of the local elections. Political leaders should not expect the international community to arbitrate among them,” said a statement read by Dirk Lange who headed the EC’s delegation visiting the country. The opposition Socialists said they would boycott the vote unless the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha agreed to postpone the elections so that voters’ lists can be changed. They also have accused the government of distributing fake birth certificates נused as identification to vote נwhich could allow people to vote more than once. The government has denied the accusation.
OSCE’s Ambassador Pavel Vacek said Wednesday that an election observation mission was being established by ODIHR to monitor the electoral process. “That is also why from now on, many, including myself, will be restrained in passing any judgments on the ongoing process. But, to put it shortly and simply, it is not of course impossible to have local government elections on the 20th of January, but one thing is sure that it won’t be easy. Partly also given the failure of the political representation to agree on an electoral reform, which should have preceded the upcoming elections. And the expectations, of course, continue to be there, including on our part, that the majority and the opposition will be able to find common language in addressing the outstanding problems. And as of today this is all I can tell you.”
Albanian President Alfred Moisiu also called on the country’s politicians “to cooperate with responsibility and trust each other so that they achieve consensus to fulfill their constitutional obligations toward the country and the citizens.”
Elections in post-communist Albania have consistently fallen short of international standards, and the European Union and United States have stressed that free and fair elections are essential if the country hopes to eventually join the EU and NATO. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that 430 international observers would be in Albania for the local election, the fifth since the collapse of communism 16 years ago.