Albania’s elections and its EU bid

TIRANA, July 6 – Albania’s elections had a calm and peaceful day during the voting but its counting process brought out the usual tit-for-tat political fight between the two political parties.
Albania joined NATO in April and has been under intense international pressure to ensure the June 28 vote was free of the fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country’s communist regime fell in 1990.
Both main parties ran on similar platforms, pledging to lift Albania out of poverty and secure its goal of joining the European Union.
Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued preliminary findings saying there were improvements and fewer irregularities in this year’s voting, but that some violations such as family voting and the late opening of polling centers persisted.
Voters were split between the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the Socialist Party led by his arch rival, Tirana’s mayor, Edi Rama.
The voting was seen as a crucial test of the country’s democratic credentials as Albania, a new member to NATO, has applied for membership to the European Union since end of April.
Democrats claimed victory Wednesday, but it was unclear whether Berisha had secured enough seats in Parliament needed to govern alone. They also managed to convince the small leftist Socialist Movement for Integration to join ranks and form a government together.
But the opposition Socialists accuse them of hatching a, “Ƣlack plan to grab our victory,” saying that “ƴhese elections, unfortunately, have fulfilled no standard. The result has been significantly deformed.”
The Democrat-led government, which was in charge of organizing the electoral process, sounded a far more positive note.
“There are no losers today,” Berisha commented when the polls closed. “The poll has been a victory for the Albanian people on their route to the European Union.”
By failing to make greater progress, Albania would miss a golden opportunity to put the question of its EU candidate status beyond doubt.
That means that if Europe’s economic problems exacerbate EU enlargement fatigue, Albania’s electoral shortcomings could yet be a set-back to Albania’s EU hopes over the next year or two.
Albanians meanwhile expect to have a visa-free regime like other Balkan countries, except Bosnia. They were excluded from the last report of the EU which has invited the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to enjoy that group next year. But not Albania and Bosnia.
The EU welcomed the calm and peaceful conduct of the 28 June 2009 parliamentary elections in Albania.
“We congratulate the citizens of Albania for this achievement. The voters have shown their strong attachment to democratic values throughout the electoral process, and expressed it through a significant turnout. The election marked tangible progress with regard to the voter registration and identification process, previously a contentious issue, and the legal framework, adopted in a consensual manner by the two main parties.”
The EU took note of the preliminary findings and conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission confirming the improvements in Albania’s electoral process, but also pointing to a number of shortcomings during the preparation and in the course of the elections.
The election campaign took place in a highly polarized political environment and, reportedly, was characterized by a large number of allegations made against the governing party regarding electoral violations, some of which were confirmed by observers.
“We point out that orderly completion of the remaining stages of the election process is of high significance. The final assessment of the elections will depend, to a significant extent, on the conduct of the vote count, the aggregation of results, and the handling of possible post-election day complaints and appeals,” Brussels said.
The EU encourages a constructive dialogue among the political parties carefully reviewing the election process and leading to the formation of a new government committed to the reform agenda and to further progress towards the EU.