Anti-census petition collects more signatures

TIRANA, March 28 – Residents of Fushe-Kruja spent last weekend signing a petition against the upcoming census, which is denounced for the request on self-statement of the religion and ethnicity.
The petition passed over to eastern Pogradec city at the Ohrid Lake where there were also noted groups of people signing it.
A group of non-governmental organizations have created an alliance named “Red and Black” to oppose the way the census was to be held. About 20,000 signatures are necessary for the petition to be submitted to parliament. The alliance claims they have collected 50,000 signatures.
The census was to be held in April but due to such a pressure the government postponed for later this year. The government’s claim of postponing it was to avoid overlap with campaigning ahead of the May 8th local elections.
There is a growing concern that many would be willing to change their original identity for benefits offered by neighboring Greece.
Many personalities have added their names against holding the census with those requests.