Berisha pledges free and fair elections

TIRANA, Jan 19 – Last week, after the president set June 28 as the date for parliamentary elections this year, Prime Minister Sali Berisha pledged he would guarantee that the upcoming general election would be free and fair and considered them to be a crucial test for the country’s democracy.
He also acknowledged that the polls would be closely monitored by the European Union.
Albania’s seventh general elections since the collapse of communism in the early 1990s will be a serious test since the previous elections had been plagued by allegations of ballot-stuffing and intimidation.
“I take an oath that the main objective [of the government] will be a fair electoral process,” said Berisha.
“I guarantee this to the people of this country and call on all of you to participate.”
The EU has made it clear that these polls must be above criticism if Tirana wants to make progress towards joining the 27-member bloc.
But critics say the Democratic Party-controlled government might be tempted to hold onto power to avoid investigations of alleged corruption scandals.
In a related move, authorities have begun the distribution of the country’s new identity cards for citizens.
Voters’ lists has been a key shortcoming in previous polls.
However, on Monday the opposition Socialist Party said the government would attempt to misuse the new identity cards since the civil registry still had people registered in two places.
The interior ministry reacted, saying that about 50,000 such persons, half of what the opposition said, would be cleared from the lists within two weeks.