Berisha says governing coalition had a plebiscitary victory

TIRANA, Feb. 22 – Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Thursday that his center-right coalition had won Sunday’s local polls in a plebiscitary way. Speaking at a news conference Berisha mentioned figures about his coalition’s victory: they had won two-thirds of the 384 town halls and communes, which he considered the “deepest victory in the local polls in the last 15 years” even comparing it to the 1992 victory. He said they had won 238 town halls and communes around the country, or 112 more than in 2003. He mentioned the figure of 611,000 voters supporting the governing coalition, or 75,000 more than the opposition. Berisha said that the governing coalition won in 71 electoral zones out of 100, or 56 percent of the votes.
Berisha also hinted that the “government would make a series of changes” but did not say whether that meant a government reshuffle. Berisha went further to say that the report of the international observers should be read carefully as it in no place directly attacked the government, but only the deal that almost failed because of the opposition. “I will respect the vote of the Albanian citizens,” he said.
A day earlier Socialsit leader Edi Rama made the same statement, saying that the opposition coalition had already won the vote. The opposition claims victory in the major cities, while the governing coalition in smaller towns and communes. Now, at a time when official results have yet to come out, it is up to the Albanian electorate to check and understand by themselves where the victory did go.