CEC accused of breaking the law

TIRANA, Aug. 4 – Deshira Subashi, deputy head of the Central Elections Commission, accused her institution of breaking the law during the June 28 election process.
Subashi said the CEC denied the right of recount of the votes in some polling stations, something which cannot be denied based on the electoral law.
In an interview to a local private television station, News24, she said that denial was an open violation of the law.
Subashi said that any time that commissioners have belief of mistakes or manipulation they are entitled to a recount.
The CEC was also criticized by a preliminary evaluation of the international observers saying they had not interfered at the lower-level commissions in many cases.
The June 28 parliamentary election was won by the governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha with 70 seats. The main opposition Socialist Party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama won 66 seats while the Socialist Movement for Integration of Ilir Meta four seats, which were joined with those of the Democrats to form the new government.
The socialists have said they do not accept the election results and that they will start democratic protests, also asking for fresh polls.
CEC head Arben Ristani said Wednesday that Subashi’s words were politically motivated. Ristani said that the vote count electoral commissions were made up of members of the two main political forces, thus it was illogical for any of them to claim the contrary to what their members had already signed in the result papers.
He also added that he would be against a total change of the electoral law but also said that some amendments or improvements should be done in parts of the existing one, like the process of the vote count in order to speed it up.
The evaluation report of the OSCE/ODIHR international mission is expected to be presented by the end of August.