Counting proceeds slowly

TIRANA, July 1 – The process of counting the last ballot boxes in some areas has moved slowly, blocked by disputes between both camps, which traded accusations of cheating throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.
Whichever bloc emerges winner will almost certainly have only a small majority in parliament. Commentators believe that once the count is over, the blocs will try to woo MPs from the opposite side in a phenomenon nicknamed “deputy trafficking.”
The elections have been peaceful and calm, with only minor technical incidents reported.
International observers have concluded that they saw “marked progress” this time round compared to Albania’s previous elections
Ballot counting was suspended in some areas with both leading parties blaming each other of blocking the process where it is obvious the opponent is losing.
Sunday’s ballot was seen as a crucial test for the Balkan country’s ambitions to join the European Union – and both the governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the main opposition Socialist Party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama had pledged to bring Albania into the bloc and lift the country out of poverty.
Democrats lead with 70 seats in the 140-seat parliament compared to 66 for the Socialist Party, according to unofficial calculations made from ECA-KRIIK, a group of non-governmental organizations conducting a parallel vote tabulation and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Four other seats belong to the Socialist Alliance for Integration that has said it is willing to join a coalition with Socialists.
Creating a government requires a parliamentary majority of 71 seats.
Based on the partial count, the election commission said about 49 percent, or 1.54 million voted, which is some 140,000 more than four years ago.
The two main parties said they expected the final turnout figure to be higher.
Albania was under intense international pressure to make sure the vote was fair and free of the reports of fraud that have marred the six previous polls since communism ended in 1990. Albania became a NATO member on April 1 and is seeking to join the 27-nation EU.
Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that while there were improvements and fewer irregularities violations still persisted.
The elections were to gauge Albania’s democratic maturity and possibly unblock its bid to join the European Union.
A delay in the ballot count after the legislative poll, seen as crucial to Albania’s aspirations to join the EU, sparked opposition claims of fraud Tuesday, after European election observers’ gave cautious praise for the voting process.
Berisha, which held a narrow lead on Sunday according to exit polls, hailed the vote as “free and fair.”
Berisha’s main rival, Tirana mayor Edi Rama, the leader of the Socialist Party, accused the “ưeople in power of preparing scenarios to manipulate the outcome of the election”.
He warned of “possible incidents” overnight and called on the police to do “ƥverything in order to secure the normal process of the vote count.”
“The Socialists are leading and no one should dare touch the results,” Rama told reporters.
“It is in the government’s interest to have the results as soon as possible,” Berisha said at a press conference.
He insisted that Sunday’s vote – the seventh election since the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990s – and the ballot count were “ƴhe most transparent and observed electoral process ever held in Albania.”
Berisha refused to comment on the partial results, saying that only, “Ƭess than a half of the votes have so far been counted.”