TIRANA, May 17 – The opposition Democratic Party unveiled on Tuesday its platform for guaranteeing free and fair elections in Albania. The Democratic Party considers the electoral reform of utmost importance alongside justice reform.
According to the opposition, the drastic deterioration of election standards in 2015 turns electoral reform into a political priority.
Decriminalization takes center stage in the opposition’s platform as one of its most important elements.
“The full implementation of the decriminalization law is key to a credible and acceptable electoral process. It must ensure that no candidates with a criminal background are elected or become part of the election process,” the DP document reads.
The use of technology in the voting process in the general elections of 2017 is another core element in the platform of the opposition.
The proposal was part of the discussions of the ad hoc committee on electoral reform on Tuesday, in which DP representative Oerd Bylykbashi called for biometric voter identification as well as electronic voting as a way to prevent manipulations in future elections.
“Biometric identification of voters will put an end to the practice of people voting more than once. Electronic voting will also enable results without the need to physically count the votes at poll centers,” said Bylykbashi.
The ruling majority did not object to the proposals, but it asked for guarantees by experts on the system in a country where distrust among political parties runs high.
“We fully agree in principle regarding electronic voting, but we need absolute guarantees from experts or the company who will implement it that this can be done,” said Bashkim Fino, representing the majority Socialist Party in the committee.
Fino brought as a reminder that two pilot projects in the general elections of 2013, regarding electronic vote counting and biometric voter identification, in Fier and Tirana respectively, had failed.
In its platform, the opposition has identified a series of issues, which require immediate attention including financing of political parties, freedom of the media and the involvement of public administration in the electoral process.
For the Democrats, the electoral reform is key to the success of all other reforms in the country, including the justice reform.
