Democrats claim election victory

TIRANA, July 1 – Albania’s governing Democrats claimed Wednesday they won weekend parliamentary elections.
On the other side the opposition Socialists accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s party of attempting to steal victory. The opposition accused the authorities of tampering with ballots to swing the result in the extremely closely contested election.
“There is no doubt that based on the calculations the existing majority and the coalition Alliance for Change will govern Albania for the next four-year mandate,” said Majlinda Bregu of the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile near complete results showed the Democrats were ahead by just over one percentage point, but it was unclear whether Berisha had secured enough seats in parliament needed to govern alone.
Democratic Party spokeswoman Bregu said Berisha won 71 of the house’s 140 seats and could govern without forming a coalition.
But the opposition Socialists disputed that, and election officials said it was too early to tell either way.
Senior Socialist party official Ditmir Bushati accused the Democrats of hatching a “black plan to grab our victory.”
“The Democratic Party does not have 71 seats,” Bushati said, adding that “these elections, unfortunately, have fulfilled no standard. The result has been significantly deformed.”
With 98 percent of ballot boxes counted by 1 p.m. Wednesday, Berisha’s Democratic Party had 46.81 percent, to the 45.42 percent of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama’s Socialists.
The Central Election Commission’s preliminary results showed the leftist Socialist Alliance for Integration coalition of Ilir Meta coming third with 5.59 percent.
Bregu asked election authorities to “confirm the victory of the Democratic Party.”
The Central Election Commission spokesman Leonard Olli declined to confirm the Democrat’s claim they had secured 71 seats, according to The Associated Press.
“We have not brought out the final results,” he said.
Unofficial calculations show the Democrats to have won 70 of Parliament’s 140 seats – one short of the 71 they need to govern without forming a coalition.
Ensuring a fair and peaceful ballot on Sunday was seen as a crucial test for Albania’s ambitions to join the European Union, and international monitors say that despite some violations the voting was calm.
The Socialist Party has 66 seats, according to calculations by ECA-KRIIK, a group of non-governmental organizations conducting a parallel vote tabulation and funded by the United States Agency for International Development.
The SAI, which has said it is willing to join a coalition with Socialists, is estimated to have won four seats.
The final official results are expected by the end of the week.
Berisha also convened his cabinet Wednesday apparently in a show of force as a winner.
“Citizens should know that elections are over, the final result is still to come out but it will be soon be public. The result has not been declared, so I will wait for final results from the Central Election Commission. Our coalition was certified. But the government cannot be created until CEC declares final results. The new parliament convenes the day the previous one ends and that might be Sept. 3 or 4.”
The premier reassured his government would continue reforms, especially those set from the European Commission in its last year’s report on Albania.
“Integration is the main issue in the four years to come,” he said.
Berisha also said that his government would give a financial reward to election commissioners and other staff.
Rama responded harshly.
He said the premier should not declare victory but guarantee the further holding of the electoral process. He denounced armed persons used by Berisha’s ministers to threaten officials at the counting offices.
“Albanians have not mandated Berisha for the next four years,” said Rama.
“We shall make the utmost to see that the votes are read as they should. There is no force that can topple through violence, threats and intolerable pressure what the Albanian people decided on June 28.
There will be no coup d’eta through changing the result. We shall protect that through the legal way.”
Vote counting was halted Wednesday in northern Bushat and southern Berat due to objections from the two main parties over the process, and to allow exhausted election officials some rest.
With less than 100 of the 4,753 ballot boxes remaining to be counted, the process was expected to be completed by late Wednesday night.
Both main parties ran on a similar platform, pledging to lift Albania out of poverty and secure its EU accession.
The Balkan country 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 persisted.
An OSCE statement Monday said observers “noted procedural violations,” including widespread family voting.
Based on the partial count, the election commission said 49 percent of Albania’s 3.1 million registered voters, or 1.54 million people, had cast ballots on Sunday. That was about 150,000 more votes than in the 2005 elections.