Elections: Don’t do it!

Although the President has decreed 20 January as the day of the administrative elections, the Opposition, adopting a decision in extremis has declared that it will boycott these elections. The Opposition bases its decision not to participate in the elections on the absence of standards which would enable a fair and legitimate electoral process, according to the Opposition. For more than one year, the Government and the Opposition committed themselves to a process of reforming the electoral law and the electoral institutions. The deep-going political dissent has led to the failure of the electoral reform, a reform which is conducted in Albania following almost every election. An in extremis decision to boycott the electoral process forewarns very undesirable developments and consequences for the country. This is the second time in the history of Albanian pluralism that an electoral process is boycotted. The first case, in the 1996 parliamentary elections, the left wing Opposition withdrew from the electoral process only hours prior to the completion of the vote count. An anticipated and certain victory of the Democratic Party was very badly maimed, shadows of doubt cast upon it and it was not considered as legitimate, amongst other things, also because of the withdrawal of the Opposition. As is known, following the withdrawal of the Opposition, the candidates of the Government in these elections managed to win even in the zones that had traditionally been strongholds of the left wing Opposition. Only one year later, the country came up against the most grave crisis of its entire history. Whilst currently the Opposition has declared that it will not take part at all in a process which, according to the Opposition, does not guarantee standards.
However, for its part, the Government says that the claims of the Opposition are not true. The Government brings its own arguments to the table claiming that far more than the Opposition, it is more interested in securing standards rather than in the result of the elections. But this is only a half truth. The Government, and in particular, the Prime Minister must come up with an electoral process that meets standards. This is a test that the Ruling Majority led by the DP must pass. But this is also a challenge and a test for the Prime Minister himself, accused by the Opposition of manipulating the elections as early as ten years ago. The Government and Dr. Berisha, above everything, also need to win these elections. Although these are local government polls, in Albania, administrative elections are transformed into a referendum for the quotas of the government. A loss of these local government elections could have an impact in a few months time, when the Parliament will have to elect a new President. The left wing Opposition has stated that it will not vote for any candidate for President and will push the country in the direction of early general elections.
The Opposition and its Leader also have their reasons for wanting to win these local government elections at all costs. These elections will also be a test for the quotas of the Opposition two years after the loss of power, and, in particular a double barreled test for the Leader of the Opposition who is also running for the office of Mayor of Tirana. A loss by the Opposition, especially in Tirana, would have implications for the leadership of the Left.
This political framework results in both sides being a long way away from any imaginable possibility of a compromise. For more than one year the Government and the Opposition have failed, not so much in reforming an electoral law, than in building up mutual trust. A spirit of deeply embedded mistrust, a culture of conflict and exemption have carried the political process in Albania almost to a deadlock. But the situation is more paradoxal and absurd than anything else. Whilst the Opposition says it will not participate in the elections, the government has stated that the elections will take place without the Opposition! And to make matters even more absurd there is an ongoing comedy with the Central Election Commission where forty political parties have been registered, ready to participate in the elections. And also ready to win. But we all know that this cannot happen. Elections without the Opposition in this country have been a protracted tragi-comedy through more than forty years of communist regime. Holding elections with the candidates of the government alone will not merely damage an electoral process, but far more than that. Don’t do it. Simply because this is not just one of those every day follies. And a boycott of elections is not the same as a boycott of a parliamentary sitting. Don’t do it!
It is not without reason that the political process ended up in a deadlock, and at least, so far, there does not appear to be any sign of a solution to this deadlock, which, in fact is also a marshland of politics-making in this country.
And unfortunately it appears that exactly what should not have happened is actually happening. Both sides of the political spectrum are now waiting for the answers to come from international mediation. It appears that the government and the opposition have each deposited their complaints and woes, their claims and arguments with the representatives of the International Community. Once again the syndrome of Albanian politics is being experienced: the high level of political dependence on the international players. And if there is anything that the government and the opposition should not be doing, it is precisely asking for the mediation of a third party. This would not only be a total lack of maturity of Albanian democracy……but much more. Don’t do it!