Tired of deadlock and tension, Albanian voters sent clear messages to the two main political leaders that they want change.
By Andi Balla
Albania held local elections last weekend, and although the results are not yet out in the key race for Tirana mayor, there are some clear lessons that have come out of these elections so far. The big one is that Albanians generally cast a vote of protest against the country’s main political leaders. Tired of deadlock and tension, voters sent clear messages they want change.
The good news is that despite the tense climate and sporadic episodes of violence during the campaign, on election day, things went fairly smoothly. It was a quiet and normal day in which citizens went to vote the same way voters do in developed western countries. The turnout was decent, though not high. Young people in particular, eager to vote, appeared to have participated in the process in larger numbers than before.
On the other hand, avoiding any allegations of irregularities means the counting of the votes can be frustratingly slow. There are fears and mistrust among the counters of getting it wrong or of having the other political side try to alter the results.
The biggest problem here is the tight race in Tirana, which will certainly result in headaches for whoever wins or looses. When elections are so tight, challenges are certainly going to crop up. And the slow counting is already bringing up accusations of attempts to rig the vote.
One thing is for certain: the political leaders of both sides are losers in these elections. The Socialist Party has pretty much taken all the large cities outside the capital with the exception of Shkodra. If these elections were a referendum on whether the Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha has the support of the people, then it is clear that if elections were held today, he would loose, particularly in vote-rich big cities. The Democrats will challenge that contention countering that they still won a lot votes in smaller municipalities and in city councils, and they would be partially right. But at the end of the day, by electing Socialist mayors, the Albanian electorate might be sending a message to Mr. Berisha himself that there is a desire for change in much of the country. The prime minister hasn’t been in the public eye much since the elections, an indication he is not happy with the results.
But on the other hand, Socialist leader, Edi Rama failed to deliver a clear victory in Tirana, where his personal brand was at stake. Showing his worst election results since he took over running the city eleven years ago, even if he wins the election in the end, and it is not clear yet, the tight results show he is no longer doing well among at least half the voters. It’s a clear indication that his politics of street protests and boycott of parliament did not resonate well with the voters, who became very polarized as a result. Rama’s personal popularity might have suffered a big blow as a result.
The key test now remains on how losers will react to losing. Albanian politicians are notoriously sore losers who have in the past claimed the elections were rigged to mask their defeat. There have been some good signs of graciously accepting the results in cities and municipalities across Albania, but Tirana will be key. Both candidates have now declared victory, despite the results being about 50-50 as this newspaper goes to press.
The final results and a final evaluation of the elections by the international community also remain to be seen.
At the end of the day, the elections went generally well, but we are not out of the woods yet. What happens next might be more important than what has happened up to this point.
