Electoral Campaign In Full Gear

TIRANA June 17 – Less than two weeks ahead of the June 28 parliamentary polls the country is in full gear and listening with rapt attention to the electoral campaign slogans, shouts and pledges of a better life in the very near future.
The political fight has also turned into harsh words against one another.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha, of the governing Democratic Party, ironically repeats that his opponent, Edi Rama of the main opposition Socialist Party, is not entitled to continue the campaign as he has excluded himself from the list of candidates in order to keep and preserve his post as mayor of Tirana.
Rama, for his part, loudly threatens that no one, that is Berisha and his party, can steal the vote of Albanians, referring to their accusation of manipulation of the voters list and the distribution of the new identity cards.
Along those lines, the fight on the success/failure of the distribution of the new identity cards continues every day. The government says that nearly 1.4 million Albanians have applied and strongly calls on them to go and pick up their cards.
The opposition continues to claim that thousands of Albanians have been deprived of their cards and the vote.
The result? No one says anything at the moment, though the opposition had also hinted before they could boycott the election. That does not seem possible at the moment, allegedly due to strong pressure from the international community.
All political sides continue to make almost ‘impossible’ promises to voters. Governing Democrats refer to their successes over the last four years in power. The opposition Socialists, meanwhile, say the government was a total failure and they – the opposition -are the ones to be capable to manage the country in the future.
All pledge opening from 100,000 to 200,000 new jobs in the next four years. At this moment they make pledges but do not show how they will do fulfill those pledges. Official figures of INSTAT show that since 2001 there have been only 53,000 new jobs in the country.
The Socialists Movement for Integration of former Premier Ilir Meta claims neither of the two afore-mentioned leaders really knows anything of economics and that he is the one to take the country forward in development (Berisha has been a doctor, Rama a painter and Meta an economist).
Right-wing Christian Democrats also run alone and try to cope with accusations from their partner coalition, Democrats and their parliamentary Speaker Jozefina Topalli, saying they were previously spies.
At all hours the main television stations hold talk shows and debates. Viewers may also see separate groups of the different party supporters clapping hands and shouting aloud any time their candidate says anything, regardless of whether they understand what was said or not.
The European Union said that Albania did not fulfill the criteria of its road map on visa liberalization. That will very likely mean Albanians must still wait to fulfill those practical criteria before gaining the privilege of going to Europe without asking for visas. The final decision will be taken next month but politics does not wait for that. The governing Democrats say that Europe highly evaluated their achievements. The opposition counters that the government sentenced Albanians by not having a visa-free regime.
Albanians are used to such developments since the post-communist period. They indicate often they are tired of politics it is still important. The June 28 elections will show how and in what way they perceive such politics.
Meanwhile the polls are a clear test of the country’s democracy.
More than 400 international observers will monitor the election supported by thousands of local observers.