Electoral frictions start

TIRANA, June 3 – What the international community and, especially Albanians themselves, fear has already started.
Elections are confronting militants of the two opposing political groups against each other.
The first acts of friction have already started.
The main opposition Socialist Party reported that its office in the capital, Tirana, was looted, another one in Shijak was burnt and one of its local party leaders beaten by the opposing Democratic rival.
On the other side, police detained three workers of the Tirana city hall who pulled down a banner saying that a top Democratic Party leader, as well as parliament speaker Jozefina Topalli, would hold a meeting at one of the city quarters within the capital.
Both major political parties started to blame one another for instigating their overeager supporters to undertake such violent incidents.
Elections in post-communist Albania have always been marked by manipulation which involves local party militants who have even used violence to threaten and harm each other.