Himara a surprising but welcomed result

TIRANA, May 9 – The first surprising preliminary result came from southwestern Himara, where the controversial ethnic Greek minority Mayor Vasil Bollano lost to the opposition Socialist Party candidate Gjergji Goro.
Himara was a center of an almost ethnic controversial friction four years ago and a continuous place of debate between alleged Albanian ‘nationalist’ groups and ethnic Greek minority leaders and also Athens.
Bollano had controlled Himara for more than a decade and was often at odds with Tirana because of his nationalist rhetoric.
Himara was the only municipality in the country which had four candidates for mayors, two from the Greek minority parties and one each from the governing Democrats and opposition Socialists.
it was also the only place where opposition Socialists did not present one joint candidate with the ethnic Greek minority Human Rights Union Party like the rest of the country.
Goro won with less than 100 votes more than Bollano, but enough to make his supporters enjoy the victory.
It seemed that he also played hard with the ‘Greek card.” Goro was said to have campaigned speaking in Greek, like his opponent. It was said he also lobbied for the immigrants’ vote in Greece and during the election day it was learnt that many busses came from the neighboring country and some of them also brought from the opposition Socialists.
The opposition also registered a surprise win in the municipality of Kavaja, a Democratic Party stronghold and the town where Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been elected as a lawmaker for the last two decades.