ID cards, the hottest issue in the electoral process

TIRANA, June 1 – The issue of the process for the new identity cards, especially for those Albanians who do not have a passport, has turned into the hottest issue in the contest between the governing Democratic Party-led coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the main opposition Socialist party-led coalition of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama.
The Socialists have sent continuous official letters to the Interior Minister, Bujar Nishani, in charge of the ID process, and also let the international institutions in the country know as well.
They ask for the correct lists of the people who do not have a passport, for those who have already received the new IDs, and those remaining waiting for one. They have also requested the list of all who have a passport.
Passports and the IDs are the only means of identification for the voters before casting their ballot on June 28 in the parliamentary elections.
The opposition warns that the electoral process is in danger, also hinting they may likely not recognize them, or boycott them, unless the government finds a way to equip all the non-passport holders with their new IDs.
“I am very sorry to repeat that the situation of delivering the ID cards to the persons that do not have a passport is a continuing trouble still. This puts in danger free and fair elections in Albania,” declared Kastriot Islami, SP Secretary for electoral affairs, in a press conference.
The government agreed with the company producing the IDs to suspend the applications of the voters that do have passports.
“This is a delayed action and too demagogic, just to convince the representatives of the international community that everything is going well. This is the reason the process failed,” Islami said.
The opposition claims that the government has given to them only part of the lists they had asked for, thus making it impossible for the opposition to verify anything because of the fractional information and because the data could not be compared.
They had asked the Interior Ministry to give the electronic list with names, surnames, father’s info, mother’s info and date of birth of the voters that do have passports. This list should have been updated by May 28, 2009.
The government has given only the list of persons without passports that applied for ID cards and those that haven’t applied yet. It is impossible for the opposition now to make any verification, because it cannot compare the partial and fractional data.
Deputy Interior Minister Ferdinand Poni had said he sent to the Socialist Party the list of the voters without passports, who applied for an ID card and that of the voters without passports who haven’t applied yet for an ID card.
The opposition has also claimed of a possible danger, that on the eve of elections, the government may give passports to suspected persons, that, “Ʃn exchange for suspected rewardsŢ may help it to secure the second governing mandate.
The government and the opposition are also offering different figures on the non-passport holders. The government says there are 730,000 while the opposition says 960,000.
That is, and seems to remain, the main topic of concern for the opposition.
There are rumors or hints that the election may be either postponed until all Albanians get the new IDs or that special IDs for the election are produced and managed by international organizations.
All these show and repeat the problem of the lack of trust among Albanian political organizations.