International community exerts pressure on Albanian politics

TIRANA, Dec. 22 – Last weekend saw a series of reactions from the international community trying to mediate and urge political consensus in Albania. First the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced it had sent the first group of observers for Albania’s Jan. 20 local elections, though they found out they had practically nothing to do in a country that was not ready to hold them. The monitors were from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which was to send a total of 430 monitors, it said.
The international community had repeatedly stressed that the Jan. 20 polls will be a major test for the ability of Albanian authorities to organize free and fair elections. Voting in the Balkan country has consistently fallen short of international standards during the post-communist period.
The opposition Socialist party has threatened to boycott the elections unless the governing Democratic Party-led coalition reforms the electoral code. The Socialists say the ballot should be postponed to give authorities time to correct voter lists. They also have accused the government of distributing fake birth certificates _ which could be used by people to cast multiple ballots _ a charge the government has denied.
Rosemary Di Carlo, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, appealed to the Albanian political parties to reach consensus on the electoral reform and the election date. “It is extremely important that an agreement, consensus is reached on the way to hold these elections and their date. Naturally the international community may help to mediate and explain laws on the standards. But, in fact, it is Albania’s political leaders who should reach an agreement for that issue,” Di Carlo said in an interview to the Voice of American, Albanian section. Di Carlo said that holding normal elections was “absolutely key for NATO membership.” Albania hopes to become a full NATO member by 2008 and it has also signed a pre-membership agreement with the European Union, considered as a first step toward full membership.
The same day, Christine Garrack, adviser close to EU Foreign Commissioner, called on Albanian politics to try to find a consensus saying openly they were failing the test of democracy.