TIRANA, May 12 – The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Tuesday turned down a request from the Albanian government on the change of its mission head that is to monitor the country’s June 28 parliamentary elections.
The ODIHR said that “governments do not have a role in the selection or appointment of heads of election observation missions.“
“If governments were given a role in choosing the observers, this would be the end of objective and impartial election observation,“ ODIHR spokesman Jens-Hagen Eschenbaecher said according to The Associated Press news agency.
Tirana has considered problematic the nomination of British Ambassador Audrey Glover who headed the organization in 1996 when the polls were considered as running short of democratic standards, something the government said was biased, according to the local media.
Glover, a senior British diplomat, headed the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in 1994-1997 and was in charge of the agency’s small monitoring mission for the U.S. election in November.
There was no reaction from the government.
The spokesman said that Glover “has long experience in this field, most recently as head of our assessment mission for the US presidential elections. Her long experience in the region and with Albania in particular – dating back to the mid-1990s – gives her a very good perspective on the democratic development in Albania over the past decade, including the progress that has been made in the field of elections.“
Last week the sent a first team of 40 international experts who will assess whether the process complies with international standards. They will be supported by 400 short-term observers on election day when more than 3 million registered voters will elect 140 legislators under a regional proportional system.
The main contestants are Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party and the main opposition Socialist Party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama.
Elections in post-communist Albania, now a NATO member country since last month, have been marred frequently by irregularities.
Holding free and fair elections in line with democratic standards will be especially important this year when the tiny Balkan country has also applied for the candidate status to the European Union.
Eschenbaecher assured Albanian political groupings “of ODIHR’s strict impartiality.“
“Governments or opposition parties may not always like our findings, but there definitely is no room for bias in our work. We hope that the mission will be able to do its job in accordance with its mandate. It is in everyone’s interest to provide the observers with access to all the information that is necessary to arrive at a comprehensive and objective assessment of this election.“
OSCE Ambassador to Tirana Robert Bosch also said that countries cannot set the ‘judges’ of their play.
The local media also mentioned a senior official of the European Union in Brussels that it was out of discussion that Tirana could have apply in nominating the monitoring head and also hinted that not accepting that could seriously harm its hopes of starting candidate status the country applied only last month.
Europe scorns Albania’s request on ODIHR head
BRUSSELS/TIRANA, May 13 – Albania is wrong to challenge the leader chosen by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR-OSCE) to monitor the legislative elections of June 28, the European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s spokeswoman Kristina Nagy said.
The European Commission pointed out that the regular the vote will be “crucial” for the continuation of Tirana’s process of EU integration.
Albania applied last month to become a candidate country.
“The ODIHR’s right to choose without interference, the best candidate for the election observation mission is a fundamental principle,” warned Kristina Nagy.
British diplomat Audrey Glover was appointed for the ODIHR observation mission in Albania and the EU stressed they supported the principle of non-interference on these appointments.
“I want to emphasize that the Commission expects that Albania stands by its commitment to ensure free and fair elections according to international standards,” continued the spokeswoman. “The conduct of legislative elections is crucial in Albania.”
Alongside that statement an EU troika made up of the Czech and Swedish ambassadors and an EC official met Tuesday with Prime Minister Sali Berisha allegedly for the same issue.
There was no statement either from the EU or the premier’s office on the almost one-hour meeting.
Meta supports ODIHR efforts to ensure free, fair elections
TIRANA, May 13 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha hindered efforts by international election monitors to observe his nation’s June 28 parliamentary elections and jeopardized Albania’s chances of gaining full EU membership, said Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration.
“I fully support the ODIHR in its efforts to ensure that the Albanian government successfully administers free and fair elections on June 28,” said Meta. “ODIHR has the right to appoint a candidate they believe will make unbiased assessments of our electoral process and accurately monitor our upcoming elections.
“I hope that the current Albanian government will refrain from interfering with international organizations, which are working hard to ensure a democratic election,” continued Meta. “As a new NATO member and a recent applicant for EU membership, Albania is relying on these elections to develop its reputation as a young democratic nation. In order to accomplish this goal, the U.S. and international election monitors must take an active role to ensure our June 28th elections are free and fair.”
