TIRANA, Nov 23 – Albania’s Socialist opposition on Sunday ended a three-day protest in central Tirana by pledging to stay out of parliament until the government agrees to a partial recount of ballots cast in a closely contested general election last June.
Socialsit leader Edi Rama gave the governing Democrats a 10-day ultimatum (until Dec 5) to decide whether they will open the ballot boxes they claim were manipulated, or face national wide protests asking for snap elections.
Slogans reading “Where is my vote? Open the ballot boxes” were projected on a giant screen outside the office of Sali Berisha, or kept from supporters in the boulevard.
“Even if you resurrect [the country’s Stalinist dictator] Enver Hoxha, you won’t be able to open the ballot boxes,” a defiant Berisha said over weekend..
Such a stand-off highlights the country’s divisive politics.
Berisha’s Democratic Party finished ahead of the Socialists by about one percentage point in the June 28 parlaimentary poll, but secured a comfortable majority in parliament thanks to support from a leftwing splinter group and two smaller parties, the Socialist Movement for Integration of Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta.
Hundreds of Socialist supporters joined the party’s 64 deputies during a two-night vigil in the central boulevard just in front of Berisha’s office. Thousands more attended a rally and open-air concerts.
There were no incidents, although demonstrators threw eggs at Berisha’s office when they saw a car allegedly tapping their cell phones.
Rama said the protests would continue.
“It’s contradictory that Albania joined NATO last year and is getting deeper into the European integration process, yet we cannot complete a proper election process,” he said.
A report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the election fell short of “the highest international standards.”
Election observers noted serious flaws in procedures at about 30 per cent of polling stations. They also reported that civil servants had been threatened with dismissal if they failed to vote for the Democrats.
The absence of the Socialist lawmakers means that the Democratic party is unable to pass legislation on European issues that requires a qualified majority of 84 votes in the 140-member parliament.
Friday rally
Tens of thousands of Albanian opposition Socialist Party supporters launched their latest protest last Friday in a big show of force to demand the government either recount the vote in a controversial June 28 election or hold another.
Rama accused Berisha of the Democratic Party of rigging the parliamentary elections to “steal Albania’s wealth.”
The Socialists have not accepted the result and refuse to enter parliament unless a number of ballot boxes, ruled “irregular” by election authorities, are opened.
Berisha’s Democrats have just 70 seats in the 140-seat parliament, and the Socialists 65. The Democrats rule with support from the four Socialist Integration Movement seats and one from the Cam political party lawmaker.
Socialist supporters and their allies marched down Tirana’s main boulevard Martyrs of the Nation to stop in front of Berisha’s offices.
The Socialists pitched tents in the street and handed out coffee and tea to hundreds of supporters determined to spend two nights near Berisha’s office.
“Unless the ballot boxes are opened, we will not just refuse to return to parliament, but shall escalate our protest. If the boxes are not opened, we shall powerfully call for the government to go and call for snap elections,” Rama said.
Rama accused Berisha of stifling the judiciary, distorting the media and ruining free competition. The same charges are made against Rama from the governing Democrats.
Berisha has said it would be illegal to open the ballot boxes and said European Union foreign ministers had approved of the election by accepting Albania’s application, made shortly before the polls, for candidate status to the affluent bloc.
This week, six EU ambassadors told Tirana it should be more serious in fighting corruption.
Western observers said the June vote was an improvement on previous elections but had fallen short of the highest international standards. The count was delayed because of quarrels over breaches of procedure.
The Socialist opposition has boycotted the parliament since the election and called for a re-count in several areas. The government says a re-count would be illegal.
Socialist leader Edi Rama vowed to maintain the opposition boycott of parliament until the ‘transparency of the June 28 vote” is secured.
Friday’s rally clogged traffic in the capital.
International monitors said the June elections failed to fully meet international standards.
The United States embassy, in a statement, called upon “all Albanians, both those participating in protests and those responsible for maintaining order, to exercise their rights and responsibilities calmly and respectfully.”
Ultimatum to Dec. 5
The opposition on Sunday threatened a nationwide anti-government protests unless the Democratic Party’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha let them investigate allegations of vote rigging.
The Socialists and their allies ended a three-day protest in front of Berisha’s office asking for a vote re-count of the June 28 parliamentary elections in several areas. They have also boycotted parliament. The government says the re-count would be illegal.
Socialist leader Edi Rama told thousands of supporters the government should agree to open ballot boxes in the next ten days or “we shall stop only when snap elections are declared.”
“Give the citizens such a right with your own free will before the people, with their free will, deprive you of the right to govern,” he said.
Thousands of Socialist supporters and their lawmakers passed the last two night at tents pitched in front of Berisha’s office.
Without specifying Rama said the upcoming rallies and other democratic forms of protest would not be violent but warned that “Sali Berisha has only ten days to think and react to our appeal. His solution, our right.”
The Officials of the local authorities run from the opposition are to hold a protest Dec. 5 threatening freezing of their operations. There have also been voices of a hunger strike and blocking of national roads.
Berisha said Sunday he was open to dialogue but a re-count was not possible as the (electoral) “college verdict could not be turned down.”
Scuffling with police
The marathon protest was generally peaceful.
Participants only got nervous when Berisha hailed them from his window.
In another moment they started to throw boiled eggs against a vehicle inside the premier’s office allegedly checking their cellular phone calls.
Socialist lawmakers accused Berisha for tapping their cell p[hones.
Immediately police came out to say they had not used that method at all.
Fatos Klosi, former head of intelligence police, that vehicle was a typical one to check talks on cell phones.
The next day police opened an indictment against him saying that the vehicle belonged to the National Guard, which protects top officials, and not to them.
