Opposition in earnest ‘electoral campaign’

TIRANA, June 29 – The main opposition Socialist Party has undertaken a series of events seen a test for next year’s general elections.
Socialist leader Edi Rama has been in a prolonged nationwide tour, meeting with people to talk about their problems.
In a new twist, Rama also tried to reach out to non-political personalities in northern Shkodra, long a bastion of anti-communist and anti-socialist feelings, asking residents to offer their opinions about what direction the country should head in, in the future.
At the same time, Rama will continue his dialogue with Albanians, traveling to neighboring Greece to talk with immigrants. About one million Albanians are believed to live and work in Greece, most of them with permission, but also many without documentation.
Many political parties have tried to include the immigrants in the voting process or urged them to come to their homeland for elections.
Though, officially, there are about 2.5 million voters in Albania, with a total population of the 3.2 million, there are hardly more than that figure in Albania. Authorities say that about one million Albanians are immigrants and most are of voting age.