Opposition insists on opening of the ballot boxes

TIRANA, Nov 2 – The opposition Socialist Party insists that opening the ballot boxes of what it calls manipulated results of the June 28 parliamentary election remains the main priority and fight along the country’s democracy.
The Socialist Party leader, Tirana Mayor Edi Rama, remained in opposition after the June poll, getting only 65 seats together with their ally.
The governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha joined a coalition with the Socialist Movement for Integration to secure 75 seats in the 140-seat parliament creating the new cabinet and setting European integration as the main priority for the next four-year mandate.
The Socialists have boycotted the parliament asking for the creation of an investigative parliamentary commission to probe their claims.
The governing Democrats say that elections may be probed by ballots cannot be open as that runs counter to the verdicts of the electoral legal institutions.
Meanwhile the opposition has also started street protests starting with Tirana Oct. 10. It is calling for another one Nov. 20 after partial local elections five days earlier.
Another protest calling for the opening of the ballot boxes was organized in Lushnja last Friday following the protests in Tirana, Berati and Shkodra.
Rama said that an endless train of abuse and robberies was passing through Albania. He said Berisha did not want the opening of the ballot boxes of 28th of June because those ballot boxes marked the end of the power of his family which has plunged democracy and the rule of law in deep crisis.
“We witness every day through gruesome facts that the power which originates by the injustice done over the elections of 28th of June has totally transformed the rule of law into an unjust power that does not serve neither the law, nor the Albanian citizens but only Sali Berisha and his family members. Sali Berisha grabbed the elections to continue grabbing Albania and the Albanians.”
“Sali Berisha does not want the opening of the ballot boxes because those boxes mark the end of the power of his family which has plunged democracy, the rule of law and the economy of the Albanian families in deep crisis,” he said.
The leader of the opposition declared that the multifaceted crisis of the state is degrading day by day the businesses while the coffers of the State are already empty.
“The economic and financial crisis has affected everybody and it is the most meaningful expression of this degradation. The number of small businesses that are going bankrupt and are closing is increasing; the unemployment rate is increasing by raising the social desperation. The State coffers continue to be empty due to the damage caused by the power which is plunging deep in corruption lurch.”
Rama also said that the social crisis is affecting Albania every day more and the poverty is dragging everyday more vulnerable families and communities that can not afford everyday living in its spinning wheel.
Rama said that “On 20th of November not only you, but together with the neighbors, friends and relatives, together with all those you can inform should indispensably come to Tirana, at Scanderbeg square for a huge manifestation in the name of freedom.”
The opposition also has blamed the government for the serious economic and financial situation in the country.