TIRANA, April 30 – A considerable number of international observers are expected to monitor Albania’s upcoming administrative elections on June 21.
OSCE and ODIHR experts visited Tirana earlier this month and published a report calling on OSCE member states to follow the process with 24 long-term observers, who will monitor throughout the preliminary stage and the election campaign, as well as 250 short-term observers who will follow the process on voting day.
The report notes that “the political environment is polarized between the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party, which only recently ended its boycott of parliament.
Its authors note that many interlocutors who spoke to the ODIHR mission expressed fears that the political conflict and lack of trust could adversely affect the conduct of elections.
The elections are widely seen as a key test for local government reform and the status of EU candidate received recently from Albania, the report notes.
The administrative-territorial reform and related amendments to the Electoral Code were adopted without opposition support, and the opposition and some non-parliamentary parties complained that the reform process was a way to redraw district lines to favor the ruling coalition.
The local elections are expected to be followed closely from a large number of domestic observers.
The U.S. Embassy in Tirana has announced it will support several Albanian non-profit organizations that monitor elections, granting $500,000 in support funding.
Albanian staff and personnel from U.S. embassies in the region will also monitor the elections, according to diplomats in Tirana.
