Politicians pledge immediate work on electoral reform

TIRANA, Sep. 14 – Head of the ODIHR monitoring mission Jonathan Stonestreet made a visit to Albania this week to hand over the final report on the May municipal elections and to offer his institution’s continuous support for the country’s electoral reform, which they suggested was urgently needed. Stonestreet met with all top leaders and officials in the country. “The sides guaranteed they will immediately start work on the electoral reform. We shall offer our assistance and it is time, with no rush, to start work,” he said. The final report made clear everything that Albania should do to improve the electoral code and hold the next elections, expected in 2013 for the parliament, with the proper standards. Stonestreet said that all political parties and their representatives had welcomed the report and had agreed to work to improve the electoral code. But Stonestreet also repeated what the report said, that they should also take into consideration the recommendations of the final report of the 2009 elections. Albania has essentially held no ‘free and fair elections” since the fall of the communist regime in 1990. Though the opposition Socialist party has complained of electoral fraud and manipulation, it recently returned to parliament– though it has also stated that this was done only for the sake of the European Union. It remains to be seen how the two political groupings will behave in the future.