TIRANA, June 20 – Albanian President Ilir Meta officially addressed the OSCE and ODIHR presences in Albania on Wednesday, stating the country will not be holding local elections on June 30 and if they are to be held, they will be considered invalid.
In a letter directed to the respective offices, Meta wrote that his latest decree has annulled June 30 as the official local elections date, due to the deadlock Albania is facing and the opposition’s complete parliamentary resignation.
Meta wrote to Miroslav LajÄà¡k, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, and to Ingibjà¶rg Sà³lràºn Gísladà³ttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, that the one-sided votings held by Edi Rama and his government are illegitimate and should not be recognized.
In the letter, dated June 19, 2019, Meta informed the officials that if elections are to be held in violation of the decree, they will be considered invalid.
Meta said that his decree of June 10, 2019, also published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Albania, is in force and therefore valid local elections can not take place on June 30.
“Abiding to Albanian legislation, the decree No. 1199, dated 10.06.2019, is in force and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Albania on 11th of June” wrote Meta.
He further added that this decree should be legally implemented by all other institutions, including the Central Election Commission and other election administration bodies.
“The decree is therefore legally binding and must be implemented by all national institutions involved in the administration of electoral process in Albania, including the Central Election Commission.”
The president’s letter to the OSCE comes amidst growing tensions and clashes between local authorities led by the opposition and the government.
“Prime Minister Edi Rama’s efforts to ignore and block the implementation of the decree of the President of the Republic are completely lawless and worsening the crisis in Albania,” Meta concluded.
On Monday and Tuesday, opposition representatives and protesters clashed with municipal representatives in Shkoder and Tropoje, seeking they vacate the voting centres.Opposition supporters stormed in and damaged election supplies to prevent preparations for local elections in several voting centers across the country.
On Tuesday, local authorities in several other cities demanded the local election administration to vacate voting centers in compliance with the presidential decree.
Meanwhile, Albania is set to hold the OSCE chairmanship next year.
Following Meta’s letter, a number of politics experts commented on his decree and the meaning it holds regarding the work of international presence like OSCE in Albania assisting with elections’ development and implementation.
“OSCE/ODIHR has a right to draw attention based on what it has monitored. But Albanian elections are implemented based on the President’s decree. In the instance when the President makes a second decree and cancels elections, OSCE/ODIHR become unnecessary. ODIHR representatives should have interrupted their mission a day after the president’s decree,” Besnik Mustafaj, former Foreign Minister, told local News 24.
