Socialists set demands in tight Albanian election

TIRANA, July 13 – The Socialist Party wants a full count of ballot boxes from the region of Fieri, which it achieved, but also from Berat, Tirana and Shkodra and anywhere else they have evidence of vote tampering.
The recount of the Fieri ballot boxes showed they have one more seat in the 140-seat parliament, or 66. That also lowered the seats of the winning governing Coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha to 70 seats.
Berisha has already created a coalition with the Socialist Movement for Integration of former premier Ilir Meta, jointly holding a total of 74 seats at present.
The opposition Socialists said they won’t recognize the official results from the general parliamentary election unless they have a recount of the votes, threatening to go to protests.
The Central Election Commission for the moment is serving as the first court dealing with all complaints from the political parties from the June 28 parliamentary polls.
Preliminary results show that Berisha has already won the battle but the opposition refutes the degree of victory.
The June 28 parliamentary polls were considered a test of the maturity of the country’s democracy regarding its integration efforts into the European Union.