Socialists set to continue boycott

TIRANA, Nov. 30 – The main opposition Socialist Party’s parliamentary lawmakers expressed their determination to continue their boycott of the parliament, also condemning the language used by Prime Minister Sali Berisha against their leader Edi Rama.
The group came out last weekend to say that their request is the same: transparency of the June 28 election, the opening of the ballot boxes they claim were manipulated during counting.
The Socialists won 65 seats in the polls. One has already left after creating a separate party. They have one more ally, the Human Rights Union Party.
The governing Democrats won 68 seats and have two allies. Their governing coalition is also joined by the Socialist Movement for Integration of Ilir Meta, a small leftist grouping that was in harsh disagreements with Rama.
The Socialists have boycotted the new parliament, thus blocking many draft laws required especially for the major reforms along the country’s integration efforts into the European Union.
The Socialist MPs rejected all slanders addressed to their chairman Edi Rama and they warned that the protests would continue until the current majority made the full transparency of the electoral process.
“We ask from the President and all the constitutional institutions in the country to guarantee for all Albanians, regardless the political affiliation, the full transparency of the electoral process and to put an end to the mafia manipulation of the elections in Albania,” they said in a statement.
The Socialists have given the Democrats a 10-day ultimatum for opening of the ballot boxes or they will launch nationwide protests.
On Saturday they had another protest in their series starting in Oct. 10.
Reacting to that the Democrats will also hold a rally three days later, Dec. 8, to celebrate the students’ protests of 1990 which toppled the communist regime.
Meanwhile Berisha and his party and lawmakers have started a great campaign of attacking Rama personally mentioning the fate of his former wives and girlfriends and many other family issues.
Rama said Berisha was transforming the time given for reflection into a time for rage and he can not respond with mud after the mud the premier had thrown towards him.
Even Rama used such kind of language reacting to Berisha’s words.
Rama held a roundtable meeting with all the leaders of the opposition coalition who took part in the three days of protest in November in Tirana.
Rama met with Skender Gjinushi, Spartak Ngjela, Paskal Milo, Nard Ndoka, Erjon Veliaj and Ndre Legisi who said after the meeting that the deadline for the opening of ballot boxes was a time for reflection for the majority Democrats. That by not opening the ballot boxes to make transparency automatic they accept the theft and the ‘deformation’ of the electoral results.
They say Sali Berisha has stolen the election and that is proved by the fact that he does not agree to recount the ballot boxes.
But Berisha and his party say that opening the ballot boxes meant to turn down the decision of the Electoral College.
The Socialists say they are not asking to change the electoral results.
The country stands at a crossroad. Both its main political parties are to hold protests.