Socialists threaten non-recognition of results

TIRANA, June 7 – Albania’s opposition Socialists threatened not to recognize national election results unless the government stopped trying to influence the country’s lengthy vote count.
Opposition Socialists demanded a recount of votes in Fier and threatened not to recognize the results otherwise.
“If the central electoral commission, orchestrated by (Prime Minister Sali) Berisha, does not bring to an end this farce, the Socialist Party may not recognize the outcome of the elections,” party leader Edi Rama said.
The party is considering a similar demand for a recount in Berat, a second southern region.
“We will not allow our mandates to be pillaged and the election results to be distorted,” said Rama, who is also mayor of the Albanian capital Tirana, claiming his Socialists were the main political force in the country.
Albania joined NATO in April and has been under intense international pressure to ensure the June 28 vote was free of the fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country’s communist regime fell in 1990.
Last weekend election officials said Democrats of Prime Minister Sali Berisha won in preliminary results 46.69 percent, giving them 71 seats in the 140-seat parliament _ the exact number needed to form a government. But the Socialists, who were given 65 seats from preliminary results, say it cannot declare that while recounts are still pending.
Socialists’ leader Edi Rama charged governing Democrats they were stopping counting of nine ballot boxes trying to deprive them of one seat in a southern district.
“Sali Berisha should abandon the idea he could grab the 9th mandate of the Socialist Party in Fier unless he wants the Socialist Party not to recognize the elections,“ said Rama. “That is not an issue of numbers but of a basic principle of democracy.“
The same threat was repeated Tuesday by another senior leader of the Socialists, Gramoz Ruci.
Last weekend the Socialists also threatened to hold street protests.
The country’s electoral commission is still re-counting ballots from some polling stations following complaints about irregularities, and has yet to start calculations to give seats to the political parties.
Berisha and the third-place SMI of former premier Ilir Meta with four seats have agreed on a coalition to take the country toward its European integration process.
Full final results are now expected in days, after all disputed ballots are counted.