With almost two weeks from the parliamentary elections of 25 April, the Ambassador of Sweden in Albania Elsa Hastad considers as worrying the phenomenon of vote buying. “It is very disturbing that for any country to have vote buying, because that is a sign of a weak democracy and when you are in the beginning of a democratic development, I think for Albania it is very important to pay attention to all signs of weaknesses in a democracy, so yes, it is very disturbing,” said the Ambassador. The Swedish Ambassador made the comments while meeting with residents of Paçram, in the Municipality of Vau i Dejës.
During the meeting, Ambassador Hastad discussed with the residents on their view regarding the electoral process. “We don’t talk about vote-buying in the meetings, but about the participation of the community in the electoral process,” said the Ambassador. Hastad took the opportunity to remind Albanian citizens to vote on election day. “All of us have a role to play in a democratic society, as citizens as members, our responsibility is to vote. On the election day, you go and you vote, and you make your own decision, and that is one of the most important tasks we have as a citizen in a democratic country,” said the Ambassador, adding that “the state must provide citizens with a proper electoral process.” Regarding the candidate lists, for which the EU and the United States have repeatedly asked lists with integrity, the Swedish Ambassador said that she didn’t want to comment on the issue.
