Threatening electoral violence

TIRANA, April 12 – There were three separate incidents Sunday during electoral rallies ahead of the May 8th local elections.
The first happened in the village of Kashar, just outside the capital, where supporters of the main opposition Socialist Party tried to attach posters to a private bar. The owners objected and a brawl began which sent three people to hospital. Two persons were arrested and four declared at large.
In another incident in Bathore, two vehicles plastered with Socialsit posters and flags were smashed. One person was arrested.
The Bathore incident continued further Monday when headof the special police forces Sehmsi Prenci sent a penal accusatiomn at the prosecutor’s office against Deputy Interior Minsiter Avenir Peka for urging him to violate the laws and use his police forces in the political contest in Bathore. Prenci accused Peka also of using a nasty vocabulary in the phone calls they had. Peka responded the same day also sending a penal request at the prosecutor’s office against Prenci.
The campaign for the local elections, which formally kicked off officially last week, has been marred by incidents and fierce rivalry between party officials and supporters.
On Monday Tirana city hall police ( of the opposition Socialist who run the city) had a long standoff with the construction police of the central government objecting the raise of an electoral tent just in front of the government building.
In another incident an allegedly opposition teenager was injured with a knife from an opposing governing majority coalition militant who was later arrested. That occurred downtown capital Tirana.
Meanwhile the opposition claims that the local elections finds them at a distinct disadvantage. They complained to the OSCE about the ballots, which mention only the name of the alliance various parties have joined, The Alliance for the Future, rather than the individual names or logos of the parties. They repeat they do nto trust the Central Election Commission, which the opposition says is under government control.