US says it only funds, not supports, pre-electoral polls

TIRANA, June 8 – The June 28 parliamentary elections have turned into a main target for an increasing number of pre-electoral polls held in the tiny Balkan country.
They are usually exploited by political groups interpreting them to their benefit. But often that makes international institutions ill at ease, as well as organizations or countries that fund holding of such polls.
That was the case with two recent polls funded by the United States.
Last week the US ambassador in Tirana, John L. Withers, made it clear that Washington favored no political groupings through the polls it funds.
The ambassador said that, “Ʒe have no responsibility; indeed, we have no further connection with the findings that such groups might come up with.”
On the other hand, the ambassador expressed concern about the new identity cards for the Albanian voters to use them to cast ballots at the parliamentary elections.
The ambassador made it clear that the elections were a crucial litmus test for Albania’s EU aspirations.
On Monday the ambassador spoke again, making it very clear that the only poll Washington was interested in was that of the votes on June 28 and not the ones made ahead of that to test the voters’ desire, which it only funded along with many other projects in the tiny Balkan country.
According to the Interior Ministry, some 730,000 Albanians do not have passports and will be allowed to cast ballots in the upcoming elections only with the new identity cards. The opposition says the process of issuing new identity cards ahead of the election is running out of time; the government says everything is going according to plan.
“I cannot say how extensive these problems are but there are examples of them, particularly for people who live in smaller towns. It is very important that these problems are solved as soon as possible to give them the possibility to apply for the ID cards,” Withers told a press conference on Friday.
“These are the people that are most at risk, in my view, of disenfranchisement and that is a serious concern because one of the critical elements of any election that meets a universal international standard to be called free and fair is universal suffrage – that anyone who wishes to vote has the opportunity to vote, and that there are no barriers that would prevent that person from voting,” he added.
The Interior Ministry said some 1.2 million citizens had already applied for the new identity documents and some 700,000 had already taken the new IDs as of mid-week.
“With Albania newly-promoted to NATO membership status and having filed for EU candidate status, the ballot is seen as a crucial test of the county’s democratic credentials,” said Ambassador Withers, who urged Albanians to go and apply for the new IDs so that they could vote on June 28.
“You in the media can play an enormously helpful role in what I think is the basic matter that is at hand over these last few days, that is – getting out the word for the voters to come and participate in this wonderful process called democracy.”