Vote recount takes time

TIRANA, July 14 – Albania’s main opposition Socialists demanded a recount of votes in Berat, Tirana and Shkodra or they repeated their threat not to recognize the results and go to street protests.
Socialist Party leader Edi Rama came out Monday after the recount in Fier gave them one more seat, or 66 in total, saying that the Socialist Party would not recognize the outcome of the election if the recount was not held in the three areas.
He also repeated that governing Democratic Party’s Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, had not won a second mandate, thus meaning he should not consider himself a premier until the final outcome of the election results.
The electoral commission has been involved in the vote recount of nine ballot boxes in Fier, but on Monday it declined to do the same with Berat, saying that the complaint lodged by the Socialists had no evidence.
The opposition Socialists are hoping for a similar result in Berat and also looking to change results in the capital Tirana and northern Shkodra.
Rama, who is also mayor of the capital Tirana, claims his Socialists were the main political force in the country.
Preliminary results from Albania’s electoral commission showed Berisha’s Democratic Party won 46.81% of the vote against 45.42% for the Socialists led by Rama.
The Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI), which received just over 5% of the vote, has agreed to join Berisha’s party in a new government, allowing a majority to be formed in the new parliament.
Allegations by the Socialists of irregularities and fraud have been dismissed as “absurd” by Berisha. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE gave the vote a cautious thumbs-up.
The running of clean elections is considered a crucial test of Albania’s future chances of integration into the E.U.