Albanian elections disappoint EU, international monitors

Polls show country needs reforms, Enlargement Commissioner Rehn says

Albania’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha casts his ballot at a polling station for the country’s municipal elections in Tirana on Saturday. Albania’s local elections were closely watched by Western observers, who concluded that Albania had failed to prove its readiness for joining NATO and the EU. In contrast, Berisha hailed the polls as Albania’s ‘first great victory of free and fair elections.’

By Benet Koleka - Reuters

TIRANA – The European Union said yesterday that shortcomings in Albania’s municipal elections show the need for better cooperation among political parties and other reforms in a country that aims to join the bloc one day.

“The shortcomings in the preparation and conduct of these elections reflect the need for improved cross-party cooperation to fulfill Albania’s international commitments,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement. “Albania’s political leaders now need to improve the way they work together on electoral reform and on the many other challenging reforms Albania is facing in the EU integration process,” Rehn added.

International monitors earlier expressed disappointment with the elections and said the country had missed a chance to prove democratic credentials worthy of a place in the EU and NATO.

“For someone who, like me, has followed a number of elections in Albania, the one held yesterday was somewhat disappointing,” Jorgen Grunnet, head of the OSCE-ODIHR Election Observation Mission, told reporters.

“The elections represent a missed opportunity... to live up fully to democratic elections.” Grunnet’s mission said the country’s 2005 parliamentary elections had “partially” met international standards.

He said there was no doubt the voting was a democratic process in the sense it was a competitive contest, but added the political environment around both the preparation and the election campaign was marked by uncertainty and lack of trust. “Albania continues to lack a reliable system for civil registration and identification and a uniform system of addresses,” Grunnet said.

“And this caused once again disputes on the compilation of voter lists and identification of voters at polling stations.” The downbeat assessment contrasted with that of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who hailed Sunday’s ballot as the most orderly in the country’s 15-year post-communist history. “I am here to hail the first great victory of free and fair elections... like never before in the history of pluralism,” Berisha said. Irregularities ranging from concerns over voting procedures, the quality of the ink used to make sure nobody voted twice, voter intimidation and other malpractices were reported on polling day, but there were no serious incidents.

Opposition Socialist Party spokeswoman Mimi Kodheli said government representatives were hampering the vote counting yesterday. “We call on them not to damage the standards and the image of the country,” Kodheli said.

Preliminary figures yesterday showed the opposition Socialist Party ahead.