Election - June 2009
On 28 June 2009, the country held parliamentary elections. The official report of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission stated that the election met most OSCE commitments, but nevertheless "did not fully realize the country's potential to adhere to the highest standards for democratic elections." While the elections took place in a highly polarized environment and media coverage was decidedly skewed in favor of the two largest parties, the Democratic Party (DP) and the SP, 34 parties campaigned freely throughout the country. ODIHR observers assessed voting positively in 92 per cent of voting centers visited but noted a number of procedural violations, such as proxy voting. Press coverage was heavily biased in favor of the government and the major opposition party, at the expense of smaller parties. There were numerous allegations, of which several were corroborated, of pressure to attend DP campaign events or to desist from opposition activities, often accompanied by threats of job loss. The government repeatedly used official events, including inaugurations of infrastructure projects, for campaign purposes. According to ODIHR, the government consistently misused state resources--vehicles, personnel, telecommunications, and duplicating equipment--to assist campaigning. The head of the SP also used official events in his capacity as mayor of Tirana to campaign for the SP, although less frequently.
According to the new electoral code, only identification cards or passports could be used as identification for voting. The distribution of identification cards to allow citizens without passports to vote started in January and was largely completed in time for elections. A concerted effort by the international community led to an agreement to accelerate delivery and lower the cost of the cards. There were no major disputes over identification cards on election day. Of over 1.4 million applications for identification cards, all but 3,321 were processed before election day. Approximately 257,000 citizens without a passport did not apply.
Due to administrative shortcomings, ODIHR observers assessed the vote count as bad or very bad in 22 of the 66 ballot-counting centers. Nevertheless, the ODIHR mission found no evidence of irregular counting or manipulation of results and no major irregularities at the centers. However, the opposition contested these apparently contradictory conclusions, and a small political party aired video footage seemingly showing vote counting irregularities in at least one polling station. Opposition demands for recounts were denied by the Central Election Committee on a party-line vote. The bipartisan Electoral College also generally denied recount requests. The postelection appeals process was conducted in a professional manner and appeared to be expedited, according to the ODIHR mission. The final declaration on the seat allocation and electoral results passed the CEC by a unanimous vote of both major parties.
On 01 August 2009, the Central Election Commission (CEC) certified the June 28 parliamentary elections. The Democratic Party (DP) has 70 Members of Parliament, the Socialist Party (SP) 66, and the Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) four. The DP and LSI formed a governing coalition.
Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) Chairman Ilir Meta's re-emergence from the political wilderness as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the Berisha-led government was an outcome few expected from the June parliamentary elections. Meta's dramatic return comes after years of struggling to work his way back up the rungs of power after becoming Prime Minister in 1999 at only 30 years of age. Meta's comeback was impressive, particularly after his ill-fated hunger strike against changes in the Electoral Code failed miserably in 2008 and his LSI party managed to win only four seats in the most recent parliamentary elections. While Meta emerged weaker from the poorly planned strike, he quickly regrouped and cast himself (correctly it seems) as the kingmaker for the June 28 elections. With the four parliamentary seats LSI won in the elections, he was able to keep PM Sali Berisha's Democratic Party (DP) in power by forming a coalition with the DP, giving the DP-LSI coalition a ruling majority.
The government was composed of a center-right coalition of parties including the dominant Democratic Party of Albania, as well as the Socialist Movement for Integration, the Republican Party of Albania, the Environmentalist Agrarian Party, the Democratic Alliance Party, the Legality and Unity of the Right, the Democratic National Front Party, the National Front Party, the Liberal Democratic Union, the Party for Justice and Integration, the Christian Democratic League, the Democratic Alliance Party, the Democratic National Front Party, the Party of New Albanian European Democracy, the New Party of Denied Rights, the Macedonian Alliance for European Integration, the Alliance for Democracy and Solidarity, the Ora of Albania and the Forca Albania.
After the elections, the main opposition party, the SP, boycotted parliament and called for investigations into alleged electoral fraud and demanded the opening of the ballot boxes from the June 28 elections. The ruling DP declared that opening the ballot boxes would be illegal, arguing that the opposition had exhausted all legal appeal remedies provided for in the electoral code.
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