Election - June 2013
The United States and the European Union were among those appealing for calm in Albania, after at least three people were killed and dozens were injured 21 January 2011 in anti-government protests in the capital Tirana. Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha said he will not allow a similar overthrow of his government as in Tunisia, but the opposition vowed more demonstrations. Supporters of the opposition Socialists accused the government of financial wrong doing and vote rigging during the 2009 elections. Tensions further increased this week when the country's deputy prime minister, Ilir Meta, resigned amid an alleged corruption scandal. Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha has accused his opponents of attempting a "Tunisia-style uprising," a reference to the bloody overthrow of Tunisia's president in which scores were killed. Mr. Berisha says Albania will not pass into a similar "state of emergency." He has told Albanians in televised remarks that "scenarios of violence will not be tolerated."
Those watching thet demonstrations described them as the worst violence to erupt in the volatile Balkan nation in over a decade. Rama made clear he did not want to wait till the scheduled elections in June 2013. He said the opposition will not tolerate what he calls "an intolerable regime" of thieves ruling Europe's poorest nation.
In May 2011 there were nationwide elections for mayors and city councils that the OSCE election observation mission characterized as “competitive and transparent” but “highly polarized, with mistrust between political parties in government and opposition.” The Central Election Commission’s (CEC) decision to overturn initial results in the mayoral contest in Tirana was widely perceived to be partisan and undermined confidence in its independence and impartiality.
On 11 June 2012 the Albanian parliament elected a new president on a fourth try. Former interior minister Bujar Nishani received 73 votes from the 140-seat parliament. The main opposition Socialists boycotted the vote. The three previous attempts failed because parties could not agree on a consensus candidate. Mr. Nishani replaces President Bamir Topi, whose five-year term expired in July 2012. The prime minister heads the government, while the president has limited executive power.
Albania had been embroiled in a political crisis for three years, with the opposition accusing the ruling Democrats of electoral fraud and corruption in the 2009 national elections. The Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha was in coalition with 24 other parties on a platform of easing high unemployment and advancing the poor Balkan state towards the EU. The Socialist Party led by Edi Rama, which sought to oust the Democrats from office after two four-year terms, was allied with 39 other parties in a coalition for a "European Albania." Creating large coalitions is necessary under Albania's regional proportional system to maximize the power of each vote. The reform agenda, in particular the fight against corruption, effectively stalled as the political parties shifted their attention to the June 2013 national elections.
In April 2013 the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), the junior partner in the governing coalition, withdrew from the current coalition with the Democratic Party (DP) after a deal to join the main opposition bloc headed by the Socialist Party (SP) in the upcoming elections. Ilir Meta, the leader of the LSI, said the LSI would join a pre-election coalition with the Socialists, headed by Edi Rama, but rejected the idea of backing a no-confidence motion against the current government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Albania’s parliamentary elections on 23 June 2013 included sixty-six political parties – the majority of which joined one of two electoral coalitions – and two independent candidates. The largely inclusive process that offered voters a choice. Parties developed programmatic platforms and engaged in substantive political debates, but mutual accusations between the two largest parties sometimes shifted attention away from the substance of the campaign. There were instances where public resources were used for campaign purposes and that a number of official government events included campaign advertising and speeches by the governing party. Allegations of vote-buying and pressure on public-sector employees negatively affected the pre-election environment. Campaign-financing regulations did not provide for sufficient transparency.
Albania's opposition Socialist Party took the lead in early counting on 24 June 2013 after a tense election watched closely by Western allies worried over democracy in the NATO country. Both the Socialists and the ruling Democratic Party claimed victory within minutes of polls closing late on 23 June 2013, raising the specter of a disputed result. Early reports suggested that the opposition Socialist Party (SPA) and its allies were heading for a clear victory, with the possibility of forming a government with a substantial majority. With votes counted from 86 percent of the of polling stations, the Socialist-led alliance headed by former Tirana mayor Edi Rama was poised to take 84 of parliament's 140 seats. Berisha's Democrats were on for only 56.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha conceded defeat on June 26, 2013 after losing a parliamentary election over the weekend, ending three days of public silence and soothing fears of a messy handover of power in the volatile NATO country. Albania's dominant political figure since the end of more than four decades of Stalinist rule in 1991, Berisha was credited with taking Albania into NATO in 2009 and onto the first rung of EU membership. But his opponents accused him of undermining democracy and allowing graft and organized crime to flourish.
That marked a dramatic shift in a political landscape that had been characterised by polarisation for the previous four years. It also marked a swing in favor of the Socialists' leader, Edi Rama, in his eight-year rivalry with Sali Berisha, the prime minister for the past eight years and leader of the center-right Democratic Party of Albania (DPA). Berisha, who was 68, had also served as president in 1992-97. Rama, who was 20 years younger, served as mayor of Tirana, the capital city, between 2000 and 2011.
OSCE monitors said 24 June 2013 that "Albania’s parliamentary elections on 23 June were competitive with active citizen participation throughout the campaign and genuine respect for fundamental freedoms. However, the atmosphere of mistrust between the two main political forces tainted the electoral environment and challenged the administration of the entire electoral process ... Persistent, long-standing differences and continued mutual mistrust between the main political parties undercut the work of the election administration, and the boycott of the Central Election Commission by opposition parties following the controversial dismissal of one of its members meant that it conducted the remainder of its work without the quorum necessary to make key decisions..." The OSCE's statement fell short of declaring the election fully free and fair.
The European Commission stated that the successful conduct of parliamentary elections in 2013 would be a crucial test of the country’s democratic institution and Albania’s readiness for EU candidacy status. The EU had previously rejected Albania's application for candidacy three times in a row. One of the reasons was the fact that the country had never managed to hold an election that met international standards of fairness and transparency.
The United States State Department very much shared the commission’s concerns. The United States had been clear that to meet international standards, the independence of Albania’s institutions must be respected. The political discourse must remain constructive and civil, and the Albanian people must have confidence in both the process and the results of the elections.
On 25 June 2013 Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, made the following statement: "We would like to congratulate the citizens of Albania for the parliamentary elections of 23 June which took place in an overall orderly manner. Adequate follow up to the preliminary findings and conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission should now be ensured. We condemn the reported cases of violence and expect that these incidents will be fully investigated and perpetrators brought to justice." Ashton congratulated Albania for a parliamentary election that international observers described as “vibrant”, “competitive” and characterised by “genuine respect for fundamental freedoms”.
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