Newsroom
Election process in Albania marked progress despite serious problems in second round
TIRANA 16 October 2000
TIRANA, 16 October 2000 - Despite some serious problems in the second round of the local government elections in Albania, the overall election process marked progress, concluded the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Election Observation Mission, deployed in close co-operation with the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE).
The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission noted in a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions (attached), that while the first round of the local government elections held in Albania on 1 October marked significant progress towards meeting the standards for democratic elections, the second round on 15 October was less transparent and inclusive, and showed the need for further improvement in order to meet certain OSCE commitments.
The two Election Observation Missions in particular noted some concerns related to the post-election period after the first round. The Central Election Commission's announcement of the final results was slow and incomplete. The provisions of the Electoral Code on election complaints are insufficient and were implemented selectively by the election commissions and the courts. The appeals process did not provide effective means of redress, which particularly affected the Republican Party. A number of valid complaints were dismissed without explanation.
The campaign environment for the second round was peaceful and calm overall. Both missions however identified the following problems in the run-up to the second round:
On election day, voting and counting procedures were overall carried out in a calm and orderly manner in most constituencies. Some irregularities were noted including late opening of polling stations and poor respect of procedures such as the inking of voters. Family voting was observed on a large scale, thus denying the secrecy of the vote to women in particular. Some DP representatives resigned from their posts on the election commissions, depriving the process of an essential element of transparency, and as a result election commissions at times did not reach the legal quorum. In Himara, the situation was marked by some serious irregularities ranging from intimidation of commissions members, to one case of violence in which a ballot box was destroyed, to verified evidence of fraud in at least three other voting centres. The authorities should investigate fully the irregularities in accordance with the rule of law.
For further information, please contact:Eugenio Polizzi, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, in Tirana (Tel: +355-42-230012) or Elsa Fenet, ODIHR Election Adviser, or Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, ODIHR Public Affairs Officer, in Warsaw (Tel: +48-22-520-0600) Amb. Jorgen Grunnet, Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General in Tirana (Tel:+355-42-233375)
The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission noted in a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions (attached), that while the first round of the local government elections held in Albania on 1 October marked significant progress towards meeting the standards for democratic elections, the second round on 15 October was less transparent and inclusive, and showed the need for further improvement in order to meet certain OSCE commitments.
The two Election Observation Missions in particular noted some concerns related to the post-election period after the first round. The Central Election Commission's announcement of the final results was slow and incomplete. The provisions of the Electoral Code on election complaints are insufficient and were implemented selectively by the election commissions and the courts. The appeals process did not provide effective means of redress, which particularly affected the Republican Party. A number of valid complaints were dismissed without explanation.
The campaign environment for the second round was peaceful and calm overall. Both missions however identified the following problems in the run-up to the second round:
- The CEC did not take action to remedy some of the shortcomings observed on 1 October, particularly failing to address inaccuracies in the voter lists, invalid ballots and election complaints and to provide more training to lower-level commissions.
- The CEC did not set a deadline for candidate withdrawal in between the rounds, which created confusion on the eve of the election, when a number of DP candidates resigned following a call to boycott from the national DP leadership.
- In Himara, where there is a Greek-speaking minority, the end of the campaign at local and national level was marred by nationalistic rhetoric, reported at length in the press even on election day, in an environment of increased tension with a neighboring country.
On election day, voting and counting procedures were overall carried out in a calm and orderly manner in most constituencies. Some irregularities were noted including late opening of polling stations and poor respect of procedures such as the inking of voters. Family voting was observed on a large scale, thus denying the secrecy of the vote to women in particular. Some DP representatives resigned from their posts on the election commissions, depriving the process of an essential element of transparency, and as a result election commissions at times did not reach the legal quorum. In Himara, the situation was marked by some serious irregularities ranging from intimidation of commissions members, to one case of violence in which a ballot box was destroyed, to verified evidence of fraud in at least three other voting centres. The authorities should investigate fully the irregularities in accordance with the rule of law.
For further information, please contact: