FINAL REPORT
Warsaw 11 December 2000
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 1 and 15 October 2000 local government elections in Albania marked significant progress towards meeting the standards for democratic elections formulated in the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. In contrast with previous occasions, these elections took place in a tense but remarkably peaceful atmosphere, with only a few isolated incidents of violence reported during the campaign and election days. This was a reflection of restraint exercised by political parties and important measures undertaken by the Government to improve public order.
The electoral campaign for the 2000 local elections was considered by all parties to be the most peaceful campaign in Albania since 1991. For the first time, a broad spectrum of media offered voters a wide range of information.
Voting and Counting -
.In Himara, the end of the campaign was marred by nationalist rhetoric in relation to the Greek-speaking community, reported at length in the local and national media even on election day, in an environment of increased tension with a neighboring country. On second round election day, the situation was marked in this constituency by some serious irregularities, which to this date have not been sufficiently addressed by the CEC.
II. INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In accordance with its commitments as an OSCE participating State, the government of Albania invited the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the 1 October 2000 local government elections. On 25 August, following a Needs Assessment Mission, the OSCE/ODIHR established an Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Albania headed by Eugenio Polizzi (Italy) and comprising a core staff team of eight experts. At the beginning of September, the EOM deployed 11 long-term observers (LTO) throughout the country to follow the election campaign and the administrative preparation.
On 1 October, the EOM deployed 251 short-term observers (STO) from 26 OSCE participating States who monitored polling and counting in over 900 of the 4,578 voting centres. On 15 October, 80 STOs from 18 OSCE participating States monitored polling and counting in over 300 voting centres.
On 2 and 16 October, the EOM issued statements of preliminary findings and conclusions. The EOM closed on 20 October, although two core team members remained in country for another week to follow-up a number of complaints, including those in the municipality of Himara.
B. CAMPAIGN FOR THE SECOND ROUND
Several other parties, especially the Republican Party and the Union for Human Rights Party, also announced that they would not accept the results in those constituencies where their candidates were not registered or had not appeared on the ballot papers in the first round.
Overall, campaign activity between the rounds was low key, and, for the most part, took place in a calm and peaceful atmosphere. The SP was the only party to launch a high-level campaign for the second round elections, and as the DP did not fully participate in the run-offs, the competition was rather one-sided. As a result, and although the majority of second rounds featured contests between SP and DP candidates, the focus shifted in certain constituencies to local competitions between the SP and its national junior coalition partners. In Himara, an unusual coalition, coined "Alliance of the Nation" comprising all other political forces, including the DP, supported the SP candidate and resorted to inflammatory speeches in its campaign against the candidate of the Union for Human Rights Party (UHRP). As a result, the last days of the campaign were marred by inflammatory speeches and nationalistic rhetoric (see Section IX).
VII. MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE CAMPAIGN
A. MEDIA SITUATION IN ALBANIA
The Albanian media scene is changing rapidly. New television and radio stations are constantly appearing, broadcasting licenses are in the process of being allocated to private radio and television stations and the public television broadcaster TVSH is undergoing transformation. In general, and with the exception of Tele Norba SH and Top Albania Radio that have modern studios and technology, the quality of programmes is not high, and a blatant lack of respect for copyright laws is apparent.3
A total of 30 local newspapers and 10 national dailies are published in Albania. Moreover, research by the Albanian Media Institute shows that 62% of the population has a negative opinion of the role of the press in Albanian society.
IX. OBSERVATION OF VOTING AND COUNTING IN THE SECOND ROUND
On 15 October, second round elections were held in 28 municipalities, 128 communes and 10 of the 11 Tirana boroughs. First round elections for mayor were re-run in Ksamil (Saranda) and Ballagat (Lushnje), for mayor and council in Paskuqan (Tirana) and for council in Kodovjat (Gramsh). In addition, first round elections for mayor and council took place in Pult (Shkoder) and Shale (Shkoder), and voting centre 6 of Velipoje (Shkoder), where polling did not take place on 1 October.
On 15 October, voting and counting procedures were carried out in a calm and orderly manner in most constituencies, with some exceptions in the south of the country. There was some confusion linked to the resignation of certain DP candidates shortly before election day, following an appeal to boycott by the national leadership. The resignation of DP commission members deprived the election process of an essential safeguard and element of transparency; and, as a result, election commissions at times did not reach the legal quorum. The CEC was prompt to point out that commissioners would be prosecuted for disrupting the election process if they failed to fulfill their duties on election day without any proper justification.
On 12 October, DP leaders also called on their supporters not to vote. The turnout for the second round was lower that in the first round, although this must in part be attributed to the general lack of interest in the run-offs.
A. HIMARA CASE
After the first round, the candidate of the Union for Human Rights Party (UHRP) notified the EOM that the SP and DP chairs of the Qeparo voting centre, constituency of Himara, disappeared with the ballot box after the vote count and fixed the protocols in order to force a second round.
On 4 October, the Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Greece issued a statement complaining of widespread violations against the Greek-speaking minority during the first round. No evidence of such widespread fraud was uncovered by the EOM at that stage, although blocks of identical signatures in the voter lists were observed in one voting centre after the second round election.
In the run up to the second round, high-level SP representatives actively campaigned in Himara and the Prime Minister visited the municipality two days before polling. More importantly, leading politicians resorted to nationalist rhetoric and inflammatory language.
In contrast, the UHRP ran a low-key campaign and did not resort to any such language. Though the campaign of the "Alliance for the Nation" was widely covered in the national media, local party representatives in Himara confirmed that the Alliance was not a local initiative and that despite the DP mayor's personal declaration of support for the SP candidate, there had been no joint campaign.
On the eve of the election, tension in Himara was exacerbated when 13 buses with approximately 500 Albanian emigrants coming from Greece were stopped at the border for lack of proper vehicle documentation to enter Albania. After discussion, the emigrants were let through and picked up on the other side of the border by Albanian busses and escorted by the police and two Members of the Hellenic Parliament. In addition, two UHRP representatives were detained for two hours on the eve of the second round, and emigrants were taken to the police station for questioning about their military obligations.
Accusations of Greek interference in Albanian internal affairs surfaced on 14 and 15 October, following the arrival in Himara of 10 Members of the Hellenic Parliament and four staff.9 The SP and the CEC issued official statements of protest against Greek interference and violation of the Electoral Code, which specifically prohibits foreigners from campaigning or from entering polling stations unless duly accredited. In a letter addressed also to the OSCE, the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament refuted these accusations and stressed that the presence of 10 independent MPs did not constitute an official representation of the Hellenic Parliament.
Throughout the election day, the EOM received information from observers deployed in Himara on behalf of a number of organisations, including the Council of Europe, OSCE Presence, Embassy of the United States and European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM). They reported that Greek parliamentarians were seen addressing voters in front of voting centres and in the presence of journalists. The Electoral Code prohibits any campaign activity within 150 meters from voting centres and on election day. It is, however, difficult to distinguish between campaigning and the usual visits of foreign dignitaries and Members of Parliament (MPs) on election day. Observers did not indicate that the MPs had held any public rally or entered any voting centre. With the exception of three members of one voting center, who stated that two Greek MPs entered the voting center for a few minutes, all other interlocutors also stressed that the MPs had not entered any voting centre.
On election day, the EOM also visited the voting centre in Dhermi (Himara), where a dispute between commission members broke out and the UHRP member destroyed the ballot box in an attempt to prevent a voter from casting a ballot10 One person was armed with a gun. The box was subsequently thrown out of the window, collected, replaced with a new ballot box provided by the LGEC and polling resumed. Observers noted that many ballots were not folded and all marked in favour of the SP candidate. Others reported that the voter lists contained blocks of identical signatures in the same handwriting. A number of UHRP commission members indicated to observers that they had been intimidated and asked to leave the voting centres.
During the counting of votes, observers in two voting centres reported seeing a number of ballot papers still attached to each other at the stub, indicating that irregular voting had taken place. In Himara, the total of 4,634 votes cast in the second round was higher than the 3,440 cast in the first round, leading the UHRP to claim that this was evidence of manipulation. Moreover, VCCs in Himara did not receive sufficient numbers of protocols, making it impossible for party representatives on the commissions to receive copies and adequate documentation in support of their complaints. In addition, in Himara, voting centre members, and even chairpersons, were changed without reason by the LGEC a day before the second round, in clear violation of the law. However, it seems that UHRP members left the voting centres before the count
On 19 October, the CEC decided not to uphold the UHRP complaint to invalidate elections in Himara, on the grounds that the results of the contested voting centres could not impact the overall outcome. On the same day, Vasil Melo, UHRP chairman, indicated that they would not lodge a complaint in court due to the UHRP being part of the ruling coalition.
In view of the above, the EOM continued to monitor the situation in Himara after the second round and concluded that no effective measures to address the irregularities had been taken by the CEC.
9 See Shekuli lead article on 16 October entitled "elections held under Greek terror".
10 The UHRP member claimed that it was to prevent the voting centre Chair from stuffing the box.
STATEMENT ON ALBANIA AND GREECE AT THE 2000 OSCE IMPLEMENTATION MEETING
17 October 2000
FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS:
THE HIMARA (ALBANIA) MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
(OCTOBER 2000)
Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group ? Greece have for years worked on human rights and in particular on minority rights in Southeast Europe. Today, they deplore the conditions under which municipal elections, and in particular their second round, were held in the Albanian municipality of Himara, on 1 and 15 October 2000. International observers, including from the OSCE ODIHR, are reported today to have confirmed many irregularities and to have also registered a fact well known to experienced minority rights advocates: the Himara region has a Greek minority that is denied the rights the Albanian state grants to Greek minority members elsewhere, in the officially recognized "minority zones." As a result of the refusal to recognize the presence of ethnic Greeks in Himara and to consequently operate minority classes in the schools, despite the existence of sufficient demand, this year?s municipal elections have apparently acquired the character of an implicit referendum on the issue. Because the issue is perceived as a "sensitive national issue", if not a taboo, in Albania, all but one of the country?s political parties coalesced in the second round behind the socialist candidate opposing a candidate of the mainly Greek minority Human Rights Party. As the observer noted, it was an "unusual coalition" given that the country?s two major parties were at each other?s throats everywhere else in Albania. In fact the opposition "Democratic Party" even boycotted the second round to protest against alleged unfairness of the first round for which they held responsible the socialists. But they allied with them in Himara. On the other hand this odd coalition?s opponent, the Human Rights Party is a partner in the socialist-led government. This did not prevent the socialists from joining the opposition in unprecedented in recent years "hellenophobic hate speech" through election day, according to ODIHR observers. Today, even ODIHR has reportedly become a target of hate speech. Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano for example branded the Greek minority party "Human Rights criminals." The result of the formation of what was repeatedly called "Alliance for the Nation" was -to quote Albanian weekly "Klan" (14/10/00)- that: "Instead of a normal election procedure in a town of the Albanian South, we are now faced with a historic battle ?in which, in an irrational way, the electoral result will be interpreted in terms of the origins and the ancient tradition of this town: if the socialist candidate wins it will be an Albanian town, if the Human Rights Party wins, it will be a Greek town." In such circumstances almost everywhere election irregularities would have been unavoidable. There are widespread allegations, some already documented, of harassment of Greek voters, and of use of unnecessary police violence: an Associated Press photo showing uniform and plain clothes policemen with rifles and guns pushing unarmed civilians in front of an election center is telling. Moreover, Human Rights Party and Greek Parliament representatives claim there were incidents of violence against party representatives in polling places as well as and ballot stuffing. At the same time, allegations, some documented, were made of inappropriate conduct of some minority members and members of parliament from Greece, well known hardliners of the nationalist opposition New Democracy party. We welcome the Greek government?s condemnation of such practices. The election climate and the irregularities have created a dangerous spiral, rather reminiscent of the 1994 "Omonoia trial" crisis between Albania and Greece. Inter alia, in Greece, leading opposition politicians and many others called yesterday for "reprisal" expulsions of Albanian immigrants from Greece. Our NGOs therefore appeal today to the OSCE ODIHR to help publish a detailed report on this election, confirming or refuting as many allegations as possible. This is the only way nationalist circles in both countries will be devoid of arguments. Should such a request be granted, all those making allegations should document them and submit them to ODIHR. If such a review finds it necessary, a rerun of the election need be called for. We hope the Albanian authorities will cooperate in such an effort. Most importantly, though, we appeal to the "good offices" of the OSCE HCNM, a knowledgeable expert on the situation in Albania and Greece. We request that, in cooperation with the Albanian authorities, he addresses the issue of the ?inadmissible by international and now also Albanian standards? territorial restrictions on the recognition of minorities in Albania and advise the Albanian government how to abolish such practices and apply instead uniformly the standards now part of Albanian legal order. The sooner this is done, the better it will be. In 2001, there are scheduled a national census and a parliamentary election in Albania. The country's democratic transition cannot afford either one to be challenged as unfair by any side.
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
Central Election Commission
DECISION No. 40 date 7-10-2000
ON THE DECLARATION OF ELECTORAL
RESULTS FOR THE ORGANS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HELD ON OCTOBER 1, 2000
(This Appendix will be added very shortly) Appendix 4
Election observation in Himara, 14 and 15 October 2000 After the first round of elections held on 1 October, there had been many arguments concerning problems that had been observed by several internationals in the municipality of Himara where it was even claimed that manipulations in different polling stations had deprived the representative of the Human Rights Party of a victory that he should have had in the first round. This was the reason for the Congress delegation for wanting to send one team to Himara, composed of the Head of delegation Moreno Bucci, and the Secretariat member Ulrich Bohner. The team was deployed from Saturday 14 to Monday morning 16 October in Himara. Some of the irregularities observed in Himara are already part of the general report and of the joint Press Release between OSCE/ODIHR and the Congress. It should also be stressed that the local elections in Himara had been the subject of polemics at extremely high level, inside Albania and outside. Inside, this led to a strange confrontation between most of the Albanian forces including both the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party, opposed in all other places, as well as other Parties giving strong support to the candidate of the Socialist Party. For this, even very nationalistic arguments have been used denying the Greek-speaking minority in Himara any existence (they were considered as being just normal Albanians who for an unknown reason persisted in speaking Greek). This situation triggered a lot of political support from the Greek side which found its expression in demarches made by Greek diplomatic representatives within different international organisations and in many European capitals, as well as declarations to the press in Athens, and the presence of 9 Greek Parliamentarians and some Greek officials in Himara on the election day. To see things in the right proportion, it must however be said that the Greek minority as such is well recognised in other parts of Southern Albania and that the overall population of Himara does not represent more than 12 or 13,000 inhabitants of whom many spend most of the year in Greece. On the voters lists (A and B), there was a total number of 8,615 people. This resulted in 4,635 valid votes cast on the election day as far as it was announced by the local government electoral committee headed by a Socialist representative. Despite the irregularities reported during the first round and the irregularities seen by observers during the second round, the Congress observers nevertheless wonder whether the very significant attention given to this poll in a relatively small municipality was not out of proportion with the real situation in Southern Albania. It was not the task of the Congress observers to determine whether there is a Greek minority in Himara and what its size might be. They noted however that in the city of Himara and in Himara village (polling stations representing more or less 3,500 people), there seemed to be a relatively homogeneous group of people speaking Greek. The same cannot be said for some of the polling stations in the villages, especially in the surrounding mountains. In these villages, the impression of the observers was that they were mainly populated with Albanian speakers. The general atmosphere was also influenced by the fact that there was a very strong presence by Albanian police and special police from Vlora. However, the Congress observers did not find at any moment that the police had intervened in a brutal or inappropriate manner with people on the spot, although such behaviour was alleged mainly by Greek representatives. In one case, the Congress observers had noted that a policeman was inside the polling station for a short moment without being asked by the Chair, in another case he was immediately at the entrance holding voters back in order to maintain orderly proceedings within the polling station but without any intimidating attitude towards the voters. The Congress observers felt that this was a rather correct attitude of the policeman concerned. Likewise, the Congress observers did not notice any inappropriate attitude from the side of Greek representatives and in particular from the side of the Greek Parliamentarians present, although Albanian media reported that some of them had been seen campaigning and intimidating non-Greek voters in some of the polling stations. On Saturday, the Congress observers had several meetings with observers from OSCE/ODIHR and with members of the local government electoral commission. On that occasion, the socialist Chairman insisted that everything had been done all right whilst the DP deputy Chairman admitted that irregularities had taken place during the first round. The observers of the Congress equally met in some of the Himara cafés the candidate of the Human Rights Party who showed a generally moderate attitude, Greek Parliamentarians and high level representatives of the Democratic Party from Tirana who criticised the boycott proclaimed by Mr Berisha. On polling day, they noticed the Socialist candidate entering one of the polling stations and being rather excited. On polling day, the observer team of the Congress visited 6 different polling stations (no. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12) and attended the opening and the counting process in polling station no. 8 (Himara culture house). In polling stations no. 8, 6 and 9 (respectively Himara Fshat and Himara school), there seemed to be no major irregularities, except the fact that family voting could be observed here and there, violating the secrecy of the vote, and that it could not be excluded in polling station no. 9 that the policeman posted outside the station might see the electors filling in the ballot paper. This was however corrected by the Chair of the voting centre committee, as soon as the Congress observer had drawn his attention to this fact. The boycott requested from Mr Berisha had apparently no effect on the voting centre committees acting in Himara. In most of the polling stations, observers from the Human Rights Party and from the Association for Democratic Culture were present. In the other polling stations, some problems were noted. In polling station no. 11 (Qeparo Fush), the President was absent when the Congress observers were there, apparently for the funeral of his nephew. The other members of the polling station committee seemed to be in difficulty to run the situation properly, in particular when a voter had signed and voted for 4 people (his wife and 2 daughters). Therefore, the polling station committee even wanted to interrupt the voting. In the end, it appeared that the wife and the daughters returned, signed the registers, and thus legitimated as far as possible the vote cast by the head of the family. In general terms, there was a lot of confusion in that particular polling station when the Congress observers were there. Based on other observer observations, it seems however that it worked in a quieter manner after the return of the Chairman. The voters list was not put outside the voting centre, and for some obscure reasons, voters had to sign on two copies of the list. In polling station no. 12 (Qeparo Fshat), the representative of the Human Rights Party was changed, but the new one was not accepted by the other 6 members of the voting centre committee. He counted the people entering into the polling station outside, and claimed that when 44 people had entered, already 95 people had voted inside. The Congress observers noted that 51 signatures on the voting list had been produced by only 21 persons. It was also strange to note that in this particular polling station, allegedly 77 % of the voters inscribed on both lists had voted, giving 99 % of the votes to the Socialist Party candidate. The observers found perhaps the strangest situation in polling station no. 10 (Pillul) where the Human Rights Party representative on the polling station committee was not present between 8.00 and 12.00, although the new representative had arrived at 9.00 but he was not recognised as long as he could not produce an adequate paper from the local government electoral committee. During these hours, already 250 out of 364 people figuring on the voters list had cast their vote, which is a surprisingly high turnout in the morning of the day and in the absence of the Human Rights Party representative. This is all the more strange as during the first turn only 84 people had voted at that point in time. The Congress observers noted that 42 signatures had been produced by only 18 persons. In this polling station, no ink mark was used for the voters. Furthermore, no identity was checked as the voting centre committee members claimed that they knew everybody. Reportedly, the first Human Rights Party representative on the voting centre committee had fallen ill, but there were also claims about intimidation. In particular, the new member was found later by the Council of Europe observers downtown and claimed that he had been openly threatened and that he had had to leave this particular polling station. Again, the total result proclaimed was that Pillul had an extremely high turnout, 82 % of A and B lists, 90 % of the votes going to the Socialist Party candidate. In polling station no. 6 (Himara Fshat or village), the polling station was in a very bad shape, in an old school without any windows, and voters having to climb one stair up in order to be able to vote. In this voting centre, people tended mainly to speak Greek. The participation in this voting centre was of only 31 %, many of them old people. The Congress observers attended the counting process in polling station no. 8 (Himara culture house), on the ground floor of the municipality, where the LGEC works on the first floor. The polling station closed at 6.00 o?clock without problems, although one spoiled ballot (marked for one of the Parties) led to some serious discussions. However, the committee failed to count first the total number of ballots in the box. When the observers drew the attention of the polling station committee to the new rules contained in the law concerning invalid votes, with a tendency to respect wherever possible the will of the voter, this triggered a very serious discussion, although the total number of invalid ballot was only of 16. As they failed to reach agreement on which ballots they could nevertheless accept as being valid, in particular because the Socialist member wanted to have two more ballots recognised in which the name and the party of the Human Rights Party candidate had been stroke out, the polling station committee at the end accepted these 16 ballots as invalid. The Democratic Party Chairman of the Committee handed a copy of the report to the Congress observers as foreseen in the law. In total, the Congress observers therefore note that serious fraud and manipulation has taken place in 3 of the voting centres visited (no. 10, 11 and 12) whereas in the other centres visited, voting seemed to be rather correct. When and before the final results were proclaimed by the LGEC in the evening, giving 3,397 votes to the Socialist candidate and 1,238 to the Human Rights Party candidate, a crowd of mainly Greek speakers demonstrated outside the municipal building, shouting but without violence. The Congress observers noted that there was a strange correlation between the percentage of votes cast in the different polling stations and the votes achieved by the Socialist candidate. In all cases where participation was rather high, the Socialist candidate made an excellent percentage (between 44 and 81 %) whereas in the places in the centre of Himara, where participation was low, the percentage of the Socialist candidate was equally low (between 13 and 16 %). The only places where participation was relatively low and the percentage of the Socialist candidate relatively high are Ilias (no. 4) and Qeparo Fush (no. 11). Other OSCE/ODIHR observers observed serious fraud and incidents, at least in polling stations no. 2 and 3 (Gilic and Dhermi). It must therefore be noted that fraud and manipulation has taken place in favour of the Socialist Party candidate and that this was relatively well organised, following the same patterns in different VCCs. It is not certain, however, that without that fraud the Human Rights Party candidate could have won, given the low participation in the mainly Greek speaking parts of the municipality. At any rate, it was not for the Congress observers to decide whether the vote in Himara should be invalidated. Such a decision should be left to the competent Albanian commissions and courts. The observers are grateful to the local OSCE/ODIHR long-term observer, Alessandro Parziale, for his excellent collaboration during the preparation and deployment and the different contacts with the Local Government Electoral Commission. Press Release 737a00 Appendix 5 International observers: overall election process in Albania marked progress despite some serious problems in second round STRASBOURG, 17.10.2000 - In the wake of the second round of local elections in Albania, the Council of Europe?s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Election Observation Mission issued the following statement in Tirana: "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 CLRAE delegation is led by Moreno Bucci (Italy), Chairman of the CLRAE Sustainable Development Committee, who has already visited Albania on several occasions. The other members of the delegation are Tomas Jirsa (Czech Republic) and Christopher Newbury (United Kingdom). They are accompanied by Ulrich Bohner, Deputy Head of the CLRAE Secretariat, as well as by Joergen Grunnet, Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General in Tirana, and Mats Lindberg from the Council?s Tirana Office. The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission noted in a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions, 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: #61623; 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. #61623; 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 Democratic Party (DP) candidates resigned following a call to boycott from the national DP leadership. #61623; In Himara, where there is a Greek-speaking minority, the end of the campaign at local and national level was marked by nationalistic rhetoric, reported at length in the press even on election day, in an environment of increased tension with a neighbouring 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 elections 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: #61607;
Eugenio Polizzi, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission,
in Tirana
(Tel +355 42 230 012) or
Elsa Fenet, OSCE/ODIHR Election Advisor, in Warsaw
(Tel +48 22 520 0600) #61607; Amb. Jorgen Grunnet, Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General in Tirana
(Tel +355 42 233 375)
Press Contact Dmitri Marchenkov, Council of Europe Press Service
Tel: +33 3 88 41 38 44 - Fax: +33 3 88 41 27 90 E-mail: PressUnit@coe.int
Flash
News From Himara (CHIMARA)
In Italiano
Tutta Albania contro Himara. Unita la policita di Tirana "Aleanza per Himara albanese" Per la prima volta il Partito Socialista in cooperazzione dell'elezione insieme con le partite opositare, anche il Partito Democratico di Berisha" Tirana 10 Octtobre. Tutta Albania contro Himara di Greci. Proprio con la inissiativa dei Servizi Segreti Albanese (SHISH) che hanno aperto uno sede anche a Himara (vogliono chiamare "La squola della Inteligenza George Tenet" ) ormai anche il Partito Democratico di Berisha ha firmato uno patto insieme con tuti partiti politici albanese contro PBDNJ il partito della Minoranca Grecca che verra al ballotagio questa Domenica per elezioni municipali. Secondo i fondi ufficiali albanesi, i partiti sono profondamente mobillizati a fare vincere elezione a Himara il cantidato del Partito Socialista, usando cosi tuta la loro forza e inteligenza per fare vincere il sindaco di comune di Himara. Ormai la lota per elezione sě e trasformata d'unanuova gurrra tra Albania e Greccia, dove Himara e diventato simbolo del nazionalismo della due parte. "una gran vergogna - dice i fondi ufficiali d'OMONIA Organisazione della Minioranza Grecca in Albania - qalsiassi essere noi sosteniamo i diriti del popolo di Himara, a sceliere il suo cantidato del futuro. Noi andiamo verso referendum per sostenere i minoritari grecci di Himara, finno addesso non conosciuto dal governo albanese. Oggi tutto i giornali si apronno le prime pagine a fare vincere elezione a Himara con ogni costano essere possibille.
Stavri Marko
In English
All Albania a front of Himara.(CHIMARA)
Unitet all the politics party of Tirana " Alleanza for Himara`s Albania " The Socialist Party cooperation for the election with the politic opposites party, also the Party Democratic of Berisha, to win election in Himara this Sandy" Tirana 10 Octtobre. All Albania counter Himara`s Greek. Just with the initiatives of the Intelligence Albanian Agency (SHISH) that has opened a center also to Himara (they (SHISH) wants to name " The school of the Intelligent George Tenet ") by now also Democratic of Berisha has signed one pact with all politics party in Albania a front of PBDNJ the party of the Greek Minority in Albania to go balloting this Sunday for municipal elections. According to the fonds Albanian officials, the parties are mobilizations to make to win election to Himara the candidate one of the Socialist Party, using thet coveralls their force and intelligent in order to make to win the mayor of municipal of Himara. By now the politics forses are doing to transformed election one war new between Albania and Greece, where Himara and become symbol of the nationalism of the two part. " a great shame - sad the official fond of OMONIA Organization of the Greek Minority in Albania - We will support the Wright of the People of Himara, to choose its candidate one of the future. We will go to referendum in order to support the Greeks Minority of Himara, that now not known from the Albanian Government. Today all the newspapers write the first pages to make one to gain election to Himara with every cost to be possible. Stavri Marko OMONIA sad "500 secret Albanian agents arrived in Himara this Sandy. Fear for manipulation elections". Albanian Nationalism shovinism in attack counter the Human Wright Watch in Albania. Tirana. 10.10.200 OMONIA the Greek Minority in Albania sad today that manipulation elections this Sandy for Municipal of Himara from the Political forces in Albania together from help of Secret Service Albanian SHISH. There are very big pressing from SHISH in particularly in Dhermi and Qeparo when the OMONIA to hope very successful according too week again in 1 October. According OMONIA in Himara have arrived 500 secret Albanian agents. But in Himara will go very observations from International Community including from OSCE, EU, EC journalist, and from USA Embassy in Tirana. According from Athens, thousands emigrants himariotis will went to vote, together with reporters, euro Congressmen's, to observations the election in Himara. Today the Albanian Press wrote that "Attack final for Himara`s Nationalism Albanian" But OMONIA sad that "This is the war counter the Human Wright Watch from Albanian Nationalism Shovinism counter THE Greek Minority in Albania.
Stavri Marko
SAT, 11 NOV 2000 00:13:08 GMT
Himara: Another Balkan Story
AIM Tirana, October 23, 2000
Although the second round of local elections in Albania included almost 1.2 million voters, at almost 40 percent of polling stations all over the country all attention was focused on the small town of Himara in the south of Albania, where the opposing candidates were from the Socialist Party and the Party of Human Rights, which represents the interests of ethnic minorities in the country. Himara brought to Albania the same thing that Kosovo brought to Yugoslavia a year ago: a wave of nationalism unseen during ten years of post-communist transition. And while the Kosovo crisis had been overcome thanks to human solidarity rather than nationalistic outbursts, the crisis in Himara brought something that could be considered the most daring manifestation of the Albanian nationalism. The Socialist candidate won some 75 percent of votes in a campaign, which assumed harsh nationalistic tones and ended with an incident on the day of voting. Nine Greek opposition parliamentarians disembarked in Himara provoking a sharp reaction of the Albanian side. The Greek deputies stated that irregularities and tensions had influenced the voting results. The Albanian side interpreted the activity of Greek MPs as a violation of the sovereignty and electoral code of Albania which prohibits foreign interference in electoral campaigns. The press in Tirana also drew a bead on the activities of Greek diplomats in Himara, especially of the Greek Consuls in Gjirokaster and Tirana, which were accused of exerting pressure on voters. The international observers of OHDIR pointed out that the elections in Himara were characterised with numerous irregularities, intimidation and stealing of votes in at least three voting stations. In their report, the international observers pointed out that there was a "Greek speaking community" in Himara - a term which the official Tirana doesn't approve of. However, the fact that the report of the international observers made no mention of the activities of Greek MPs, caused dissatisfaction in the Albania's capital, but also serious divisions among representatives of international organisations. OSCE Ambassador to Tirana Ahrens and Ambassador of the Council of Europe Grunet, avoided informing the press about the report of international observers because they could not agree whether to mention the role of Greek parliamentarians in the voting in Himara or not. Even two corresponding Helsinki Committees, the Greek and the Albanian one, had a controversy over this, accusing each other from nationalistic positions. Be that as it may, this mostly affected the relations between Greece and Albania which became strained. The Greek Minister for European Affairs Papazoi announced that the Greek-Albanian relations could be disturbed because of election irregularities in the second round in Himara. On the other hand, the Greek Foreign Minister Papandreu stated before the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Greek Parliament that "we shall send a clear message to Tirana that Albanian's road to Europe leads through Athens". One could not speak about the Balkans in more clear terms. Although the Albanian Prime Minister said that "one pre-election race could not be turned into an ethnic war", it seems that that exactly happened. Various analysts in Tirana pointed to the fact that this was the first time that the problem of ethnic minorities assumed such a prominent, but also dangerous place in an electoral campaign in Albania. With some 12 thousand inhabitants, Himara was always the Albanian most favoured tourist zone, but never a political battlefield, as it has become now. Historically speaking, Athens always had pretensions to Himara inhabitants which it considers "ethnic Greeks". This thesis always met with the opposition of the official Tirana which considers Himariots Albanians who speak Greek and Himara a bilingual zone. During 10 years of transition, when Albania went from one crisis to another, Himara was gradually falling under the increasing Greek influence. Located opposite the Greek island Corfu, Himara and its surrounding villages soon established trade and communication links with the opposite coast, while on the other side, the destroyed infrastructure leading inland gradually separated it from the rest of Albania. As one of the most renowned national political analysts wrote, Albania did not solve any of Himara's problems which are under its jurisdiction. There are no jobs there. All young people from that zone work in Greece and their children have very little connection with Albania. If you want to talk by phone, you have to use the Greek system of mobile telephone service since the Albanian system doesn't cover this part. In villages around Himara it is impossible to watch TV programme in the Albanian language, including the public TV, but all Greek programmes can be seen here, and you can frequently find Greek papers coming from the other side of the border, in local cafes. No ferry-boat or ship comes here from Duress, but every two days there is a large ferry from Corfu, which is this zone's closest link with the world. Currency in use there is lek, but shopkeepers are willing to give you change in drachmas. For a long time now Athens has been preferentially treating Himara regarding visas and payment of special pensions to all those who declared themselves and Vorio-Epiriots. Tirana always suspiciously looked on this, but turned a blind eye and did not react. However, ironically, the opposing candidates in the second electoral round came from two parties which are members of the Government coalition. Minister of Health in Meta's Cabinet comes from the Party of the Union for Human Rights. However, this alliance has been put aside and both parties attacked each other with the harshest words. On the other hand, the opposition Democratic Party refused to recognise the election results in a large number of zones, inviting its followers in Himara to give their vote to the Socialist candidate (i.e. an Albanian). The previous Democratic president of the City Council took part in Prime Minister Meta's pre-election rally which is an unusual gesture bearing in mind the strained relations between the Government and the opposition in Albania. As if by coincidence, a football match between Albania and Greece was organised at the same time in Tirana, which turned into a political event. Albania's victory gave wings to nationalistic outbursts while papers carried titles that were never seen before, such as: "Greece on its knees before Albania", "Greece broken", etc. Even at the stadium in Tirana the spectators shouted slogans against the Olympic weight-lifting champion, Piro Dhima, a Humariot who used to compete for Albania and is now a member of the Greek team, and who is claimed to have sponsored the transportation of Albanian emigrants for the second round voting. Some 700 emigrants from Himara were brought from Greece by special buses in order to vote in the second round. After counting goals on Wednesday and votes on Sunday, it appeared that the Albanians were double winners, which is not true. Although it can be said that the football game was well played, the same cannot be said for the voting game which was degraded into a traditional Balkan duel.
Arjan LEKA
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 21, 2000; 2:34 PM
TIRANA
Albania -- The Albanian Election Commission officially announced Saturday that the governing Socialist Paty won nationwide local elections held earlier this month. The official commission statement said the Socialists had won 252 seats, the Democratic Party of former President Sali Berisha 118, with the remaining 28 seats spread among other parties. Throughout the country, 398 seats in town councils were contested. Voting in the second round Oct. 15 was marked by irregularities, some international observers said. They singled out the southern town of Himara, where they claimed a series of irregularities had occurred, including intimidation of election officials. The Democratic Party boycotted second-round balloting. Berisha claimed there had been irregularities in a number of areas and said more than 200,000 Albanians were unable to cast their ballot due to inaccurate electoral lists. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, however, said in its report that "the voting was carried out in an orderly manner." The local election was considered a test for democracy amid the country's volatile mix of poverty and harsh political rivalries, as well as being an indicator for how next year's national elections may proceed. Berisha's Democrats were the winners in Albania's last local elections, held in October 1996.
Mare nga Washington Post
Stavri Marko
ALBANIA:
C of E TO REVIEW REPORT ON VIOLATIONS
Tirana, 20 October 2000 (14:18 UTC+2) The Council of Europe (CofE) has called on the Albanian government to review the "serious" allegations of electoral violations committed during the second round of the country's municipal elections and examine the possibility of holing runoffs in certain regions of Himara, site of the most persistent complaints. Addressing the CofE's Ministerial Committee, Greece's permanent representative Athanasios Theodorakopoulos outlined the violations observed in Himara and referred to the outbreak of violence exercised against the region's Greek minority. The CofE has called on its observers assigned to the elections to submit a full report and will reconvene on October 25
Stavri Marko
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
U.S. House of Representatives Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman "2170 RHOB"
Washington, D.C. 20515
Date: October 18,2000
For Release: Immediately Contact: Lester Munson, Communication Director, 202-225-8097, Fax: 202 225-2035 Gilman Expresses Concern Over Reported Voter Fraud in Albania Washington D.C (Oct.18)
- US Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (N.Y.20th) voiced strong concern that incidents occurring in a run-off election on Sunday, October 15, 2000 in the region of Himare in Southern Albania, home to a large concentration of ethnic Greek citizens of Albania, produced a fraudulent outcome that denied victory to a candidate of the Omonia Party. Omonia is also known as the Human Rights Party, and is the principal party representation Albanians of Greek extraction. These incidents come on top of the allegations of widespread fraud and illegality made by former President Sali Berisha, now Chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, that call into question the entire outcome of the first round of voting that occurred on October 1, 2000 throughout Albania. Chairman Gilman issued the following statement today: "In view of the reports of widespread irregularities during the first round of the election and in the runoff election in Himare that appear to have affected the outcome of the vote, the international community, including our own government, should call for a full and open investigation of the manner in which that election was conducted. If the outcome of this vote was determined because of the irregularities, a new vote should be scheduled that is conducted in a free and fair manner according to the standards set by the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and agreed to by the government of Albania." "Former President Sali Berisha is alleging widespread and systematic violation of the Electoral Code of Albania. Former President Berisha believes that some 665.000 voters were disenfranchised by removal of their names from the lists, and that in other instances, known supporters of the ruling Socialist Party were included on the list of more than one pulling location in order to allow them to vote more than once." "We should be mindful that national elections are scheduled next year in Albania and it is extremely important for the continued democratic process development of Albania that a free and fair electoral process takes place. Accordingly, I believe that reports concerning the recent run-off election in Himare and the charges made by former President Berisha need to be taken seriously by our government and by the international community, and fully investigated."
Raport from Stavri Marko