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Council of Europe body not to send election monitoring delegation: Basha and Rama trade statements over development

Politiko 27 Qershor 2019, 18:46

Council of Europe body not to send election monitoring delegation: Basha and

The Council of Europe’s Congress for Local and Regional Authorities has decided not to send to Albania a delegation to monitor Sunday’s local government elections. Newspapers quoted an e-mail with this information obtained by them, according to which the Congress’s delegation would not be deployed “due to the continued uncertainty concerning the organization of the local elections in Albania on 30 June and possible security risks in certain deployment areas”.

Newspapers reported on a more substantial statement issued by President of the Congress Anders Knape on this matter: “In the light of recent developments and the uncertainty in Albania with regard to the full participation of the political spectrum of candidates and parties in the local elections on 30 June 2019, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has decided not to deploy its election observation mission.

Considering the fact that in 31 out of 61 municipalities only one candidate is standing for the local vote, it is difficult to expect a meaningful political competition, and this implies the logistical risk for the Congress of not being able to deploy a full mission throughout the country, which is a standard procedure during Congress Election Missions in accordance with our rules. What missions of the Congress are based on is the observation of local and regional elections with broad participation of the different political forces of a country, and so the Congress has never observed elections without the meaningful participation of the opposition. Related to this question is our own assessment of a safe deployment for our Congress observers.

The decision of the Congress was taken in consideration of all the information available to us, both in regard to the political and the logistical situation. The Congress does not make any statement here about the lawfulness of these elections and this has nothing to do with the question of whether and when local elections will be held. That is Albania’s sole autonomous decision.”

Contacted by reporters on Wednesday afternoon, OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s (EOM) Spokesperson Katya Andrusz said that the ODIHR EOM would continue its monitoring of elections, as it was a politically neutral mission, had no opinion as to the electoral results, and their aim was simply to monitor the quality of the electoral process.

In a press conference held in the afternoon to comment on such a development, Democratic Party (DP) Chair Lulzim Basha said the Congress’s distancing from the “so-called” local elections was a clear indicator that the voting happening on 30 June was just an electoral farce. “We will not allow the holding of an unlawful and farce voting process. We will not allow the full installation of Edi Rama’s criminal and autocratic regime in Albania. We will not allow Edi Rama to implement his criminal plan to keep power by force and to destabilize the country,” Basha said. Prime Minister Edi Rama responded to Basha over Twitter, saying that the DP Chair was lying, as the Congress’s decision was not politically motivated.

Prior to Basha’s conference, the DP issued a press statement telling reporters that, starting from today, the DP would hold daily protests, including on 30 June and 1 July, at the centers of cities and towns and close to the Commission for Election Administration Zones headquarters. Moreover, DP Chair Lulzim Basha held a meeting with Head of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM Dame Audrey Glover earlier on Wednesday.

Socialist Party (SP) General Secretary Taulant Balla said in comments for the press that the 2017 general election were not monitored by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and that the Albanian election was usually monitored by the OSCE/ODIHR. Speaking to a crowd of SP supporters on Wednesday, Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj said that the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is not the Council of Europe but just a “voluntary organization”. He added that he had talked to the Congress today, assuring them that despite threats they had received by opposition mayors, their mission would be safe in Albania. According to Mayor Veliaj, after his reassurances, Congress had assured him back that they would deploy their election observation mission to Albania.