Elections in Albania, DW: Maintaining power through dubious means?

The Socialists and Edi Rama secured an absolute majority in the May 11 elections in Albania. It is not only the opposition that doubts that the elections were fair, the OSCE also sees uneven playing field, according to German media.

Edi Rama secured an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections in Albania on May 11, the socialists won 83 seats, writes the German ARD portal, "tagesschau". The Democratic Party came in second. Its leader, Sali Berisha, speaks of vote buying by the government that two days before the elections offered a broad amnesty of fines: 170,000 people are exempted from paying fines.

For Berisha, this was an electoral gift. "You have seen for yourself that two nights before the elections, fines worth 150 million euros were forgiven. You can evaluate these elections for yourself," said Berisha, who called on his supporters to protest.

OSCE speaks of unequal conditions

Criticism also comes from observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE. According to the OSCE, the conditions were not equal for all parties. Farah Karimi from the OSCE Observation Mission emphasizes that the ruling party has benefited extensively from state resources during the election campaign, thus gaining an impermissible bonus that the government has provided.

There are also reports of pressure being exerted on voters. Public sector employees in particular were pressured to vote for the ruling party. It was also difficult for all voters to obtain independent information from the media, Karimi points out.

"The concentration on the media sector, the undermining of the diversity of news sources and the self-censorship of journalists, as well as the dominance of the two largest parties in reporting, limited the opportunities for voters to make an informed choice," according to Karimi.

"Danger to the country's European course"

Election observers have previously criticized Albania for ignoring numerous proposals for democratic reform of its electoral law. German MEP Michael Gahler of the CDU sees this as a risk to the country's European course: "This country will not join the European Union in its current state. But much can be changed for the better. Therefore, I strongly recommend that all parties take these recommendations seriously," Gahler said.

Rama will lead Albania into the EU

Edi Rama was elected precisely for this purpose: his number one campaign promise was to lead Albania into the EU by 2030. Journalist Frrok Ҫupi for "tagesschau" sees this as the sole reason for Rama's surprisingly large election victory: "One might ask oneself why the majority is so large. This is a civic majority, independent of party preferences. It is about the greatest concern of the Albanian people: not to deviate from this path now."

Edi Rama also benefited from the fact that the opposition is divided. It is not certain whether he will now use his majority to implement democratic reforms. Critics accuse him of increasingly seizing power in Albania./DW