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BIRN: Doshi "kidnaps" Rama's election commissioner

Politiko 2025-03-23 18:10:42

The Central Election Commission is expected to vote on the formula for dividing the commissioners of the vote counting groups, a formula that, according to the proposal published for public consultation, gives the opposition Democratic Party and its alliance for "Greater Albania" two counters out of four, while the other two remain to be assigned, one from Edi Rama's Socialist Party and one from the Social Democratic Party of the politician sanctioned by the Biden Administration, Tom Doshi.

The draft decision states that, under the conditions when, according to the electoral code that was agreed on this issue by agreement between the DP and the SP in 2003, the counting groups must be balanced, consisting of four members, two from the majority and two from the opposition. In case there is more than one party in government, the commissioners are divided by one for the two largest parties and the same happens with the opposition.

A little-known clause in the electoral code also states that parties that enter into a pre-election coalition cede the right to appoint to the leading party. In opposition, the Democratic Party is running in the elections in a coalition titled “Greater Albania,” which, according to the conclusion of CEC experts, means that the Democratic Party will appoint two counters from the opposition.

On the majority side, the situation was more complicated because the Socialist Party officially governs alone. But three deputies of the Social Democratic Party, led by Tom Doshi, have consistently voted in favor of the draft laws proposed by the government or the Socialist Party, while Tom Doshi himself has declared his support for the government of Edi Rama immediately after the 2021 elections. Consequently, this party was classified by the CEC as a party in government and for this reason, the draft decision on the appointment of parties that propose members of the counting groups concludes that, according to the provisions of the Electoral Code, the Social Democrats are responsible for appointing the second commissioner out of four in these counting groups.

In Albanian politics, counting teams have been considered crucial to electoral integrity on the assumption that in the past, counters, whether bought by one party or appointed unilaterally, could have an effect on the fair counting of votes and, consequently, on determining the winner.

In 2003, an agreement between the socialist majority and the democratic opposition brought about the current system in which neither party has a majority in the counting groups, while each party determines two commissioners, which gave rise to the phenomenon of the "last box", i.e. the practice of commissioners from one party sabotaging or obstructing the counting process or of commissioners arguing to the point of physical altercations in cases of judging whether a vote belonged to one party or was invalid.

The Social Democratic Party won one parliamentary mandate in Shkodra in 2007, while it won two mandates in Shkodra and one in Tirana in 2021. In the 2023 elections, this party secured 88,000 votes and 115 councilors across the country, but its positioning in several large districts suggests that, if the local elections were parliamentary elections, then this party would have managed to elect eight or nine parliamentarians, becoming a party of key importance in the future governing majority./ BIRN