From protests to ballot boxes, how the SP's "no customs" promises in Elbasan were translated into votes

Hotolishti was in the spotlight on the morning of May 11 because at the end of February they had signed a petition with 511 signatures. In the petition, after listing their demands, the residents stated that if the demands were not met, they would boycott the elections, recalling that about 5,000 residents in this area have the right to vote.

In the days that followed, they protested several times with the request to review the decision to expropriate them and the route for the Corridor VIII project, but received no official response.

Unlike those who protested, on May 11, in the early hours of the morning, residents showed up at the ballot boxes.

One woman said she was promised that the issue would be resolved.

"They promised us they would solve it. Now let's see," she says as she voted in the center of Hotolisht in a narrow corridor at polling station 2762/00.

In this center, the number of voters was very low and out of about 600 voters on the lists, 150 votes were for the Socialist Party and 76 for the opposition coalition.

Only the village voted against, but the Hotolisht administrative unit as a whole voted for the Socialist Party with 1,445 votes, while the PD-ASHM coalition won by 684 votes.

I stole

Another village that protested before the elections was Grabova in the administrative unit of Lënie. Residents blocked the road while demanding the construction of the road, lighting and other facilities from the company that is building a hydroelectric power plant in this area. They withdrew from the protest after receiving a promise that the road would be invested. But the road was not invested and residents are suffering from erosion and damage to the road.

In the entire administrative unit, the number of residents who voted was extremely low, around 300 voters in total, of which 209 votes went to the Socialist Party.

Pajove  

Another village that protested affected by the infrastructure of the Corridor 8 lot in Peqin is Gryksh i Madh in the administrative unit of Pajova. Residents protested since January because no highway exit was planned and they have no road infrastructure connecting them.

The protest did not last long and the residents were promised that they would have access to the highway.

Godoleshi, the village that voted against

The only village that voted for the Democratic Party in these elections is the village of Godolesh in the administrative unit of Labinot Fushë, Elbasan municipality. The residents of this village voted overwhelmingly for the Socialist Party and the mayor of Elbasan, Gledjan Llatja, two years ago.

They requested investment in water supply and roads. It is learned that the lack of investment

Specifically, these two years for the water supply have led to a majority of them voting against it with 256 votes for the DP against 198 for the Socialist Party. One of the residents says that this was a message to the municipality to build the water supply and infrastructure for the residents so that they no longer suffer for water and roads.

"We voted because they promised us water supply and nothing was done for two years. They promised us good roads and only some concrete was poured privately. Nothing has been done for Godolesh even though we voted for the SP," he says, hoping that this year will bring the missing investment to their village.

votes  

Residents of the administrative units have voted massively for the Socialist Party. Even remote villages without roads and infrastructure like Zavalina or Graceni have voted for the government, not reflecting a reaction to the lack of attention to remote rural areas.

Taken from Faktoje.al