Albanians will elect a new parliament in June, but many doubt the integrity of the process.
 Each time the country holds an election, voters must use birth certificates and various other documents to prove their identity. [Getty Images] |
As Albania gears up for its June 28th parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Sali Berisha is promising a clean vote. But critics and political opponents are already decrying alleged irregularities in the process. Under the new electoral code, voters must show their new identity cards or biometric passports. The Socialist Party (SP) and other opposition groups say the government lacks a "concrete schedule" for providing the ID cards.
Issuing them began on January 12th, and the government has acknowledged difficulties. Deputy Interior Minister Ferdinand Poni said that demand surpassed the expectations of the ID-processing company. Approximately 3 million voters are supposed to receive their cards by June 28th. According to local press reports last week, Sagem, the firm in charge of producing the IDs, has started distributing new cards in Tirana and Fier and expects to have the cards out in time for elections in other cities.
Around 740,000 Albanians do not have passports, and if their ID cards are not ready in time, they will not be able to vote. The proposed committee has not been officially formed yet, and on February 18th the SP accused the ruling party of hampering its formation.
But the pace of issuing ID cards is hardly the sole issue bothering opposition parties, especially smaller ones. They also question the integrity of voter lists. The Social Democracy Party claims the interior ministry has omitted the names of opposition supporters from the lists it is sending to towns and cities.
Smaller parties are also vigourously protesting what they describe as inadequate representation on the central and regional election committees tasked with counting votes.
The elections "are in jeopardy, since the parties, rather than the citizens, will be counting the votes", warns Democratic Alliance Party head Neritan Ceka.
Fearful of being shut out of parliament, the small parties are forming coalitions. The new proportional-representation system prods them to do so, since it sets an electoral threshold of 3% for parties to hold seats in parliament and of 5% for coalitions.
No fewer than 28 entities contested the 2005 elections: 14 parties within three coalitions and another 14 parties running on their own.
By contrast, Albanians this time around will likely be choosing from among four coalitions -- those headed by the SP and the ruling Democratic Party, as well as a left-wing grouping headed by Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration and a right-wing grouping headed by Movement for National Development leader Dash Shehi.
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