The leader of the Democratic Party held a meeting with the OSCE/ODIHR mission and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, where they presented an overview of the political and institutional situation on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Albania.
The DP emphasized that the government is trying to undermine the opposition, according to them, by preventing the use of the stamp and symbols of the DP for two years and the unconstitutional arrest of the opposition leader, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha. They also raised their concerns about the political persecution of opposition leaders and deputies, just five months before the elections.
DP representatives appreciated the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations as a clear overview of serious violations of international standards for democratic elections, including vote buying, state pressure on voters, and links between politics and organized crime.
DP criticized and said that the majority blocked the electoral reform, and that there are obstacles to the vote of immigrants and political controls on the main electoral and judicial institutions.
In conclusion, the DP requested an expanded monitoring mission from the OSCE for the upcoming elections, calling this a necessary step to ensure democratic standards and guarantee fair elections in Albania.
The status on the Facebook social network of the President of the PD, Oerd Bylykbashi:
Today we met at the DP Headquarters with the mission of OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for the assessment of the pre-election situation in Albania.
Together with the Secretary for Legal and Electoral Affairs Mr. Ivi Kaso and the legal representative of the DP in the CEC, Mr. Franc Nuri, we presented the complete picture of the difficult political, institutional and pre-election situation. A special place was taken by Edi Rama’s attempt to destroy the opposition, taking hostage the stamp and symbols of the Democratic Party for two years and holding the leader of the opposition Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha and politically persecuted leader and deputy of the opposition parties only 5 months before the elections.
We emphasized that the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations are the best radiograph of the brutal violation of international and constitutional standards for democratic elections. Vote buying, SP’s use of the state to exert pressure on voters, the cooperation of politics, the state and organized crime, the violation of the freedom and secrecy of the vote, which are major concerns of the OSCE/ODIHR, are already reflected with concern in the harsh resolutions of the CDI and EPP, where the image of the narco-state is stamped.
The blocking of the electoral reform and the addressing of the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations by the SP, the attempts to prevent the vote of immigrants, the political control over the CEC and the court, the engagement of organized crime in the next elections, the inaction of SPAK and the ordinary prosecution against crimes elections, etc., constitute serious concerns that the opposition will face head-on. In this context, we requested that the OSCE bring an observation mission as large as possible for the upcoming parliamentary elections, as a contribution and a sign of international attention for democratic elections in the country.
