PD heading for victory, PS toward rebellion Yesterday the President decreed the elections for 29 June. Berisha opens the way for the electoral process What are you comparing? decisions the government issues signs decrees parties? yesterday from the pressure seems from events with meetings with the date 29 June, although elections district government? and the first statements and the announcement of the election date of 29 June and the corresponding decree by the President of the Republic Sali Berisha shows that the head of state will not allow any political maneuver aimed at blocking the electoral process. The first assessments from the opposition camp and especially from the PS, that the presidential decree calling the elections ultimately leads the political forces to the ballot boxes, have been nervous and harsh. This also explains the tones used in yesterday’s statements, where rather than legal positions there were threats and half-threats toward the process. The President’s decision has cut off attempts at endless postponement and has given the country a clear election date. In this sense, yesterday’s decree is a clear signal that institutional normality must be restored and that the elections cannot remain hostage to the political crisis. Observers of political life immediately read the socialist reaction as a sign of inability to enter the race in a normal electoral climate. On the contrary, the PD presented the decree as a necessary step to restore the legitimacy of the institutions and to open the way for a solution through the vote. Indeed, the situation remains heated and the country still under pressure, but the announcement of the election date changes the political framework and imposes a shift from crisis rhetoric to concrete preparation for voting. Vranicki shakes hands with Berisha: “So if that is the solution, the way is open...”

The legal framework for the electoral campaign is completed President Berisha last night at 22:00 decreed the date of the parliamentary elections for 29 June. With this decree, the head of state closed an important phase of the political process and gave the country the official electoral calendar. Yesterday’s meetings and consultations with domestic and foreign representatives were focused precisely on creating the conditions for the elections to be held on the announced date. Sources close to the presidency said the decision was made after it was assessed that there could be no more postponements. It was not immediately announced whether the decree would be accompanied by other clarifying acts, but according to the first reactions, it was welcomed by those who want a way out of the crisis through the vote. Meanwhile, opponents of this move called the decision hasty. Nevertheless, the announcement of the election date is the key point of the legal framework of the campaign, since without it the other deadlines related to candidates, lists, commissions and election administration could not begin.

By late morning and after two administrations, the prime minister in Moscow announced that he was in contact with diplomats. He made it understood that the implementation of the agreement was at a delicate point. He described all steps toward alarm as unjustified, but meanwhile new obstacles were appearing again on the political scene. According to the day’s observations, some representatives of the left were trying to exploit every procedural fog to delay the real start of the campaign and keep the country in a state of uncertainty. That is why the international reactions have come more forcefully and more clearly. In their comments, Western diplomats made it clear that the side obstructing the process will bear full political responsibility. These signals were read as a direct warning to those seeking delays rather than solutions. In a situation where the country needs calm, any attempt to keep the crisis open is seen as unacceptable. It is precisely here that Europe “points the finger” at those who do not want an election date and who use various arguments only to gain time.

The future parliament will have a broad basis for representation of the Albanian electorate The OSCE special observer declared yesterday that the setting of the election date marks the entry into the second phase of the Albanian political process. According to him, the elections will create the possibility for the next parliament to have a broader basis of representation and to better reflect the political reality of the country. He stressed that reaching this phase is the result of numerous diplomatic efforts and the willingness of the actors to move from confrontation to electoral competition. However, he made it clear that the second phase will not be easy and that restraint is needed from all sides. Vranicki’s statement was seen as important international support for the process, giving weight to the idea that the solution to the crisis should be sought through the vote and not through political imposition. In this context, the OSCE is expected to play an important role in monitoring the elections.

Even Amati, the PS and Grek Zafiri are [?] involved in the debates that have started in the name of whether the armed uprising is called war against the President and the government, from the days that the current insistence is going on. But the deeds exclude him. A majority of it sent yesterday definitively and not the rescue committees, or does the President legalize them by decree. Violi: The left should gather the committees of the South Precisely in the hours when the country was entering a new phase of the electoral process, new signs of tension began to emerge from the left camp. Statements made during the day suggested that the formal acceptance of the elections does not necessarily mean abandoning street pressure and the parallel structures set up in the South. In some reactions, PS representatives tried to maintain a double language: on the one hand they stated that they would take part in the elections, while on the other hand they kept open the discussion about the role of the committees and the legitimacy of the armed uprising. This political ambiguity has been interpreted as preparation for a resumption of chaos if the election result does not favor them. The author of the article notes that the president, by decreeing the date, has stripped the crisis of its old pretexts. Therefore, the harsh reactions of the left are linked to the loss of a pressure instrument that until yesterday was used to hold the political scene hostage.

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