Albanians boycott the government
Frigjoneric percentages in the elections of 21 June. Drought in the rebel areas. The left-wing coalition loses more than half of its votes
“Union for Democracy,” convincing victory in Kavajë, Pogradec, Lazarat and oj; the mayor of Vlorë is elected with a quarter of the votes. Nano like Milošević. Only in Serbia has such an abandonment of elections occurred
Political compass of the elections
The early local elections of 21 June yesterday officially produced an Albania with two faces. One rebelled and the other voted. It was like a referendum that divided the citizens into two categories. One side consisted of people who obeyed the opposition’s call to boycott, while the other side voted for the local candidates of the political parties. The two sides did not mingle, but remained like two separate banks facing each other.
The turnout figure was among the lowest that can be remembered for an election. In most cities it did not manage to exceed the 25 percent threshold. The lowest was recorded in those areas considered shaken by last year’s rebellion. In Vlorë, for example, it remained close to 20 percent, fluctuating from 12 to 19 percent for the city units. Likewise, turnout was less than 20 percent in Sarandë and the same in Delvinë. Exceptions were areas such as Kavajë, where turnout was much higher, as well as Pogradec and Lazarat, where particularly opposition candidates recorded victories.
Overall, what was observed in yesterday’s vote was a clear mismatch between the electorate’s preference and the final result. The Socialist Party and its allies may have won in many local units, but this victory comes more as a result of the emptying of polling stations than as proof of popular support. In many places the number of voters was so low that candidates were elected with a very small minority of the population.
This phenomenon took its clearest form in Vlorë, where the mayor emerged victorious with about a quarter of the possible votes. In this sense, he cannot be seen as a representative of the will of the citizens, but as the product of a truncated contest. Similar situations were also observed in other municipalities and communes of the country.
For the opposition, the boycott seems to have worked as an effective political instrument to delegitimize the process. It did not prevent the elections from taking place formally, but it stripped them of their representative substance. That is why yesterday’s result can be read not as a success of the government, but as a sign of its crisis.
In some cities, such as Kavajë and Pogradec, support for the candidates of “Union for Democracy” was evident and sufficient for victory. These results create a fractured political map, where the areas of participation and boycott do not coincide with administrative borders, but with the political climate of each region.
Compared with other countries in the region, the Albanian case most closely resembles Serbia in recent years, where opposition boycotts and the loss of legitimacy of power have produced similar situations. Therefore, the comparison made with Milošević is not merely figurative, but aims to underline the political nature of this result.