The state is unprepared for free elections
The Albanian state is not yet prepared to guarantee free and fair elections for local government, scheduled to be held on October 20.
This is the conclusion reached by analyzing the current situation of the political and legal factors involved in holding the upcoming local elections under normal conditions. After the meeting of 13 political parties organized by the President of the Republic a few days ago, it seemed as if a green light had been given to what is called the creation of the necessary confidence in the government’s readiness to hold free and fair elections. But since that day, nothing has changed in the government’s actions to create the proper conditions for the elections. While the days are passing, there is still no mention of the law in which the changes promised at the parties’ last meeting will be enshrined. A request made yesterday by the Presidency of the Socialist Party to the Presidency of the People’s Assembly to review the new draft law on local government went unanswered. Likewise, at yesterday’s government meeting, there was no mention at all of the draft law expected to be submitted to parliament for approval by September 12, as the President promised the parties at their last meeting. Meanwhile, before the meeting of the parties at the President’s had even ended, Mr. Mezini, chairman of the commission for vetting public officials, sent a letter to the political parties and set deadlines for submitting lists of candidates for local government. This shows that either the state’s actions regarding the elections are illogical, or its logic is perverse. There is no transparency in its actions concerning the elections, and it continues to act through methods of coercion and by presenting the political parties with a fait accompli. Using people of the Mezini[?] mold, the parties are being forced to enter the elections without being guaranteed the necessary conditions for free and fair elections. Even the essential changes to the legal framework for the elections are intended to be made at the last moment, to leave the opposition parties unprepared. Failure to meet deadlines for passing laws concerning the elections and the powers of local government makes it impossible for the parties, within the available time, to put forward their candidates for local bodies. Thus, according to the arith- (Continued on page 2)