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ALBANIA-POLITICS
Albanian president denounces ruling backing local polls
TIRANA, June 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Albania’s president on Tuesday denounced
as politicised a decision by the country’s top election body to back holding
local polls this weekend, over-ruling his decree scrapping the vote.
His comments were just the latest stage in a long-running political crisis
in which opposition politicians have for months been calling for the prime
minister’s resignation in regular street protests.
The Electoral College on Monday rejected a bid by the small National Unity
Party (PUK) to withdraw from the polls because of a decree issued by
President Ilir Meta earlier this month cancelling the elections.
The move by the five-member college was seen as a green-light for holding
the vote and the body said in a statement that it was a “final verdict that
cannot be appealed”.
But Meta described the Electoral College’s ruling as a “procedural trick
to politically justify the unlawful activity” of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s
Socialist Party.
In comments to journalists Tuesday, he insisted that their ruling did not
affect the validity of his decree.
The decision “has been taken under the conditions of majority’s pressure
and political blackmail”, he added.
Rama’s Socialists, who have started a lengthy process to oust the
president over his decree, welcomed the college’s ruling as a victory.
But the opposition, which is holding weekly protests against Rama,
insisted they would still honour the presidential decree and boycott the
elections.
Sunday’s elections “will not be allowed, accepted or recognised”,
opposition leader Lulzim Basha said.
When Meta issued his decree, he argued that the elections could not go
ahead because of the political instability in the country.
Opposition politicians quit parliament in February and took to the streets
for mass protests. They accuse the government of having manipulated the
results of the June 2017 legislative election.
Meta’s decree put him at loggerheads with Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has
vowed to push ahead with the polls, deepening the country’s political crisis.
The run-up to the vote has been held in a tense atmosphere, with
opposition supporters clashing with police last week to try to destroy voting
stations and materials.
The opposition accuses Rama of crime and corruption links, allegations he
denies.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1834 hrs