Greek minority candidate wins Albanian mayoral race from prison
As the counting of votes in the Albanian municipal election continued on Monday, the candidate arrested for alleged vote buying, which sparked a diplomatic spat between Tirana and Athens, was informed of his victory in Himare while remaining in prison.
Albanians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in 61 municipalities for mayors and local councillors. But in the city of Himare in the south of the country and home to a Greek minority community, trouble started on Friday.
Fredi Beleri, a Greek expatriate running for mayor under the banner of a Greek minority party aligned with an opposition coalition, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of vote buying. The police said he was to be charged with active corruption in elections, something Beleri denies.
As the Socialist Party swept to victory in most municipalities, with counting still ongoing as of Tuesday, Beleri emerged victorious in the southern municipality of Himara.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who threatened to block Albania’s EU path over the arrest, reacted positively to the development.
“I was especially happy when I was informed that Fredi Beleri succeeded and was elected mayor of Himare with a small margin. And I wish and hope that this adventure will end soon”, he said, emphasising that “Albania’s path to Europe goes through respecting the rights of the Greek national minority”.
Regarding the Greek community in Albania, some 0.9% of the population identify as ethnic Greek, although this is controversial in some political circles. While several communities in the south of the country speak Greek, and some road signs appear in the Greek language, Albanian nationalists say they simply identify as Greek to get Greek (and de facto EU) passports and money from Athens, something the local communities vehemently deny.
A census, albeit delayed, is scheduled for autumn 2023.
Himare, where he was running and subsequently won the position of mayor, is home to a significant Greek-identifying community.
On Monday, it was announced that Beleri beat his Socialist Party opposition candidate by just 19 votes. As Beleri remains in prison, it is unknown whether he will take the position of mayor or whether another election in the municipality will be held.
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Albanians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in 61 municipalities for …
The Central Election Commission announced on Monday that the ruling Socialist Party is ahead in 53 of 61 country’s municipalities. In the capital of Tirana, the incumbent socialist Mayor Erion Veliaj, secured a third term, leaving opposition candidates behind by a significant margin.
Voter turnout was the second lowest in Albania’s democratic history at just 35%, beaten only by the 2019 elections, which were boycotted by the opposition parties and their supporters.
Former prime minister and founder of the Democratic Party, but now in a coalition with ex-president Ilir Meta and his Freedom Party of Albania following divisions and leadership spats, said he refused to accept results in several municipalities.
In Kamze, a previous opposition stronghold on the outskirts of Tirana, the Socialist Party won by a significant lead.
“Reliable data proves that Kamza is a monstrous digital manipulation,” Berisha told the media.
The other opposition faction, the ‘official Democratic Party’, led by Enkelejd Alibeaj, has not achieved any significant results, according to the CEC data so far.
Accusations of vote buying, voter intimidation and influencing have been flying from each side of the political spectrum. The CEC said it is investigating several cases.
On Tuesday afternoon, ODIHR’s monitoring mission held a press conference in Tirana, giving its verdict on the previous days’ events.
Problems with the electronic identification of voters, along with cases of family voting, the presence of unauthorised persons in the polling stations, and attempts to photograph the vote, were the main problems that local observers identified.
“In relation to the issue, we hope that these election procedures will be conducted and the results will be in accordance with the law, as I said, there have been some incidents people have been forced to vote in a certain way, but the authorities have tried in some cases prevent it and in some others not, we hope that the legal procedures will be carried out and the relevant procedures will be taken,” she said.
The Albanian Helsinki Committee and NGO Civic Attitude also presented their findings from 275 polling stations. They highlighted issues including harsh language during the campaign, delays in starting the voting process due to malfunctioning electronic equipment, family voting, non-compliance with legal procedures and using mobile phones in voting centres.
Another cause for concern was the presence of unauthorised people at voting centres and the failure of authorities to remove them.
“In almost all the monitored Voting Centers, the presence of a high number of unauthorised persons inside or on the territory of the Voting Centers, who have intimidated, exerted pressure and escorted a considerable number of voters to the VC,” said Rigels Xhemollari from Civic Attitude.
“From the evidence of our observers, some of these people were representatives and leaders of the public administration, who used the post to influence citizens,” he added, stressing that this problem was more visible in Elbasan, Tirana, Kukës, Durrës. and Shkodër.
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