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Albanian Times, 96-05-29
Albanian Times
May 29, 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Police Crushes Opposition Protest
[02] Austrian Observer Says Albanian Poll Fair
[03] Eleven OSCE Observers Criticize Elections
[04] Italy's Dini Worried by Albania Events
[05] State Department Concerned Over Situation
[01] Police Crushes Opposition Protest
TIRANA, May 28 - Albanians in the capital Tirana said the sight
of riot police moving into the city's central square to quash an opposition
demonstration on Tuesday reminded them of scenes not witnessed since the fall
of communism. Witnesses said several hundred police, some of them in plain
clothes, prevented opposition leaders and supporters from gathering in
Skanderbeg Square to vent their anger about general elections they said were a
sham. Riot police were seen indiscriminately beating protesters, among them
many women. Scores of demonstrators and foreign journalists sought shelter in
the nearby Tirana International Hotel, where opposition leaders, among them
the key Socialists, hastily convened a news conference to denounce the
violence. Minutes after police had dispersed the crowd, traffic resumed. Some
drivers were seen waving the Democratic Party's blue banner and flashing the
victory sign. More than 200 Socialist supporters were packed into their party
headquarters nearby the square, locked in by riot police and closely watched
by plain-clothes officers tryi
ng to prevent a second demonstration. In a statement carried on national
television and the state news agency, the interior ministry claimed opposition
groups had violently opposed police orders to clear the square. The statement
said nobody had been injured during the protests. Democratic Party leaders had
warned in advance that any illegal gathering would be crushed. "This country
is ruled by law and the law will have to be obeyed if they support the rule of
law," Albert Brojka, the Party's secretary for international affairs said.
President Berisha urged Albanians to maintain calm and accused the Socialist
Party Secretary General Gramoz Ruci of seeking to destabilise the situation.
Mr. Ruci has been a former Interior Minister under President Ramiz Alia.
(Albanian Times/Reuters)
[02] Austrian Observer Says Albanian Poll Fair
VIENNA, May 28 - An observer for Europe's conservatives declared that Albanian
elections had been fair despite claims by other groups that the poll fell
short of international standards. Wolfgang Grossruck, a member of Austria's
ruling People's Party (OeVP), said he spent a full week in Albania to observe
the elections for the European Democratic Union (EDU), which groups 40
conservative and Christian democratic parties. ``I am satisfied that there
were no incidents in the areas I visited,'' Grossruck said on his return to
Vienna. Grossruck's remarks contradicted earlier statements by the European
Union and some members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE). Grossruck said he and a Greek colleague from the EDU had
visited some 20 polling stations in Tirana and the surrounding area. ``I did
not see anything to suggest (the election) was not correct,'' Grossruck
concluded. He said it was evident prior to the poll that the opposition
Socialists would challenge the result. OeVP Gen
eral Secretary Othmar Karas backed Grossruck's findings and described the poll
outcome as a victory for democracy and market reform. The OeVP said a turnout
of 80 percent was a sign of a healthy democracy and praised Berisha for
leading Albania out of four decades of communist rule. (Albanian Times/Reuters)
[03] Eleven OSCE Observers Criticize Elections
TIRANA, May 28 - British and Norwegian members of a European
observer mission monitoring Albania's general election last weekend said
on
Tuesday the vote did not meet international standards for free and
fair
elections. The 11 British and Norwegian members of a 50-strong Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) mission issued a statement
with their criticisms. The other observers refrained from comment. There have
been no official results for Sunday's poll, but President Sali
Berisha has claimed a landslide victory of over 60 percent for his
ruling
Democratic Party. The British and Norwegian statement said: ``It is our
conclusion that the will of the Albanian people was not expressed in a free
manner in the elections of May 26, 1996,'' It said they could not speak on
behalf of the OSCE as a whole, which will issue its official election report
on Wednesday in Vienna. The 11 observers said many other OSCE monitors agreed
with the statement but had not wanted to sign the report. It said one problem
was that key positions at all levels of election commissions, set up to
organise the vote, were occupied by the ruling party. ``Ballots cast were
altered and invalidated,'' the statement said. ``In many cases the number of
ballots cast exceeded the number of signatures on the voters lists.'' It said
the number of void votes was sometimes extremely high, reaching up to 50
percent. ``In some cases ballots bundled together inside the boxes indicated
that the boxes had been tampered with and votes added,'' the statement said.
``Observers also witnessed cases of
beatings and threats.'' Senior members of the observer group said the mission
was pulling out before a second round of voting due on June 2. Opposition
Democratic Alliance leader Neritan Ceka said Europe should send thousands of
official observers to a new election that opposition parties want called. ``It
is cheaper for Europe to send in 3,000 official observers than to bring in
15,000 soldiers later,'' Ceka said. (Albanian Times/Reuters)
[04] Italy's Dini Worried by Albania Events
ROME, May 28 - Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said on
Tuesday he was worried by events in Albania after last weekend's general
election, but added that it was too early to decide what to do about the
situation. Earlier, British and Norwegian members of a European observer
mission monitoring the election said that the vote did not meet international
standards for free and fair elections. "We are certainly worried by the
actions we have seen after the results
of this election,'' Dini told reporters. He said Italy, which holds the
rotating presidency of the European Union, was waiting for a full report from
the international monitors and added that he was in close contact with the
Albanian authorities. ``We will look at the situation before taking any
official steps,'' he said. (Albanian Times/Reuters)
[05] State Department Concerned Over Situation
WASHINGTON, May 28 - The U.S. Department of State has expressed concern over
the recent developments in Albania and has called on the government and the
opposition to show restraint. A State Department spokesman said Tuesday he was
not able to comment on the impact the decision of the Socialist party to
withdraw from the elections could have. He also expressed concern over police
violence on opposition members on Tuesday. He urged the Albanian government
and all the political parties to take the necessary steps to solve their
disagreement in a peaceful and orderly manner. (Albanian Times)
This material was reprinted with permission of AlbAmerica Trade & Consulting
International. For more information on ATCI and the Albanian Times, please
write to [email protected]
Copyright © ATCI, 1996
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