CEC decision, Ashton and Fule react
24/05/2011 21:35
Opposition demonstrators clash with the police in the protest in front of Tirana municipality, foreign embassies condemn acts of violence 19/04 16:00
The stance expressed by Spokesperson for the European Commission,
Natasha Butler, when asked by Top-Channel if Central Election
Commission’s result would be recognized by EC and if international and
democratic standards were achieved, was reinforced this evening by
the high EU representative Ashton and EU Commissioner for Enlargement,
Stefan Fule.
Ashton and Fule repeated on a joint declaration that they had noted the result given by the Central Election Commission, but the legal logic used by CEC for counting contested ballots remained a concerning issue.
Both EU high officials insist that the election process is not over. The European Union will closely follow the closure of all procedures and appeals, the announcement of the final result and also OSCE-ODIHR report”, says the press release, underlining that “EU expects the appealing procedures to be honest, transparent and performed in an independent way, in full accordance with the existing legal system”.
Ashton and Fule add another special explanation to Butler’s appeal for finding a consensual solution for issues that are not clearly provided by the Election Code, leaving space to different legal interpretations:
“For this purpose, parties should start dialoguing immediately, in order to find a common understanding for addressing miscast ballots issue. A request for external independent councils to solve the CEC controversial decision might be an option”.
Ashton and Fule concluded their declaration by appealing political parties to put Albania’s interest before their interests, and that “political leaders must be at the level of the Albanian citizens’ democratic and European aspirations”.
Top Channel
