Rama wins Tirana, Berisha appeals for calm
14/05/2011 16:30
Opposition’s protest in front of Tirana City Hall brings smoke and flames, clashes with protective barriers 26/04 15:42
The candidate of Alliance for the Future for the Tirana Municipality and
leader of the opposition party, Edi Rama, has won the dramatic battle
for the Albanian capital city. Official data from the Zonal Election
Commission no 49, calculated with the results of other units, notify
that the Socialist candidate Rama has won with only 10 votes against the
candidate of Alliance for the Citizen, Lulzim Basha.
The race was really strong and the interest of all Albanians and international observers was focused on the very last ballot box no. 65 of the Municipal Unit no.5.
Edi Rama has won in total 124597 votes and his challenger for the Tirana Municipality, the right centered candidate Lulzim Basha took 124587 votes. After the official result from the Zonal Election Commission no. 49, there were sudden celebrations from both camps, because their calculations were done according the Central Election Commission data, which made a human error with the calculations. This error was noticed by the journalists of Top Channel and the Central Election Commission corrected it. However, the data that was published by the media brought the result for the winner of this race.
A few minutes later, the Prime Minister Sali Berisha appeared in front of the media and appealed for calm. He emphasized that they will wait the official result of the Central Election Commission.
“According to the database of the Democratic Party, our candidate results as winner, with only a few votes. But I want to appeal all citizens, commissioners, militants and supporters of the Democratic Party, and also to all political forces, to await the final result of this process. The Central Election Commission is obliged to calculate and to announce the only result that counts, based on the official data of all other Zonal Election Commissions”, Berisha declared.
Meanwhile, the US ambassador Alexander Arvizu, who has become an important figure for the “famous” Municipal Unit no.5, congratulated the Albanian parties for ending the race: “It was a victory for democracy and the Albanian people. The results must be certified in full accordance with the Election Code”, says the message of Arvizu.
Top Channel
