Stonestreet: CEC, no legal base

Jonathan Stonestreet, head of OSCE-ODIHR mission in Tirana, Rob Benjamin, Regional Director for Central and Eastern European at the Democratic National Institute for International Matters and Janus Bugajski, director of European Center for Democracy were the three referring persons in this session.

Jonathan Stonestreet made a general summary of the situation before and after the Election Day, emphasizing that there have been armed incidents, including pressures against state administration employees for supporting the Democratic Party.

Stonestreet declared that CEC is a politically affected institution that undertook decisions without a formal procedure, and that the appeals of Central Election Commission will be thoroughly treated in ODIHR final report.

Mr. Stonestreet emphasized once again that the legal base was unclear for the decision taken by CEC for recounting the ballots, because CEC did not have a decision where the process was based.

“This decision is made public, but I don’t want to comment, because it is the Election College who must give an opinion for this case”, he declared.

Stonestreet said that regarding miscast ballots, there have been precedents in the past, and he also mentioned how CEC dealt with these cases.

He also said that there have been inconsistencies between the total voters’ number and the total ballots. The difference is 322 more ballots than voters.

Stonestreet also spoke on problems with the counting process, saying that this process did not go smoothly.

One of the problems or consequences that came out the voting centers, according to Stonestreet, was the way the protocol was filled, since there have been many errors in it.

“But I cannot comment about the number of the additional ballots, or shed light on the reason why these ballots are more than the voters”, he declared.

Rob Benjamin said that the CEC decision raises several legal and political questions, and that Tirana result must be given in a such a way to return citizens’ trust in the institutions.

Benjamin compared Tirana’s race with the one in America, between Al Gore and George Bush, the result of which was given by professionalism and maturity.

Januz Bugajski was also critical, saying that the disagreement for the Mayor of Tirana threatens to turn the polarized political climate into a civil conflict.

Mr. Bugajski declared that only a decision from the Electoral College can avoid such a conflict, a decision that fulfills high standards of justice.

He invited Albania’s friends to intervene as soon as possible for resolving this dangerous situation.

Following the line of the Albanian government, our ambassador in USA, Gilbert Galanxhi, declared that May 8th elections were free and transparent as never before, and every vote was counted in front of the TV screens.

“It is primary, according the Constitution, that every vote must be guaranteed”, he declared.

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