Topi: Let us secede from the past
18/04/2011 19:50
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Albanian President Bamir Topi, accompanied by the US ambassador, the representative of OSCE presence in Albania and the Ambassador of the European Commission, gave from the city of Vlora his messages about May 8th election process.
During a speech he held at the “Ismail Qemali” University, the president declared that on May 8th Albanians should close the chapter of disputed elections.
“20 years have passed and we are still facing the political and civil challenge of organizing and developing truly free, honest and democratic elections. May 8th is the day when this chapter of debates and disputes should be closed. This is what everyone hopes, and naturally, for the moment, it is our major interest. Albania of 2011 deserves elections with high standards of democracy”, Topi declared.
The US ambassador urged for political cooperation and mentioned as an example the US budget approval of the recent days, which brought together Democrats and Republicans.
“They knew that if they would not approve the budget, they would directly face the US citizens”, the ambassador underlined.
The representative of OSCE presence in Tirana spoke on the significance of May 8th elections, declaring that is not nice that elections are transformed into some kind of political beauty pageant between the party leaders.
“When something like this happens, the significance, the true essence, and the strategic value of local administration autonomy, unfortunately diminishes. We are talking about the real life and its administration. He mentioned the five most important institutions of these elections”, Wollfarth said.
The ambassador valued the TV stations’ decision to reject premade campaign ads of the political parties, and expressed his conviction that the State Police will secure these elections with the appropriate professionalism together with the OSCE missions, for which he suggested a collective work in order to secure the appropriate environment.
The ambassador requested that the political parties should cooperate according to the OSCE ODIHR recommendations and implement the rules of the game, on which both parties themselves agreed in 2008.
“This is the time for constructive policies and arguments, not for ‘insults’ or even worse, violent and unnecessary incidents”, Wollfarth underlined.
“After these elections will be over, I think that there would be an urgent need for electoral reforms, at the right time, in order to build the strongest possible foundations for the parliamentary elections of 2013. The preparations should start right after these elections will be over”, Wollfarth added.
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