[ALBSA-Info] Albanian Voting Polls Close/Socialists Claim Gains in Albanian Polls

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

1. Albanian Voting Polls Close

By MERITA DHIMGJOKA

TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Security forces were on full alert for violence Sunday 
after Albanians voted in local elections, but a U.S. envoy said the voting 
appeared calm. 

Robert Frowick, the U.S. special adviser for Balkan elections, indicated 
``signs of very strong progress'' toward fair and peaceful voting - another 
test of democracy in Albania's volatile mix of deep poverty and rough 
political rivalries. 

His assessment supported that of Prime Minister Ilir Meta, who said the 
elections for 400 municipal posts around the country were held in ``total 
calm and freedom.'' 

The opposition Democratic Party, led by former President Sali Berisha, 
claimed some members were arrested and accused the governing Socialists of 
``political manipulation'' that allegedly kept 100,000 people from casting 
ballots because of inaccurate voter lists. 

The claims raised the possibility Berisha could contest the results, which 
are expected Monday. Turnout was modest, about 50 percent in large towns. 

Albanian authorities had prepared for the worst in a nation where political 
contests often turn ugly. The army took over security of state institutions, 
and the national guard watched government buildings in Tirana, where the 
mayoral race is one of the key posts up for grabs. 

At final rallies Friday, the main parties in the elections described each 
other in mutually derogatory terms - ``criminals'' and ``thieves'' and 
``mental cases'' - stoking worries of a repeat of the political clashes that 
have followed many previous elections in Europe's poorest nation. 

The results are considered an important bellwether for next year's national 
elections. 

In Tirana, the fierce mayoral campaign was waged between a prominent writer 
and former ambassador, Besnik Mustafaj of the Democratic Party, and the 
Socialists' Edi Rama, a prominent painter and culture minister. But the two 
became the first political rivals in Albania to hold a televised debate 
without insulting each other. 

Berisha asked his supporters to gather shortly after polling stations closed 
to celebrate victory. But Western officials worried such gatherings could 
spark unrest. 

The ambassador of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 
Geert Ahrens, warned Berisha to call off the rallies and wait for the 
election results. 

The OSCE, which is overseeing the elections, also rejected Berisha's claim 
that many people were left off voting lists. 

The last local elections were held in October 1996. Western observers 
described them as marred by irregularities and intimidation. 

Berisha resigned as president and his government stepped down in 1997 after 
popular unrest caused by the collapse of investment schemes that cost many 
Albanians their life savings. 


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2. Socialists Claim Gains in Albanian Polls

By Benet Koleka

TIRANA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Albania's ruling Socialists said on Sunday they 
were heading for solid gains in local elections which marked the country's 
first major political test since it plunged into anarchy three years ago. 

Police and international monitors said the vote at 5,000 polling stations 
across this impoverished Balkan nation was orderly and there was no repeat of 
the violence that marred the general election in 1997. 

Final results were not due for several days but Prime Minister Ilir Meta's 
Socialists said the early count showed them gaining ground, including in the 
capital Tirana where they expected to claim the mayor's office for the first 
time. 

``In Tirana, our candidate has won the ballot in 100 polling stations, 
whereas his rival has won only in 23 stations with a small margin,'' 
Socialist Party Secretary-General Gramoz Ruci told reporters. 

However, the opposition Democrats of former President Sali Berisha said they 
were also heading for victory in Tirana. 

International observers, relieved that the elections passed off peacefully, 
have urged whichever party emerges as the loser from Sunday's vote to accept 
defeat gracefully. 

``Everything reported by our observers is positive,'' said Giovanni Porta, 
spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), 
a 54-nation security and human rights watchdog which brought in several 
hundred observers. 

The polls, in which some 2.7 million people were entitled to vote, closed at 
1600 GMT. The Central Election Commission said preliminary figures suggested 
nationwide turnout had been nearly 61 percent. 

REHEARSAL FOR GENERAL ELECTION 

Both the Socialists and the opposition Democrats treated the election of 65 
mayors and 309 commune chairman as a trial run for the 2001 general election. 

Berisha was ousted in 1997 in a general election after months of anarchy 
caused by the collapse of fraudulent pyramid investment schemes in which 
countless Albanians lost their life savings. 

Order was restored after the intervention of an Italian-led multinational 
force, but an estimated half a million weapons are still in private hands and 
parts of the country remain lawless. 

Berisha complained of irregularities in drawing up electoral registers and 
accused the government of trying to bar as many as 40 percent of voters from 
casting their ballot. 

But international observers said that, while not perfect, the voting 
arrangements had been generally fair. 

``There is no proof of any manipulation of the lists whatsoever,'' Porta 
said. 

Security was tightened in the capital Tirana, with army commandos guarding 
government buildings and a strong police presence on the streets. 

Meta was determined to avoid a repeat of Albania's last bout of political 
violence in September 1998, when Democratic supporters stormed official 
buildings during the funeral of a murdered politician and almost brought down 
the government.