[NYC-L] [Fwd: What would the Albanian Diaspora like to ask Ilir Meta?]

[Erkanda Bujari]

Bounced back before--took out the pic.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	What would the Albanian Diaspora like to ask Ilir Meta?
Date: 	Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:18:37 -0400
From: 	Erkanda Bujari <ebujari at gmail.com>
To: 	NYC Albanian List <nyc-l at alb-net.com>
CC: 	ebujari at gmail.com



Hi all,

I might get a chance for an interview with Ilir Meta, head of LSI, 3rd 
runner up party in the Albanian elections. He recently agreed to get 
into coalition with the Democrats of Berisha to form the new gov.

I thought it would be of interest to know what Albanians of the Diaspora 
think of this and what would they like to ask Meta. I would transmit it 
to him.

I wrote an article, see below, a couple of days ago on the elections. 
For those who live in NYC they probably have seen Epoch Times in the 
yellow and blue boxes on the side of the streets. ET, in its content and 
approach to the stories, upholds universal human values, rights, and 
freedoms. The stories are authentically local, yet also globally 
relevant. It's an independent paper, like few out there, thus it reports 
a diversity of opinions. Check it out.

Erkanda


http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/19018/


  No Clear Winner in the Albanian Election

By Erkanda Bujari Jul 2, 2009

Related articles: World 
<http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/component/option,com_etsection/sectionid,1/> 
 > Europe 
<http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/component/option,com_etcategory/sectionid,1/categoryid,23/> 



<http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2009/07/02/AlbanianElection.jpg> 

An Albanian woman deposits her ballot while other citizens fill out 
ballots and monitor the election. (The Epoch Times)
Albanians voted on June 28 for the seventh time since the fall of 
communism and the establishment of a multi-party system. In nearly all 
past elections, the parties have accused each other of vote-rigging and 
manipulations. This last election is no exception.

The elections were seen as a test to whether the country has embraced 
democratic standards and as a stepping stone to the country’s admittance 
to the European Union <http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/#>. Albania 
submitted its application to join the EU last April right after gaining 
membership in NATO.

Voters turned out in big numbers to cast their ballot for what seems to 
be a battle between two biggest parties, the governing Democrats and the 
challenging Socialists. Many of the international organizations 
monitoring the election agreed on one point, that while there were 
improvements compared to previous years, the standards had not been met 
and many irregularities were recorded.

Problems cited included irregularities in procedures and a widespread 
'family voting.' Family voting is a an exploitable loophole in the 
election rules that allows vision impaired, usually elderly, voters to 
have an accompanying 'family member' cast the vote on their behalf.

In an interview with the BBC Albanian Service, Jens-Hagen Eschenbacher, 
spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in 
Europe, said, that the OECD has "observed problems and violations, in 
particular during the campaign, for example, pressure on voters and the 
use of state resources for electoral purposes.”

Concurring with these findings, the U.S. Ambassador to Albania issued a 
statement saying that although the International Election Monitoring 
Mission's preliminary report characterizes these elections as "an 
improvement over past practices," the report "also expresses concern 
over remaining flaws in the process.” As the ballot counting continues, 
the international monitors’ duty is far from over.

There were 100 ballot boxes left to be counted as of Wednesday night, 
but there is still no clear winner. The Democrats declared they had won 
the election obtaining 71 out of 140 parliamentary seats on Wednesday 
but this has not been confirmed by election commission officials. 
According to News 24, an all-day TV news channel in Albania, Socialist 
leader, Edi Rama, accused the Democrats on Wednesday of interfering with 
the counting process, stating that the race is not over.

The confusion is expected to clear up by the end of the week when the 
remaining ballots are counted and the election commission declares the 
winner.

/Erkanda Bujari is a free-lance reporter who monitors and reports on the 
events of the Albanian communities worldwide./