Socialist Party candidate leads in Himare mayoral election
Governing Socialist Party candidate Vangjel Tavo was leading in Sunday’s repeat mayoral election in Himare, a town in southwestern Albania, with 63 percent of the vote counted from 28 out of 36 polling stations.
The vote was held after the previous winner, Fredi Beleri, a member of the country’s ethnic Greek minority, was stripped of his title, convicted, and jailed on vote-buying charges. Both Beleri and Athens contend that his conviction is politically motivated.
Beleri, who was in June elected to the European Parliament with Greece’s ruling New Democracy party – has supported Gjikuria, whose 10-party Together We Win coalition includes the center-right Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the left-wing Freedom Party of former President Ilir Meta.
On Sunday, just hours before the polls opened, there were allegations of vote-buying and blackmail involving Socialist Party officials in Himare. The Himare branch of the Omonia organization, which represents the ethnic Greek minority, issued a statement alleging that a parliamentarian and local party officials were involved in attempts to influence the election outcome. They emphasized that the evidence will not be made public but will be submitted directly to the judiciary.
