Doubts raised over Himare elections
Athens questions integrity of process as ethnic Greek minority claim process was tampered with
Athens is indirectly but clearly questioning the election results of Sunday’s runoff municipal elections for the municipality of Himare in southern Albania after serious doubts were raised by members of the ethnic Greek minority.
The victory of Vangjel Tavo, chosen by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, with 58.62%, against Petraq Gjikuria’s 41.38%, was expected. It was, however, accompanied by complaints from the Greek minority about the manipulation of the voter list and the denial of the right to vote to thousands of citizens of Himare under the pretext of the expiration of their identity cards.
More specifically, opposition groups reported that some 6,000 voters were unable to cast ballots because their IDs had expired, a situation exacerbated by the lack of provisions for extending IDs, unlike in previous elections.
Athens has raised the issue of Tirana’s respect for the European acquis, with diplomatic sources stressing that the democratic principle and the European acquis oblige Albanian authorities to assess and respond to all reports related to the integrity of the electoral process.
“The complaints made by members of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania about the conditions under which the by-elections were held in the municipality of Himare, in particular about the population alteration of the electorate and the denial of the constitutional right to vote to thousands of citizens under the pretext of the expiry of their identity cards, raise serious doubts about the integrity of the process,” said Greek diplomatic sources.
The linking of Albania’s European perspective with the way the government in Tirana respects the basic principles (or not) of the acquis communautaire is an indirect reference to the future assessment of the chapters concerning Tirana’s accession negotiations with the EU.
Fredi Beleri, the town’s previously elected mayor and a member of the ethnic Greek minority, was removed from office, convicted of vote-buying, and jailed. Both he and Athens have alleged that the case was politically motivated.
What the future holds is unknown, but many in Athens believe that, even after the inevitable release of Beleri, Greece must take a principled stand.
And this despite the fact that the current circumstances call for the saving of diplomatic capital, due to the parallel development of the crisis with North Macedonia.
