FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Democratic Party has appealed to the Constitutional Court the results of the May 11 elections by the CEC for the Fier District.
Democrats claim that in this district, during the elections, various officials not only engaged in the campaign, but were involved in schemes to alienate the will of voters by buying votes.
The DP-ASHM says it has denounced cases where crime figures have patrolled urban and rural areas, blocked roads and exerted pressure on individuals with the aim of intimidating them from freely voting.
DP's complaint for Fier Region:
The Assembly elections were set for May 11, 2025, by decree of the President of the Republic.
After the completion of the vote counting process in the Fier Region, the CEC approved the Summary Tables of Results for the electoral subjects and their candidates for the Assembly Elections, according to the tables attached to the decision, subject of appeal [Attached Decision no. 1317, dated 23.05.2025, of the State Election Commissioner “On the approval of the Summary Table of Voting Results in the Fier Region electoral zone, for electoral subjects and candidates for deputies in the Assembly elections of May 11, 2025”].
The DP-ASHM coalition has become aware of the facts, indications and has provided sufficient evidence regarding serious problems and irregularities in the electoral process that occurred in all Voting Centers in the Fier District.
In Fier Region, the use of public and state administration as an “election machine” has been widespread and intensive, creating a completely non-transparent and unequal environment. First, institutions that should be neutral in the election process – from municipal administration to local branches of ministries – have been mobilized in the service of the ruling party. For example, various officials have not only been engaged in the campaign, but have also been involved in large-scale schemes to alienate the will of voters, such as vote buying.
This situation essentially erases the division between public and party interests, undermining the foundations of democratic competition, because every opposition force faces the Electoral State. Where the Party-State begins to operate, elections cease to be free, fair, and equal.
The electoral farce that needs to be denounced is precisely this: the opposition does not enter the race with a free and fair campaign, but faces an opponent who enjoys all state or public resources, and can also engage unlimited private resources at its disposal whenever needed. While the ruling party has at its disposal the state budget, the artificially inflated administration network, and police or judicial structures, etc., as instruments of pressure, opposition entities operate with their limited and inaccessible funds, thus placing themselves in an extreme disproportion in capacity, visibility, and mobilization ability.
Likewise, the use of criminal gangs and violent groups to intimidate voters is the culmination of this system. The DP-ASHM has denounced cases where these individuals have patrolled urban and rural areas, blocked roads and exerted direct pressure on individuals or families, imposing certain actions or inactions on them.
In this context, elections in Albania are no longer a representative mechanism of democracy, but an electoral farce where the outcome is predetermined by the instruments of the State, which is identified with the Party, and as if that were not enough, is also supported in its activity by criminal groups.
Even the OSCE-ODIHR Preliminary Report dated May 12, 2025, less than 24 hours after the closing of the voting process, regarding the Fier District, has identified these serious problems:
1/ Intimidation and pressure on voters
During the campaign, concrete cases of attempts to prevent opposition members from participating in political activities were reported throughout the Fier Region. International observers have documented allegations of non-participation in opposition rallies out of fear of reprisals, as well as pressure on families to vote for the ruling party. These forms of pressure range from silent threats to open statements by local government representatives that affect the free and informed vote of citizens.
All of this raises serious concerns about the democratic standards of the electoral process in this region, as well as the real possibility of an equal competition between political forces.
2/ Use of state resources and clientelism
Although this phenomenon is widespread, in areas like Fier, the distribution of social assistance, local government-approved appointments, and infrastructure investments are often perceived as “barter currency” for votes. The CEC has been reluctant to handle complaints about misuse of administrative resources, leaving a significant portion of them unsanctioned.
But, beyond the very worrying issues that have occurred in the Fier Region, a problem that affects the validity of elections everywhere was voting from abroad.
While voting from abroad, i.e. the diaspora vote, as a constitutional right for every Albanian citizen over 18 years of age living outside the territory of the Republic of Albania, was supposed to be a manifestation of democracy, this process turned into a manifestation of the alienation of the will of the voters, as evidenced by all public data and those that we will present before the Complaints and Sanctions Commission.
It is a universally known fact that, despite the requests that the DP-ASHM has filed with the CEC, to date, not a single piece of evidence has been made available to us by this body to prove the fulfillment of the legal condition that the envelopes were personally received by the voters at the address registered on the electronic platform.
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