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Just 1 day before the start of the electoral campaign for the May 11 elections, the OSCE reminded justice and security institutions of the importance of doing their duty to investigate electoral crimes.
The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Michel Tarran, was present at this meeting. During his speech, Tarran stated that electoral integrity lies at the foundation of every democratic society.
He emphasizes that ensuring free and fair elections requires strong institutions, accountability, transparency and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law. Tarran said that prosecutors, judicial police officers and State Police representatives have the essential duty of investigating, ultimately prosecuting and combating electoral crime.
"Ensuring free and fair elections requires strong institutions, accountability, transparency and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law. Prosecutors, judicial police officers and State Police representatives have the essential duty of investigating, ultimately prosecuting and combating electoral crime," said Tarran.
At an event organized by the OSCE, Ambassador Michel Tarran did not fail to mention the problems that OSCE reports have highlighted in the last two electoral processes.
"Although progress has been made, the ODIHR final reports on the 2021 parliamentary and 2023 local elections note that electoral crime, in particular vote buying, misuse of administration resources and voter intimidation, continue to be issues of concern. Both reports recommend that law enforcement bodies make every effort to independently identify and investigate all allegations of electoral violations, including vote buying, pressure on voters and misuse of administration resources, in a thorough, prompt and transparent manner," Tarran said.
Tarran praised the precautionary and coordinated measures taken by the Attorney General's office, the Central Election Commission, SPAK, and the State Police for the challenges related to electoral crimes.
"Your collective and individual actions reflect the strong institutional will to protect the integrity of the elections," he said.
Justice institutions will be more present than ever in these elections to find electoral crimes.
"The agreement with the State Police is essential. The General Protocol that was reached with SPAK, the CEC and the General Prosecutor's Office is important. We have decided that at the CEC there will be representatives of SPAK and the General Prosecutor's Office, a judicial police officer and 1 prosecutor. Everyone should show willingness to report electoral crimes", said Olsian Çela.
Tarran also welcomed the emphasis placed on transparency and timely public information on investigations into electoral crimes.
"We appreciate that civil society organizations and the media have an important role in carrying out independent oversight by complementing institutional efforts to expose electoral crimes and strengthen accountability."
In the Albanian language there is an old expression “Gur, gur fësër kalaja”. Every effort contributes to a greater goal. Our common goal is clear to ensure that electoral violations are not only identified, but also investigated and prosecuted without delay and in a full manner, thus strengthening public confidence in the democratic process”, said the OSCE Ambassador.
The CEC, the General Prosecutor's Office and SPAK have joined forces in these elections to combat electoral crime through an agreement. They will focus on the prevention and investigation of criminal offenses related to vote buying, misuse of public administration and state infrastructure, as well as the involvement of criminal groups in elections.
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