Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 97-07-08

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From: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] ABOUT 10-12 MILLION LEK DAMAGE IN TIRANE ELECTRIC NETWORK

[02] NATIONAL SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP IN ALBANIA TO START ON AUGUST 2

[03] MEETING TO COMMEMORATE 2000TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALBANIAN PEOPLE'S BECOMING CHRISTIAN

[04] INTERNATIONAL FACTORS SEE KOSOVA-REPUBLIC IN CONTEXT OF YUGOSLAV FEDERATION - Trajkovic

[05] PERCENTAGES OF VOTES WON BY ELECTORAL SUBJECTS IN 111 CONSTITUENCIES IN ALBANIA

[06] GREEK CONSUL KANELLOS LEAVES GJIROKASTER AT THE END OF HIS MANDATE

[07] FINAL REPORT OF OSCE TROIKA ON PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA

[08] HRUP SECRETARY GENERAL SUSPENDED FROM HIS POST IN PARTY'S PRESIDENCY

[09] SPANISH FMP SOLDIER INCIDENTALLY INJURED BY LIVE WIRES

[10] WITHIN AUGUST ALL MPF WILL BE WITHDRAWN FROM ALBANIA - Bernardi

[11] REPORTS ON 28 CONSTITUENCIES OF THE SECOND RUNOFF POLL

[01] ABOUT 10-12 MILLION LEK DAMAGE IN TIRANE ELECTRIC NETWORK

According to an affiliate chief, Qemal Serezi, the staff of the affiliate have repaired since February different kinds difects caused by the firing into the air up to explosives put in electric technical installations.

Defects by arms shooting have also been repaired in low, medium and high tension lines. According to the chairmwoman of the technical branch, Diana Reso, besides these acts, there are a lot of electric air lines and cables which have been stolen, as happened in the electric sub-station of Valias, where a damage worth 4 million lek was caused.

As a result of this defect, problems were created with the electric and water supplying of some Italian and Turkish units of the MPF deployed in the context of the Alba mission. xh/e

[02] NATIONAL SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP IN ALBANIA TO START ON AUGUST 2

In its latest meeting, ASF Executive Committee decided that the national soccer championship will start on August 2 while the matches for the Cup of Albania will begin on August 23 to be followed by the national soccer championship for 1997-1998 on September 13.

ASF suspended for an unlimited period of time all national football matches on January 25 this year as a result of the tense situation created in Albania. The first match of this championship was that played between Partizani and Tomorri which ended 1-1. This match marked the beginning of the 18th week (second stage) of the 58th national soccer championship which could not continue with other matches. ake/xh/sh/

[03] MEETING TO COMMEMORATE 2000TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALBANIAN PEOPLE'S BECOMING CHRISTIAN

The tribune was led by Don Pash Dani, parson of that church. Speakers in the meeting were Dr Don Lush Gjergji and Prof Dr Engjell Sedaj. Also the book of Lush Gjergji, "Jezus changes our life," published time ago by the Francescan Assembly in Gjakove, was pesented. pta/pas/xh/

[04] INTERNATIONAL FACTORS SEE KOSOVA-REPUBLIC IN CONTEXT OF YUGOSLAV FEDERATION - Trajkovic

Trajkovic said that "we insist that there will be no solution to the Kosova question unless the Balkans is democratized."/AG/N/xh/sh/

[05] PERCENTAGES OF VOTES WON BY ELECTORAL SUBJECTS IN 111 CONSTITUENCIES IN ALBANIA

From these reports, it results that there are many parties which have not reached the limit of 2 per cent of the votes. These parties are PDK has won 0.97 per cent of the votes, PBSD 0.82 per cent, PA 0.81 per cent, PDD 0.77 per cent, PBD 0.87 per cent, PLD 0.30 per cent, PUK 0.29 per cent, PK 0.26 per cent, PLK 0.14 per cent and PPD 0.05 per cent of the votes.

Members of the CEC say that the commission is discussing irregularities in some constituencies registered both in the first and second rounds of ballot, after claims by electoral subjects. In the few coming days, CEC is expected to decide definitely which constituencies with irregularities will repeat the polls. xh/E

[06] GREEK CONSUL KANELLOS LEAVES GJIROKASTER AT THE END OF HIS MANDATE

Attending the ceremony were the prefect of Gjirokaster, Thanas Merkuri, the chairman of the district council of Gjisrokaster, Jani Dako, Mayor of Gjirokaster, Ylli Asllani, local leaders of political parties, reporters and others.

Wishing the newly-appointed consul success in the post of the diplomat, although in difficult conditions in which Albania is, Mr Kanellos said that diplomacy is a work of peace.

In his short address, prefect Merkuri expressed his consideration for the work of the former consul Kanellos in the consolidation of the relations between the two neighbouring states and assured the new consul of the maximal predisposition and support for his duty. JZ/xh/Z

[07] FINAL REPORT OF OSCE TROIKA ON PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA

This final report was foreseen in the Political Contract of 9 May 1997, signed by the main political parties. Based on the findings of international observers, we are confident to say that, in our judgement, these elections can be deemed as acceptable given the prevailing circumstances. They should constitute the foundation for a strong, democratic system that the Albanians want and deserve.

During the first and second round, irregularities were observed which were, in a few cases, serious ones. A final technical assessment containing a more detailed analysis of the whole electoral process and recommendations will be released by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE after the final round has been completed. It is up to the Albania judicial system to process complaints in accordance with the domestic legislation.

Pre-election period

The pre-election period was marred by a number of problems, mainly stemming from the overall situation in the country. The security conditions, in particular, made normal technical preparations and observations difficult in the extreme. The presence of the Multinational Protection Force helped to improve the security situation, thereby allowing the elections to take place.

These problems were mainly of a procedural nature, relating to the inability to strictly observe the timetable set forth in the Electoral Process. As a result, the necessary flow of information to the electorate was uneven throughout the country. In some cases, voters were not sufficiently informed to be able to objectively select among the candidates.

This, coupled with the serious hindrance in campaigning, particularly in the South, brought about by the security situation, made normal preparations for the elections extremely difficult.

However, the Albanian authorities responsible for the administration of the elections, particularly the Central Electoral Commission, displayed a high degree of commitment and responsibility in seeking to overcome the very real problems facing them.

In particular, the following significant difficulties were observed:

1. The Electoral Commissions, both in the electoral zones and in the polling stations, became operational at a very late stage in most areas.
2. The voters' lists were not completed on time. In several polling stations, no voters' lists at all were available for the first round.
   The list of candidates was established at a very late stage in several electoral zones, and was forwarded to the Central Electoral Commission at the very last moment.
3. The late printing of the ballot papers and the distribution of election materials also caused serious delays, resulting in several polling stations not receiving them in time for the first round.
4. The opening and closing hours of the polling stations were changed only the day before the first round by a ruling of the Constitutional Court. This change had been held up for some times, seemingly for political reasons.

Media

The State TV and Radio followed the election law and the media guidelines issued by the Central Electoral Commission on 31 May 1997. The monitoring presented to the OSCE by the Osservatorio di Pavia, an Italian media research institute, indicated an overall fair coverage of the campaign by the State TV in terms of airtime. There have, however, been reports that indicate footage of rallies by one party were taken from last year where crowds were significantly larger.

Compared to the State TV, the influence of print media on public opinion is relatively limited. It remains split into the two major political camps. The largest dailies are still either political party publications or nominally independent papers that demonstrate strong political bias. It has to be noted, however, that in the aftermath of the recent political crisis, the independent print media became more diversified. However, technical difficulties and distribution problems prevented circulation to a large part of the population.

Coverage of the campaign in many parts of the country was limited by crime-related thefts of reporters' cars and equipment.

First Round

Although great difficulties in the weeks before the election caused many observers to doubt the ability of the Albanian authorities to conduct a successful election, a large turnout of voters (73%) demonstrated that Albania, in close cooperation with the OSCE, was able to organize the voting day in a reasonably orderly fashion. On the same day, a referendum on the question of Constitutional Monarchy took place. This referendum, which the OSCE had recommended should be held on a separate date, did not fall within the OSCE's mandate.

Despite the logistical difficulties reported above, a vast majority of the 4 500 polling stations were in operation on election day, although in some cases opening late. Diaspora voters were allowed to return home to cast their ballots.

Over 500 short-term observers, including 112 parliamentarians from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Assembly and various national parliaments, were deployed in more than 250 teams, covering a high percentage of the voting population. They were able to visit polling stations, witness the counting of ballots and freely interview voters. The cooperation of the polling stations commissions with observers was on the whole excellent. Although observers' findings will be draw some conclusions at this stage:

1. The vast majority of the observation reports indicate that the voting procedures were being followed in a good or very good manner.
2. In areas where there were difficulties, the majority of the problems were ballots not stamped or signed, family voting and ballot box seals not properly affixed. These cannot be considered as serious violations. It was only in a small percentage of cases that the difficulties could be described as acute.
3. The quality of the security at the polling stations was generally described as good. However, there were incidents, including the seemingly election-related murder of one polling station official, which is to be condemned.
4. The counting and tabulation process was very slow and problematic. There were instances of manipulation and intimidation at the Zonal Electoral Commission level; these serious irregularities, although of no implication on the overall results, are to be deplored and eventually, corrected through the normal judicial procedures.

The Central Electoral Commission was hampered in its work by the, in some instances, deliberately slow transmission of result protocols from the zones. Serious lack of transparency and missed deadlines made the timely preparation for the second round difficult.

Second Round

On july6, a second round took place in 32 zones. In addition, one zone held a first round election. This followed a week of some tension, including a serious shooting incident during a rally. One person was killed and a number of people injured.

The second round was monitored by over 150 short-term observers, including parliamentarians from the Council of Europe and the Italian Parliament, who covered all the contested zones. Over 600 polling stations were visited during the day and many were returned to in the evening for observation of the vote count.

The hours of polling went calmly with a voter turnout below that of the previous week. A number of minor incidents were reported but generally there was no deterioration in the situation reported during the first round. Again, we have to condemn the killing of two election officials during this round. Overall, observers indicated that there were no serious technical violations of the voting process.

Conclusions

We believe, therefore, that we can say that the elections can be deemed as acceptable, given the prevailing circumstances, because:

1. of the large participation of voters, in particular during the first round
2. voters were generally able to cast their ballot without fear of intimidation
3. the conduct of the electoral commissions appears to have been, apart from a relatively small number of incidents, correct and impartial. Domestic and international observers were, for the most part, granted access to all stages of the voting and counting without interference of intimidation.

The results of these elections should be the foundation for a strong, democratic system, which Albanians want and deserve. It is, however, essential that all Albania political parties observe the commitments they have made to respect the results of the elections. We recall that the international community expects a major effort towards national reconciliation after the elections. Without such reconciliation, there will be no basis for defining the terms of international aid, and the continued support of the international community.

We should like to commend the OSCE, and in particular the efforts of Dr. Franz Vranitzky, the Multinational Protection Force, as well as the Council of Europe and the European Union for the tremendous contribution they have made to the international effort to help build democracy in Albania.

ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE)

CATHERINE LALUMIERE
OSCE SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR THE ALBANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

SIR RUSSELL JOHNSTON
HEAD OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION

JAVIER RUPEREZ
PRESIDENT OF THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

/mt/Z

[08] HRUP SECRETARY GENERAL SUSPENDED FROM HIS POST IN PARTY'S PRESIDENCY

Taking into account that since the time when he was elected HRUP Secretary General, Mico has never appeared in the party headquarters to take his duty and functions according to the statute , acting contrary to the decision of the HRUP presidency to take part in the parliament after May 26, 1996 elections as representative of the party and the electorate who gave him their votes, by candidating independently in constitutncy 114 and by confronting in violent forms the HRUP candidate Ziso Lluci, Thoma Mico has come out openly against the party and consequently has expelled himself from all party structures./JZ/ xh/Z

[09] SPANISH FMP SOLDIER INCIDENTALLY INJURED BY LIVE WIRES

The soldier, hitting an obstacle, felt down and touched some civilian high tension live wires, causing himself 2nd and 3rd degree burnings to his back and his hand.

He was immediately helped by his collegues and transported to the French field hospital, where he received stabilization cares.

At 13.30 the man was evacuated to Bari hospital with a French Puma helicopter./kei

[10] WITHIN AUGUST ALL MPF WILL BE WITHDRAWN FROM ALBANIA - Bernardi

He admitted that a plan for gradual withdrawal is being worked out for these forces.

"Vlora, Durres, Rinas, the points where the operation started, will also be the main points where the departure of these troops will start, beginning with July 18," he said.

"The operation of the withdrawal of the troops is the more complicated for technical logistic reasons than the deployment operation of these forces," he said. For Mr Bernardi "the mission is considered accomplished." "The mission must be considered as succesful," he said, "first because we helped distribute humanitarian aid through Albania and second, we secured the international organizations, OSCE in particular over the process of elections." For Bernardi, the public order is better than the situation they found when the MPF came in Albania.

Italian soldiers that will leave Albania will partly go to Italy and partly take their turn instead of the present soldiers in Bosnia.

"We will leave with the full conviction that we have made something necessary for the Albanian people. I have heard none of the soldiers, officers and non-commissioned officers to complain for being in Albania," he pointed out.

Bernardi explained that the presence of the Multinational Protection Force has not solved the problems of order, but anyhow, this was not its competence.

"This is a question which belongs to the Albanian police to solve. If such a problem was solved by the MPF this would be considered a violation of Albania's sovereignty,' he said.

MPF accompanied about 250 teams of OSCE observers in Albania on the election day, July 29, 1997.

"We have had no big problems while escorting OSCE observers, nevetheless we told them no to go in some zones which we have considered as less secure for the inviolability of OSCE monitors," said Bernardi.

During the first round of polls, the MPF could not ensure one escort for every monitoring team, but, according to the MPF spokesman, this force managed to secure them, something that was also reflected in the electoral process.

"In the second runoff polls we managed to escort every monitoring team, which ensured the population that it too would not have cases of great violence," Bernardi explained. jz/xh

[11] REPORTS ON 28 CONSTITUENCIES OF THE SECOND RUNOFF POLL

Consequently, 13 out of 28 constituencies are won by SP candidates and in four of them winners are candidates representing SP and SDP. In constituency 18 winner is the SP candidate, Agustin Pashk Marku, in constituency 19 Ndrec Mark Pema, in constituency 30 Pellumb Myftar Shullazi, in constituency 33 is Alush Fiqiri Xhihani, in 35th Zihni Mahmut Beqiraj, in 36th Ilirjana Ramazan Kercuku, in 37th Bardhyl Hasan Agasi of the SP/SDP, in the 38th Natasha Sotir Paco, in the 41st Lush Martin Perpali of SP/ SP, in 45th Spartak Dilaver Poci, in 46th Aferdita Stefan Stefani, in 49th Kico Stavri Blushi of SP/SDP, in the 56th Limoz Hulesi Dizdari, in the 57th Enver Beqir Reci, 58th Ejup Isuf Tabaku, in 59th Ismail Xhavit Togu, in the 107th Skender Ethem Gjinushi of SP/SP.

DP candidates have won in five of these 28 constituencies. They are: in constituency 1, DP/CDP candidate Sander Ndue Uldedaj, in constituency 3 Valentin Tish Palaj, in constituency 7 Jozefina Filip Topalli, in constituency 8 Ferid Riza Hoti and in constituency 9 Mark Filip Krroqi.

Winners in the second round of polls are also two independent candidates in constituencies 86 and 104, respectively Maksim Halim Hasani and Vladimir Tare Fejzo.

Also winners are two candiates of the Albanian United Right. In constituency 10, the winner is Nexhat Xhemal Kali and in constituency 59 Fatbardh Fetah Hushi.

The candidate of DAP, Neritan Hasan Ceka, has won in constituency 64, the HRUP candidate Ligoraq Jorgji Karamelo has won in constituency 94. The CEC has also received the protocols of constituency 4 where candidates were Ali Spahia of the DP and Leke Cukaj of SP. The commission is examining the protocols of the polling stations of that constituency in which some irregularities have been noticed.

According to CEC members, the protocols of the constituencies of Has, Diber and Mat are expected to reach the commission on July 9. The CEC reports that constituencies 11 and 77 will have another round of ballot. xh

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