2005-07-01
Final Election Preview Albania
- The last Gallup poll before the general election this Sunday had Sali Berisha's right-wing coalition, led by his Democratic Party (PD), at 35%, prime minister Fatos Nano's left-wing coalition, led by the Socialist Party (PS) at 34%, and Ilir Meta's Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) at 10%.
- The closeness of the polls is a problem, since it means that the losing side is likely to contest the results. In fact, a forum of intellectuals had made a public appeal against publishing opinion polls close to election day for exactly this reason.
- The campaign has descended into a mudslinging match between the two main contenders, according to observers. In an interview for Voice of America [AL], independent intellectual Fatos Lubonja criticises this style sharply:
The fact that the electoral campaigns are based on accusations of criminal wrongdoing by both sides ..., which leaves the impression that Albania will be governed by one of two groups of criminals, ... shows a huge problem, which is the lack of democratic accomplishments, the deficiency of institutions such as the state prosecutor, such as the justice system, which should have confronted these accusations ... Today a situation has been created in which the act of making an accusation has lost its meaning, and this in a way is a situation that is called "the wolf likes the fog"
- DerStandard has a good short summary of the campaign here [DE], with a nice picture from Tirana showing the monument of the unknown partisan between two posters of Berisha and Nano - title: "A new round of battle between mortal enemies". Deutschlandfunk [DE]is more optimistic and quotes from interviews with the younger generation of politicians such as Edi Rama, Genc Pollo, and supporters of Ilir Meta.
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