Albania elections at risk as second electoral deadline is about to run out without governing coalition

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – Albania risks its upcoming June general elections as the deadline for pre-electoral coalitions to register runs out tomorrow with no agreement between ruling SP and LSI at sight.

As tomorrow’s midnight deadline for pre-electoral coalitions to register runs out, neither the ruling socialist party, nor its junior partner LSI have confirmed they will enter elections together, leaving Albania’s political scene in a limbo over who will govern the country for the next 4 years.

April counts three important electoral deadlines for Albania. The first deadline for political parties to register as electoral subjects has already run out with all opposition parties refusing to participate. If by tomorrow at midnight no coalition registers at the Central Elections Commission(CEC), then Albania would seriously risk having its scheduled June 18th general elections, as this would imply the socialists would go it alone.

Albania has been paralyzed by 50 days of opposition protests who demand Rama’s resignation and the creation of a technical government which should assure free and fair elections. Opposition democrats blame the spread of cannabis cultivation and criminal dirty money as a major threat to upcoming elections scheduled for June 18.

Although the prime minister has made several calls for talks, opposition democrats have asked for Rama’s departure as the nonnegotiable condition for any talks to take place.

Meanwhile, Rama’s junior partner the LSI has called for dialogue and has conditioned the continuation of their governing coalition with Rama’s socialists on the reformatting of the government into a more trustworthy team of ministers accepted by the opposition.

LSI chair Ilir Meta has also called for free and fair elections and has expressed concerns on drug cultivation and trafficking which has tripled in the past two years.

The LSI has said they would not enter elections which exclude the opposition democrats. If by tomorrow the LSI and the SP have not formalized their next governing coalition, Albania may enter an unprecedented political crisis and risk its June general elections.