• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Democracy Chronicles

Towards better democracy everywhere.

  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy
You are here: Home / Democracy News Headlines / International Democracy / Albania’s President Cancels Elections, Citing Tense Climate

Albania’s President Cancels Elections, Citing Tense Climate

June 10, 2019 by DC Editors Leave a Comment

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet
Albania's President Cancels Elections, Citing Tense Climate
President Ilir Meta –Image source

From Voice Of America

Albania’s president on Saturday canceled upcoming municipal elections, citing the need to reduce political tensions in the country.

President Ilir Meta said he acted because “the actual circumstances do not provide necessary conditions for true, democratic, representative and all-inclusive elections” at the end of the month. The president said he would clarify his decision Monday.

Thousands of Albanians who support the political opposition assembled for an anti-government protest on Saturday. Opposition parties planned to boycott the municipal elections and threatened to prevent them taking place.

After sundown, smoke from tear gas and flares clouded the streets of Tirana. Some protesters hurled flares, firecrackers and Molotov cocktails at police officers outside the parliament building. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

“This union [of people] imposed the annulment of the June 30 election,”Lulzim Basha, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said, pledging to continue the battle.

Speaking at an election rally, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Meta’s decision was wrong and insisted the local votes would be held as scheduled to prevent political “blackmail” from being used to force the calling of early parliamentary elections.

The Albanian opposition, led by the center-right Democratic Party, accuses the left-wing government of links to organized crime and vote rigging. Opposition leaders are demanding Rama’s resignation, the naming of a transitional Cabinet, and an earlier date for the next general election.

Opposition lawmakers also have relinquished their seats in parliament, where the government holds a comfortable majority.

The government denies the allegations and said opposition-organized protests that started in February have hurt the country’s image as the European Union is set to decide this month whether to launch negotiations to include Albania as a member.

The United States and the European Union urged protesters to disavow violence and sit in a dialogue with government representatives to resolve the political crisis.

In an interview with private TV station Top Channel, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mathew Palmer warned opposition political leaders, “if there are acts of violence in future protests, we will consider them responsible.”

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet

Filed Under: International Democracy Tagged With: Albania, Balkan Nations, Europe

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

democracy chronicles newsletter

american democracy around the web

  • “Trump electors: ‘fake’ or ‘contingent’?”
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 9 hours ago
  • Larry Lessig on Trump Disqualification: “A Te...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 9 hours ago
  • Rosalind Dixon: “Politics as Markets: Here an...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 9 hours ago
  • “Biden’s campaign set to counterpunch on misi...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 9 hours ago
  • “North Carolina May Increase Odds of Gridlock...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 9 hours ago