By Desada Metaj
The Electoral College seems to be the only judicial institution currently holding the power to shed light on one of the key truths behind the May 11 electoral process. At the heart of the matter is the personal vote count for candidates on the open lists—several of whom allege that their votes were “manipulated” during the counting process.
It’s no secret that neither Rama nor Berisha want the ballot boxes opened or the votes recounted—especially in Tirana, where the Socialist Party’s star candidate Blendi Gonxhe shines with over 20,000 votes, and where the margin between Democratic Party (DP) candidates is razor-thin. In the ballot boxes of Tirana and Durrës, there could be some unwelcome surprises for both the SP and DP. Faced with this uncomfortable possibility, and following an election process riddled with questions, Rama and Berisha—just as they’ve done in the past to preserve the status quo—have drawn the red lines of the game by blocking any recount.
A necessary legal clarification: in one of his public statements, Sali Berisha loudly proclaimed his support for transparency and promised to back his candidates in submitting appeals to the Complaints and Sanctions Commission (KAS). At the same time, however, he emphasized that issues of invalidity must be addressed first. Only afterward, if the candidates still had claims regarding alleged “vote manipulation,” would he, as the leader of the electoral subject, consider demanding transparency—meaning a recount or re-evaluation of votes.
But the Electoral Code tells a different story. Article 124, point 2, second sentence, of the Code clearly states:
“An appeal against the decision may include a request for the amendment of the Summary Table of the Electoral Zone and/or the invalidation of results in one or more voting centers, according to Article 160 of this Code.”
In other words, when an electoral subject claims both types of grievances—invalidity and recount/re-evaluation—they can present both issues simultaneously before KAS. It is not mandatory to first exhaust the invalidity claim before later requesting a recount. Yet the DP, as a political party, filed its appeal only for invalidity in certain regions, making no demands for vote transparency!
Now that the DP’s appeal has already been submitted solely with claims of invalidity—and without any accompanying demand for a recount—it’s highly unlikely they can later demand vote transparency “at a later stage.”
Moreover, the prevailing legal practice so far has maintained that “candidates from a party” cannot submit an independent appeal separate from their party. This is an illogical and discriminatory rule—especially considering that even independent candidates have this right. If the Electoral College does not overturn this precedent, it will effectively slam the door shut on the legitimate request of these candidates to verify their personal votes. That would be nothing less than a betrayal—a political “knife in the back” from their own party.
Everything began immediately after the vote-counting process ended. Several candidates were separated by very narrow margins, which made every single vote matter—and required extreme care and rigorous recordkeeping. On the SP side, the candidates most involved in this tight race were Olta Xhaçka, Blerina Gjylameti, and Xhemal Qefalia. On the DP side, the close results between Jorida Tabaku and Ilir Alimehmeti, as well as between Arian Ndoji and Aulon Kalaja, put the well-known doctor and civic activist Alimehmeti at the center of a legal (and political) battle for the truth about his votes as a candidate on an open list.
While Edi Rama quickly brushed off these internal “squabbles” with a simple message, Sali Berisha initially appeared open to transparency. But the public statements of the DP leader did not match the actions of his party’s representatives at KAS, who rejected the request by candidates Alimehmeti and Kalaja for a vote recount in Tirana.
Officially, the Central Election Commission (CEC), upon request, handed over the vote-counting footage to the candidates making these claims. It seems that they and their legal teams identified procedural violations and submitted a formal request to KAS for a recount. But the request was denied, with the reasoning that such a request must come from the political subject, not the candidate. In doing so, the DP effectively abandoned its own candidates, dismissing their right to transparency and making Sali Berisha look somewhat disingenuous in his public promises.
The only KAS member who voted in favor of the candidates’ transparency request, Ilir Rusmali, faced heavy attacks from the DP—likely because he broke ranks with the unspoken “agreement” between SP and DP to avoid the potential mess of a vote recount.
Now, the DP candidates have filed a request with the Electoral College to demand a vote recount. The fate of not just these candidates but the broader political developments of the two main parties may very well lie in the hands of this judicial body—especially following a campaign highly personalized around Rama and Berisha and their hand-picked loyalists on the electoral lists.