19 May 2021 Statement of the President of the Republic, H.E. Mr. Ilir Meta related to the complaint processes which are taking place on the preliminary election results
Dear citizens of the Republic,
On April 25th, 2021, we all went to the ballot boxes to elect who will be our representatives in the new Assembly of Albania.
Apart from this day, which luckily went smoothly and without serious problems, we all became witnesses and each day there are more and more public testimonies and evidence that this election process has had problems. The number of electoral crimes increased significantly; where vote buying turned into a mass phenomenon; where public administration, funds and state assets were misused by the power holders in order to favor themselves.
A number of criminal reports are already administered by the Prosecution and the State Police, before, during, but also currently, after the voting day.
All these denunciations of electoral crimes must be clarified, without delay, and all those officials, of any level, who have committed electoral crimes, or other criminal offenses, who have violated the standards of the April 25th process and have distorted the will of voters, they must be held accountable in front of the Law.
All the citizens must follow and respond to the judicial bodies, with data, evidence and facts, so that justice can function quickly to reveal the truth.
Anyone who has committed illicit actions to win a mandate, should be punished and does not deserve the mandate in the Albanian Assembly.
Any candidate who has won a mandate through electoral crimes has no right to sit in the Assembly and represent the Albanian people.
The electoral process is considered closed only when the last complaint has been examined.
On May 4th, 2021, the State Election Commissioner approved with a decision, the summary tables for the voting result for each electoral zone, for the electoral subjects and the candidates for MPs in the elections for the Assembly of Albania, on 25th of April 2021.
According to the Electoral Code, these results are not final if the electoral subjects file a complaint against them.
Already against the announced result many electoral subjects have submitted and are following the complaints procedures in the respective administrative bodies of the Commission of Complaints and Sanctions in the CEC and the judicial ones, while the criminal cases opened as a result of the denunciations for electoral crimes consumed by the public administration and top management officials, political or not, are being prosecuted in the respective bodies by their denouncing entities.
As the President of the Republic, I call all administrative and judicial institutions to examine with accountability and objectivity all the submitted complaints because the integrity of this complaint process is as much important as the result itself of the examination of such complaints.
It is very important that every vote shall be counted and recounted transparently until the end, according to the Electoral Code.
It is important that every given fact, election material, is examined and verified, with objectivity and impartiality.
Nothing is over!
The Electoral Code, in its Article 167, clearly states that the CEC announces the final result of the elections, only after the complaint procedures have been completed, according to this Code.
Until the announcement of the final result, we are still in the election period and the political subjects, their representatives must show prudence and calmness and closely follow the processes that they have established.
This is a very important moment that the bodies responsible according to the law must fulfill their duties, uninfluenced, in compliance with the Constitution and the Law.
Meanwhile, the criminal justice bodies must precede this process with concrete results, because otherwise, what value would it have if they allow elected MPs to sit in the seats of the Assembly with bought votes or through a manipulated process!
Justice must function now to serve to restore the confidence of Albanians in the electoral process!
This is important for all of us! This is important for the country’s European future!
Anyone who supports the theory of the committed fact, distracting attention from the criminal complaints and investigative processes ongoing, is complicit in violating the climate of trust between the parties, in violating the standards of this electoral process, before, during and actually!