Albanians Press Democracy With Hunger Strike | World News |Axisoflogic.com

Albanian opposition leader Erion Veliaj has been on hunger strike since May 1.

BUCHAREST- Since May 1 over 200 people have been on hunger strike in a tent in the centre of the Albanian capital of Tirana supported by rallies of 200,000 protestors and road blocks across the country to press for a recount of last year’s parliamentary vote.

Of the hunger strikers 22 are parliamentarians from the Socialist Party (SP), the rest are supporters from across the country. So far 54 people have been forced to give up the strike because of deteriorating health.

Last year’s elections (Jun. 28) were won by the incumbent Democratic Party (DP), led by Sali Berisha. DP formed an alliance with a smaller party Social Movement for Integration led by Ilir Meta (the current deputy prime minister and foreign minister), thus reaching a narrow majority of 75 seats in the 140-member parliament.

Berisha, now Prime Minister, was president of Albania between 1992 and 1997. He ended his presidential mandate during a civil war following the collapse of pyramidal (ponzi) schemes that cost Albanians close to a billion euro in lifetime savings.

Since the fall of communism, accusations of vote rigging have followed every election in Albania. The 400 international observers present in the country last June criticised the vote counting process, but validated the results.

International organisations such as the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)are now mediating between government and opposition to end the protests. European Union (EU) representatives have warned that the protests could stall Albania’s entry into the EU. Albania applied for membership in April 2009.

Erion Veliaj is the chair of the small opposition party G99. The party was formed in 2008 by a group of young activists who had been working since 2003 in the Mjaft! Movement, the largest NGO in Albania. Mjaft! was awarded the United Nations Civil Society Award in 2004.

Veliaj, who has worked for U.N. agencies, the Council of Europe and OSCE, answered questions by IPS correspondent Claudia Ciobanu over e-mail from the tent in Tirana.

Q: What is the purpose of the hunger strike and of the large protests supporting it?

A: A recount is not the aim of the strike. It is just a means to a greater end, that is, the achievement of democracy through the transparent and untarnished holding of general and local elections in the country. We deem that free elections are the core and basis of any healthy democracy in the world. They represent accountability through the power of the vote and a hope and promise of effective and honest governance, given that ultimately it is - and it must be - the people that decide who represents their wishes, expectations and dreams.

Once a political party is capable of rigging elections - and is sure that it will remain in power, no matter what the people choose through ballots - then there is nothing that can prevent corruption, dishonesty, bribery, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of economy and finances, oppression to the media, use of threats or violence, and so on. This is why we struggle for the transparency of the electoral process.

Q: The past two weeks have seen massive mobilisation: estimates of the opposition go into hundreds of thousands, in a country of 3.2 million. What does this say about the mood of Albanians and the strength of citizen activism in the country?

A: We have seen protests with 200,000 people, that is, one in every 15 Albanians came out in the streets supporting the opposition’s cause. There are hundreds of thousands who share our concern but are unable to protest because they are scared of repercussions. Dismissals from public administration of people who are identified with or suspected to be supporters of the opposition are now common practice.

Albanians have had enough of this government and this political majority. Marred by scandals and tragedies, having destroyed the economy and now risking the financial stability of the country, this government has impoverished Albanians at a level that is now unacceptable. Albanians have had to deal with a lot in the last decades. We had to deal with communism for 45 years, and now we are experiencing an ever-lengthy transition period that has already accrued 20 years. That’s almost half the time we spent under the communist dictatorial rule. This transition has to end. And this is why Albania and Albanians are awakening and getting on the streets to make their voices heard.

Q: The government and EU representatives say these protests are a delay in Albania's route to EU accession as political stability is compromised. Is this true?

A: There is no such thing as Albania’s route to EU accession. Albania’s accession to the EU is a mid-to-long term endeavor, and clearly at the moment the country is very far from even being considered as a potential member. Albania has enormous problems with independence of the judiciary, the proper functioning of public administration, freedom of media, flagrant and ever-expanding corruption, property reform, weak health and education system, and recently also with the economy and financial stability, to name but a few.

There will never be real democracy in Albania (and subsequently real reforms necessary for the socio-economic advancement of the country) if we do not have free and fair elections. Hence, this whole rhetoric of the ‘European future’ being compromised is just lip-service that Berisha pays to his hardcore militants as well as his narrow-minded European supporters.

Q: What do you say to those who might read these protests as merely an attempt by the Socialists to get into power? And why trust the Socialists who have their own history of corruption (most notoriously, the case of former prime minister Fatos Nano) and are heirs to the Albanian Communists?

A: Yes, the Socialists are trying to get to power. The very existence and ultimate aim of any political party is to come to power. That should not be the question, however. The real question should be how political parties come to power. We have made it clear that the transparency of the previous elections shall not have an impact on the current configuration of the Parliament. However, such transparency will uncover the ‘public secret’ on elections in Albania, and will guarantee that such abuses with the people’s vote will not happen in the future.

Edi Rama (the leader of the Socialist Party and currently mayor of Tirana) was a late-1980s - early 1990s dissident, while I spent four years building a civic movement to discredit Fatos Nano's banana republic. Now we've joined forces against Berisha, a turncoat communist, currently on the inflammatory right and a political siamese to Nano. Rama reformed the Socialists and got rid of Nano cronies. The new parliamentary group is evidence of that: 80 percent are all new and young MPs.

Q: The OSCE proposed the government and opposition a deal on Friday. What was their proposal and what do you make of it?

A: I've had a chance to work with these international institutions, so I'm acutely aware of what it means to be on both sides of the fence, as 'international community' and 'developing natives'. I happen to belong in the latter group this time. But the point is that certain principles are universal. Such is the one of transparency.

As cynical as I am on the role of the 'international community', this time around the OSCE proposal focuses on making available to both parties all electoral material, except for the actual ballots, which are to be sent for an amicus curiae by the Venice Commission. This sounds a bit of a nuisance--as we're allowed by law to have access to this material. But that's the state of affairs today in Albania, we're negotiating our rights through the international community in the face of a government that is estranged to such norms.

Q: For how long will you continue the strike?

A: I plan to be the last to leave and turn the lights off -hopefully victorious.

Inter Press Service