The main political parties in Albania officially started electoral campaigns on Saturday for the next local elections, but the first days of the campaign were marred by claims of irregularities.
On Saturday, Zef Hila, the opposition Democratic Party candidate for the municipality of Vau i Dejes, alleged that he was subjected to harassment by police officers.
“I have denounced this violence from uniformed police officers for weeks, but this is still going on,” Hila said in a statement published by the Democratic Party.
According to the statement, a police officer also harassed Hila’s brother and opened fire with a handgun. The party claims that this was ordered by the government.
The Interior Ministry denied that the incident was motivated by politics but said the police officer involved was being probed.
“The officer in question had been put under formal investigation and is suspended till further notice,” the ministry said.
In a separate incident, the Food Security Agency of Albania ordered a flour mill belonging to Fiqiri Ismaili, the Democratic Party mayor of the town of Vora, to suspend operations, saying it had that had identified a quantity of flour that contains aflatoxin.
The Democratic Party said on Sunday that this was also politically motivated.
“The Ministry of Agriculture that is under direct command of the parliamentary speaker Ilir Meta ordered the suspension of work at the flour factory without any reason and contrary to rules and procedures,” said Astrit Patozi, an MP from the Democratic Party.
The ministry denied the allegation, saying that the checks were routine.
The ministry is run by the junior partner in the governing coalition, the Socialist Movement for Integration; the left-wing candidate challenging Meta for the Vora municipality, Luan Sallaku, belongs to the same party.
The Socialist Movement for Integration has meanwhile been accused of attempted vote-buying across the country, which it denies.
Last week, photos posted on social media showed shopping coupons with the party’s logo of LSI allegedly offering 5,000 leks (35 euros) of free clothes in exchange for votes.
About 3.4 million Albanians have the right to vote in next month’s polls. They can choose among 60 parties divided into two big blocs and a few independent candidates.
Source: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/electoral-campaign-starts-with-f...
