TIRANA, May 11/ATA/ President Bajram Begaj stated today that, “All must be committed to have transparent, free and fair elections”.
“The elections themselves are an important indicator of the maturity of our democratic system. May 14 is a challenge for Albanian institutions, political parties and society itself. The elections are not for political parties, but for all Albanians”, said Begaj during the joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Tirana.
“I hope that the parties will not ignore the citizens the same like they disregarded the President when he called for the rhetoric to be civil, not derogatory, not hostile, self-contained, have clashes of ideas and thoughts and not unnecessary rhetoric,” added further Begaj.
The Head of State also called for turn out in the local elections of May 14.
“I would like to extend a call for participation in the elections. Participation in elections is a constitutional right, but also a moral obligation for citizens, for the nation and for ourselves. Every citizen must exercise the right to vote. The electoral administration is important in this process. This is not a condition imposed on us by the EU or Poland, but it is an obligation that we have to the Albanian citizens, an obligation that has to do with an electoral standard, to be perfect, not to be a little better than the previous elections”, emphasized Begaj.
Begaj said that, “If the unnecessary rhetoric used by political parties, continues even after the election process, there is an infringement of the integrity of these elections, then the responsibility will be the institutions and political parties”./k.s/ /gj.m /p.s. /
