TIRANA, May 2/ATA/ Chief State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi met today with Ambassador of the European Union to our country Silvio Gonzato.
Celibashi emphasized that, “It was a meeting to provide information on preparation of the elections; we exchanged opinions on these preparations. And as the ambassador put it, we are in a constant process of cooperation and support from the European Union delegation for the electoral process and in particular for the CEC and that cooperation will certainly continue after these elections”.
Celibashi highlighted the significance of integrity in these elections.
“We shared the same views on the significance of these elections since Albania is at an important stage in the EU integration process; so, it is necessary that each of us, public institutions, political parties, will have to reflect on their responsibilities so that to have elections with integrity”, said Celibashi.
Further on, Celibashi said that, “During the current, we have had almost periodically concrete communications with SPAK about various issues of the electoral process, about complaints made in this structure, but also information that has been reported to the CEC. Within 24 hours, we have made available what was requested from them”.
Celibashi emphasized that everything that the ODIHR observation mission says about the election process is valid.
“Since 2001, when I have been involved in the elections, I have appreciated that the reputation and integrity of the ODIHR and the fact that it is an arbiter accepted by all parties on adjudication of the elections in Albania and everything that they say is valid”, said Celibashi.
Asked about the Diaspora voting process, Celibashi underlined that, “So far, in the CEC there are 7 voters who have declared that they have not received their ballot papers and the number of reported issues is 156”.
Celibashi said that, “DHL has the obligation to keep in its offices the envelopes with the ballot papers that it was unable to deliver to voters and that voters were unable to withdraw by May 8th.”/r.e/p.s./
