Head of OSCE Presence in Albania calls on political parties to send in nominations for election commissioners

TIRANA, 2 February 2011 – Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, today urged all political parties to comply fully with the Electoral Code by sending in their respective nominations for commission members to the Central Election Commission (CEC) without delay.

According to information received by the OSCE Presence, none of the political parties have so far submitted their full lists of names to the CEC.

“The Albanian people and the country’s international partners expect to see local government elections take place on 8 May, as decreed by the President of the Republic. The Central Election Commission is in the process of preparing for these elections. Their work would be made easier if all political parties act immediately and respect the law by providing the names of all election commissioners by the deadline,” said Wollfarth.

“We expect all other legal deadlines to be fully respected, just as we expect all CEC members to participate in all meetings,” he added.

According to the Electoral Code, the deadline for submitting the names of commissioners for the second level-election commissions was 24 January. The deadline for the CEC to constitute all commissions is 7 February.