Albania Opposition Boycott Over ID Row

Albania’s leftist opposition boycotted parliament on Thursday accusing the government of stalling the distribution of new identification cards, a key requirement ahead of the June 28 general elections.

Socialist Members of Parliament are threatening not to return to the assembly chamber if the government does not resolve the problem where every citizen who does not have a passport would be issued an identification card by Election Day.

“We cannot permit [Prime Minister] Sali Berisha to play games with the Albanians right to vote,” said Valentina Leskaj, the head of Socialist parliamentary group during Thursday’s session.

“Up until the government has issued three distinct decisions about IDs, but all of them have admitted past mistakes, rather than solving the problem.”

According to Albania’s electoral code, identification cards are necessary to cast a ballot if the citizen lacks a passport. In the previous election, the vote by this population group was estimated at 700,000 voters, and verified by birth certificates.

The opposition parties have requested that the government speed up the process by distributing IDs free so every citizen that is able to vote will not be denied their constitutional right on June 28.

However, the centre-right government of Prime Minister Berisha has resisted making IDs completely free, but it has lowered their price for certain social categories like students, pensioners, minorities, and the registered unemployed.

An ID card cost €10 for the regular citizen and €2 for certain social categories.

The government argues that the process is proceeding well with 400,000 ID cards already distributed and calls the accusations of the opposition merely political speculation.

“The pretension of an imaginary threat to the elections from the opposition is total political speculation because the process is proceeding according to plan,” said Interior Minister Bujar Nishani in parliament.

“Roughly 512,000 citizens have applied for the new ID cards, despite the continuous discouragement of the opposition,” he said.