The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, has read the resolution, which according to him, was adopted by the IDC-CDI (Center Democratic International) regarding the parliamentary elections of May 11, 2025 in Albania. At the press conference, Berisha stated that this organization considers the elections a farce and a violation of international standards and the Copenhagen criteria.
According to Berisha in the resolution adopted on May 30, 2025 in Abidjan, the IDC-CDI emphasizes that the elections were accompanied by systematic pressure, intimidation and vote buying; massive misuse of public resources for electoral purposes, government control over the media and political censorship, including the banning of the TikTok platform, as well as manipulation of the electoral process.
The IDC-CDI resolution calls for the urgent formation of a technical government to organize new elections, the implementation of OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, an end to political persecution of opposition leaders, and conditioning Albania's integration into the EU with electoral and democratic reforms.
The resolution was adopted on May 30, 2025 at the IDC-CDI General Assembly in Abidjan and has received broad international support.
Berisha emphasizes that this resolution deals a fatal blow to the Albanian government, Rama, and all those who, according to him, are trying to sell the farce of the electoral process to Albanians.
"This resolution is an appeal, a call to the opposition people to fight and sacrifice, to pay any price for a free vote, guaranteeing them that in this battle they are not alone, but are together with all the center and center-right parties in Europe and the world. This resolution deals a fatal blow to the Albanian narco-government, Edi Rama, their media spokesmen, who as mercenaries of free speech, are trying to sell the Albanians the farce of the electoral process.
They are trying to justify, trying to deceive and misinform Albanians with the same pathological passion that they did during the electoral campaign and before it.
This resolution denounces with the greatest force the party's Scapa, this political organ of the narco-dictatorship, which, by political order, persecutes the leaders of the Albanian opposition and refuses to investigate the monstrous electoral crimes, therefore, has established impunity.
This resolution denounces the police and all the institutions of this the state, which in flagrant violation of the Constitution and laws, were lined up as state party institutions."
Resolution on the 2025 Parliamentary Elections in Albania read by Berisha:
“Albania: Electoral Integrity and Opposition Rights”.
Proposed by the Democratic Party of Albania – Albania.
Union of Centre Democrats and Centre Democratic International (IDC-CDI),
Reaffirming the essential importance of free and fair elections for democratic governance and for Albania's EU accession process,
Recalling the previous resolutions of the EPP, IDU and IDC-CDI that have warned of the democratic regression and misuse of institutions by the ruling Socialist Party (SP),
Alarmed by the findings of international observation missions (OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE PA, PACE, European Parliament) regarding the elections of 11 May 2025,
Express deep concern that these elections were a political farce, that they did not meet international standards and violated the Copenhagen criteria, including:
•Voters' freedom to choose (paragraph 7.7 of Copenhagen):
Voters were subjected to systematic pressure, surveillance, intimidation and massive vote buying. The government distributed bonuses of 100 euros to 760,000 pensioners shortly before the elections; it forgave fines and debts of over 200 million euros from the period 2015–2025 just two days before the elections. Around half a billion euros were spent on tenders, procurements and concessions in violation of the law, all with the aim of securing electoral support. The secret ballot was not respected in many polling stations, and the climate was characterized by fear and pressure, denying citizens the right to free choice.
•Freedom of expression and access to information (paragraph 7.8 of Copenhagen):
The ruling party's control over the media, editorial censorship, and the politically motivated ban on the TikTok platform severely damaged voters' ability to access balanced and diverse information.
•Separation of the party from the state (paragraph 5.4):
The ruling Socialist Party has erased the boundaries between the state and the party, using public institutions and state resources for party benefit, contrary to the principle that "the state should be separate from the ruling party."
•Misuse of public resources: Hundreds of thousands of public administration employees were pressured to campaign through a “patronage network” spread across the country, undermining democratic competition.
•Voters' freedom to choose (paragraph 7.7): Voters faced pressure, surveillance, intimidation, threats, vote buying, and lack of secrecy of the vote;
•Freedom of expression (paragraph 7.8): Government control over the media, censorship, and the ban on TikTok limited access to impartial information.
•Institutional impunity: Around 200 formal reports of electoral crimes to the Special Prosecution Office and hundreds of complaints to the CEC remained without any reaction or criminal prosecution.
IDC-CDI condemns the manipulation of the electoral process through:
•State capture and criminal collaboration in voter intimidation and manipulation of results;
•Judicial persecution of opposition leaders, including Sali Berisha, Ilir Meta, Fatmir Mediu, Ervin Salianji and Fredi Beleri;
•Institutional impunity, with over 30 formal reports of electoral crimes filed with the Special Prosecution Office and hundreds of complaints to the CEC, without any legal prosecution.
IDC-CDI calls on the Albanian authorities to:
Urgently implement OSCE/ODIHR priority recommendations, including those on campaign equality, media and impartial institutions;
Stop political persecution and restore full rights to opposition leaders;
Create a technical (caretaker) government to oversee EU-related reforms and prepare new elections;
Ensure real media pluralism and equal access to the media for all political forces.
IDC-CDI:
•Expresses strong solidarity with the Democratic Party of Albania (DP-ASHM) and all civil actors who defend democracy;
•Calls on the members of the CDI to send a fact-finding and observation mission to Albania to assess the conduct of the elections, meet with relevant stakeholders and provide an independent assessment of compliance with democratic norms;
• Calls on the EU to condition Albania's progress in the accession process on concrete electoral and democratic reforms;
•Warns that authoritarian consolidation and criminal influence in Albania pose a serious threat to domestic democracy and regional stability.
General Assembly, Abidjan, 30.05. 2025.
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