OSCE - Mission Impossible

AIM Tirana, August 31, 2000

On August 25, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) opened in Tirana its Mission for Monitoring the local elections scheduled for October 1, stating that it would be impartial, neutral and professional in its work. The coming local elections will be an important test not only because of the results, but as it is seems, more because of the way they will be carried out in a country in which elections are usually contested.

OSCE Monitoring Mission is starting its activity on a very problematic ground, where apart from monitoring, it will have to defend itself from harsh criticism of the opposition which has accused the ODIHR Mission of siding with the Government on the eve of the elections. Several days before the ODIHR Mission was established, at his meeting with the OSCE Chief in Albania, Ambassador Gerd Ahrens, Sali Berisha, President of the Democratic Party, the main opposition party, made it clear that his party considered ODIHR as a side which has taken the Government's side.

This stand of the opposition places OSCE in a very precarious position regarding possibilities for carrying out monitoring and extending assistance during local elections to be held in Albania on October 1, this year. His mediating mission in resolving conflicts between the two major parties - the Socialist Party which is leading the Government coalition, and the Democratic Party of the opposition, can be classified as more or less Mission Impossible because of the amount of difficulties and complexity of conflicts in the Albanian politics.

Ever since it was publicised that ODIHR will monitor the local elections in Albania, the Democratic Party stated its opinion that the Council of Europe was actually controlling the monitoring, and not OSCE and ODIHR. The opposition used an argument that ODIHR was not specialised in the monitoring of local elections and that the European Congress of local authorities within Council of Europe, can do that better. But, through their special envoy for South-European elections, Robert Frowick, both OSCE and the American State Department stated that ODIHR had enough experience with local elections in Bosnia and that it would be the chief monitor of the local Albanian elections.

Actually, such rather unfriendly feelings of the Democratic Party towards ODIHR are old and date back to 1996 when ODIHR assessed that the May parliamentary elections held in Albania at the time President Berisha and his Democratic Party were in power, had been rigged. Although he found himself in a difficult position because of international criticism he was exposed to, Berisha defended himself and even attacked ODIHR monitors calling them Marxist-Leninists who were connected with Enver Hoxha's communist regime. This story has not been forgotten and Berisha is using it as an argument against ODIHR.

In autumn 1996, several days before local elections, ODIHR withdrew from the monitoring process because the Government decided to limit the number of its monitors. This made the relations between them even more strained.

During 1997 crisis, special OSCE envoy to Albania Franz Vranitzky came several times under harsh criticism of the right wing press. Now, three years later, the Democratic Party's press, although no longer mentioning Vranitzky, is condemning the OSCE role in 1997 elections and thinks that it worked for the Socialists.

Finally, ODIHR also monitored the Referendum for the Constitution of Albania held in November 1998, and proclaimed it to be valid at the time when the opposition called it invalid and refused to recognise the adopted Constitution. Lately, representatives of the Democratic Party have made several statements about the OSCE Mission not publishing the final Report about the Referendum on the Constitution. However, OSCE rejected such claims and stated that the Report was finished on February 1, 1999 and can be easily found on an Internet web site.

The dynamism of the electoral and political processes in Albania shows that the Democratic Party is not feeling resentment only towards ODIHR, but also towards OSCE itself. Actually, its relations with OSCE were never good ever since it established its OSCE Mission back in 1997, after the March riots. After parliamentary elections of July 1997, at which the Democratic Party lost power, the OSCE Mission was treated with even great mistrust by this then opposition party. During that time two Ambassadors were in charge of this Mission: the Dutch Ambassador Daan Everts, who is now chief of OSCE in Pristina, and the German Gerd Ahrens, who came to Tirana with rich experience he gained in arbitraging ethnic conflict in Skoplje. Styles of these two Ambassadors greatly differ, but it seems that neither Everts' open and public style, nor reserved and introverted style of Ahrens helped overcome difficulties in the Mission's functioning in Tirana. Ahrens observed the well-known diplomatic principle of reacting only in important and necessary situations, but they were so many such situations in Tirana that he was put out of his (customarily restrained) joint.

Political conflicts that OSCE was expected to overcome have increased, especially in this year, which is also the year of local elections in which grave problems and conflicts waited for OSCE at every step of the electoral way, from the drafting of the electoral law, candidate lists, Central Electoral Board, local electoral commissions, etc. The OSCE Mission managed to get together at the same table experts from all political parties so that they could, in cooperation with international experts, prepare the electoral code. However, at the end of this work, representatives of the Democratic Party left this panel accusing international experts of assisting the Government, contesting the electoral law and the establishment of the Central Electoral Board, in which they were not represented.

How hard is the Mission's work is best shown by the fact that OSCE was forced to create a wide network of its regional offices on the overall Albanian territory, from up north down to the south. Until now, ten regional OSCE offices have been opened in various towns of Albania, which in the case of such a small country is a figure which speaks tellingly of the difficulties and concern of OSCE over possible escalation of the situation. However, opposition right-leaning parties were not favourably inclined towards the OSCE concern which was demonstrated in the spreading its offices all over Albania. One of them, Christian-Democratic Party and its leader Zef Bushati, criticised OSCE for trying to rule Albania through these regional offices. Actually, the spreading of OSCE activity throughout the Albanian territory and opening of additional offices in other towns is laid down in a special Article of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Albanian Government and OSCE on May 29, 1997.

Leaders of the Gjirokaster (a town in the south of Albania) local branch of the Democratic Party threw out from their press conference on June 28, OSCE representatives calling them meddlers and speculating tourists. President of the Democratic Party's Youth Organisation accused on July 3, OSCE representatives in the northern town of Shkoder of corruption and cooperating with the Government.

The opposition tried criticising OSCE along the lines it considered sensitive for the right Albanian public opinion. Consequently, one of the main accusations was that the OSCE Mission was influenced by the communist and Marxist-Leninist elements.

Another charge was that OSCE was threatening the country's sovereignty. At several press conferences Berisha sharply criticised the "unnamed governors of Albania" who were spoiling the electoral process. Although he did not name any names, it was well understood that this was addressed to the OSCE Ambassador as the main culprit. In a society such as Albanian, where remnants of isolationism are not just alive, but very easily applicable in the lower population strata, they can be easily used by political leaders for inciting certain forms of xenophobia against foreigners.

This is present in the current electoral campaign in Albania to such an extent that the Chief of OSCE Mission Ahrens in his speech held on the occasion of 25th anniversary of the Helsinki Charter at a ceremony attended by Presidents of both ruling and opposition parties, was forced to address them by conveying a message that they should change their traditional concept of sovereignty and when seeing foreigners, which they suspect of interfering in their country's affairs, not to forget that they are in good and right company. American State Secretary, Madeleine Albright also sent a powerful message to the Albanian political forces on August 23, at the joint Press Conference she held in Washington together with the Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta asking them to cooperate with OSCE and Ambassador Ahrens.

Almost four years later after its establishment in Albania, the OSCE Mission, which played a truly positive role in stabilising the situation, is still like Sisyphus - rolling a stone of conflict between the authorities and the opposition up to the top of the mountain or hill of solution, but the moment it nears the top the stone rolls downhill again. Albania is faced with two major challenges: local elections in the autumn and parliamentary elections next year. But, after these not such easy elections, it seems that the Albanian politics will need the presence and great efforts of Sisyphus - OSCE.

AIM Tirana

Besim VORPSI