SP candidates in Tirana request vote count footage, Rama: Don't lose face, zero chance for voting slips

Socialist Party leader Edi Rama has called on candidates of this political force in Tirana to give up calls for recounting votes. In a public response, Rama said that losing in a race should not be associated with loss of dignity and stressed that there is no possibility of voter deviations that would change the outcome due to major differences with winners.

I can't stop anyone from acting with their heads, but since we're still here in this window, we're still a team and I want to keep going. I'd suggest it doesn't go that way. Because, first of all, losing a race should be cause for losing even the face, when there's actually no chance, zero, that with all those eyes on the screens, there's voting deviations! ”, writes Rama, among other things, in his message.

Following this appeal, candidates Xhemal Qefalia and Etilda Gjonaj withdrew from the request for obtaining film counting materials in Olympic Park. Meanwhile, candidate Blerina DYATA, who lost his mandate in the Olta Dzacka race, continues to remain in the request for verification, citing even votes from the diaspora.

The SP's political leader for the diaspora, Taulant Balla, said it belongs to the Central Election Commission to make this transparency, as the Electoral Code predicts, where the CEC selects a part of the ballot boxes for recounting.

“Cod has set procedures. Thanks to the SP's efforts when it was in opposition, to make transparency, in a second phase it is the CEC itself that selects part of the ballot boxes, which will make transparency, let the CEC make this transparency, the code stipulates that the parties that can make complaints are political parties.

What I said and which is worthy of emphasis is that everyone has the right to request, to make transparency, but thanks to predictions placed on the Hill, it's the CEC that will make the full transparency of this process in another phase. The parties that have claims have a way of making and explaining, the code predicts parties have a process. You were witnessing a debate that delayed us. There was a claim by the DP to separate votes that had come from Greece, increased counting time. All parties maintain their right envisioned in code in complaints

Everybody's part of a team. The SP respects the will of all citizens, and those who trusted us and those who did not. Thanks to the SP battles when we were in opposition, since 2009 we wanted boxes opened and recounted for transparency effect. This battle we fought just gave us the opportunity to codify and leave it to the CEC. Remember that in 2021, thanks to the CEC's transparency, there have also been numerators who have been prosecuted”, Balla said.