Socialists take Himara mayor’s seat amid complaints of election irregularities
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- SP’s Vangjel Tavo wins Himara mayoral race marred by voters not allowed to cast ballots due to expired IDs and government moving in Socialist supporters as new residents ahead of vote.
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TIRANA, Aug. 6, 2024 – Vangjel Tavo, the Socialist Party candidate, won the race for mayor of Himara in by-elections held on Sunday, defeating his rival Petraq Gjikuria of the opposition coalition by about 1,500 votes.
According to official data from the Central Election Commission, after counting votes from 36 polling stations, Tavo received 5,022 votes, or 58.62 percent, compared to 3,545 votes, or 41.38 percent, for Gjikuria. Tavo lost the town of Himara itself but was able to win in the surrounding municipal units.
Opposition representatives have expressed concern that Sunday’s results were due to tactics aimed at favoring Albania’s ruling party, including denying thousands of voters the right to cast ballots due to having expired ID cards and by importing new residents into the municipality ahead of the elections so they could vote for the ruling party.
In a message on social media, Tavo expressed gratitude for the voters’ support and invited his rival to accept the position of deputy mayor, something rejected by Gjikuria. “I will lead by example with the cooperation and unity this municipality deserves,” Tavo said.
Opposition candidate Petraq Gjikuria responded on social media Monday, stating: “In these elections, we witnessed undemocratic methods at all stages,” adding “the result was a product of transforming the voter list to suit the interests of our opponents, allowing a party army to participate in the elections while simultaneously denying this right to thousands of Himara citizens and involving both the state and para-state. … The goal was to have another weak mayor who will serve the interests of Edi Rama and his party.”
In Sunday’s vote in Himara, around 6,000 voters were reported to have expired ID cards. According to official data from the Central Election Commission, voter turnout was 37.69 percent, with 8,678 out of 23,074 registered voters participating.
Unlike the previous local elections when the validity of expired IDs was extended nationwide, voters in Himara were not allowed to vote with expired IDs in the Aug. 4 elections. Typically people who live in Greece and travel to Albania to vote are the ones with expired IDs, experts explained.
The results mark a significant shift in support in the municipality favor of Albania’s ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama, which had lost the mayorship in last year’s local elections when opposition coalition candidate Fredi Beleri, a representative of an ethnic Greek organization, won by a narrow margin of 19 votes over his Socialist incumbent rival.
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