Albanian poll result delayed, Berisha claims victory

Tirana - Conservative Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha claimed victory in the country's general election on Tuesday, but was immediately rebuffed by Tirana's mayor, as results were still unavailable from Sunday's vote. 'Allow me to enjoy the moment of victory,' Berisha told a press conference in Tirana. 'In past polls we always saw problems in the counting process, but now I can say that I am enjoying the victory.' The state election commission has given no official figures, though more than 40 hours have passed since voting ended. Exit polls predicted a win for the coalition led by the Berisha's Democratic Party and a real-time count of the votes on a US-sponsored site (www2.eca.al), gave him 71 of the 140 seats in the next assembly with roughly 80 per cent of the polling stations accounted for. But Tirana mayor and Socialist Party chief Edi Rama dismissed Berisha's claim, and accused him of manipulating the count in constituencies where he has lost. 'The results that eca.al is showing are not official results and they are not enough for (a declaration of) victory,' Rama warned shortly after Berisha's briefing. Ballots were still unavailable from some polling stations which could swing the result in the opposite direction. Rama's bloc has 65 seats, according to the unofficial count and their potential allies, the Socialist Party for Integration, has another four, so a change of ownership over a single seat could turn the election into a virtual tie. Sunday's election followed a series of chaotic, violent polls over the past two decades, since multi-party democracy replaced a harsh Communist regime and was to gauge of Albania's position regarding its bid to join the European Union. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observing mission issued a preliminary report on the Albanian election describing Sunday's election as flawed, though less than in the past.