Confusion over Albanian polls over, coalition talks begin

Tirana - Despite the confusion over the outcome of Albania's parliamentary election, a majority was likely to be established Saturday as the small opposition LSI party agreed to enter the coalition led by conservative Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The LSI, a splinter of the Socialist Party led by Tirana mayor Edi Rama won four seats in the 140 parliament, according to the preliminary results, and will give Berisha a clear majority in the Parliament. 'I accept Berisha's invitation to negotiations,' head of LSI Ilir Meta told reporters. Berisha earlier called the LSI 'to become part of the government.' 'Even though the voters have given us the victory they also demanded a coalition of all parties with the same programme as ours - membership in the EU, employment and reforms,' he added. The spokesman of the State Election Commission (CEC), Leonard Olli, said early on Saturday that Berisha's Democratic Party won 71 out of 140 seats in the parliament. At the same time he said that CEC still have not counted all the ballots - 50 out of 4,735 ballot boxes remain untallied. However, the vice president of the CEC said it was 'inappropriate' for Olli to share that information so long as the vote counting was incomplete. 'No one can translate figures into mandates without the proper decision of the CEC. We are still far away from the certification of the mandates and the counting process hasn't ended yet,' said Deshira Subashi. 'It was inappropriate information to the public which can also have political repercussions,' Subashi added. Commission chief Arben Ristani allegedly confirmed the victory of Berisha, but added that the final results will be published in three days. The head of the opposition Socialists Party, Edi Rama, reacted immediately, saying Olli's statement was a political directive by Berisa. The remaining ballots could lead to political stalemate if it turns out that all are for Rama's Socialists or their splinter Socialists Party for Integration (LSI). According to the preliminary figures, Socialist won 65 seats and LSI four in the parliament. The conduct of Sunday's election was intended to act as a gauge for Albania's readiness to join the European Union. Other elections in the past two decades have been marked by chaos and violence. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observing mission issued a preliminary report on the Albanian election describing Sunday's election flawed, though less so than in the past.