Albania’s constitutional court on Thursday deprived Ilir Beqja, an outspoken opposition deputy, of his parliamentary mandate, after a company he owned was found to have benefitted from a public tender.
Besar Likmeta Tirana
Tirana, 13 June 2011 (albanianeconomy.com) Non-farm employment in Albania increased by 4.3 per cent to 248,375 employees during the first semester 2011 year on year basis, figures published by the Institute of Statistics shows. Employment in Albania had continued to grow despite the mounting business difficulties of the last two years albeit from a small basis.
Albania is reportedly seeking a 600 million Saudi Riyal loan (€109.8 million) from the Gulf Kingdom in order to finance the construction of a new parliamentary complex in Tirana.
Besar Likmeta Tirana
The International Monetary Fund announced on Wednesday that had interrupted the Stand-By Arrangement with Kosovo due to the Kosovo’s government decision to carry on with its spending programme.
“An 18-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) approved by the IMF Executive Board in July 2010 was interrupted in 2011,” the IMF announced in Pristina. IMF,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Tom Countryman criticizes the Central Election Commission decision to count votes in the wrong ballot boxes
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele on Tuesday expressed doubts over the legality of the results in the race for Tirana mayor.
(albanianeconomy.com) Opposition leader Edi Rama said on Tuesday that he will challenge the Central Election Commission decision to declare the government backed candidate Lulzim Basha as winner of the mayoral race for Tirana “in legal ways”. Mr. Rama, who according to CEC decision lost by 81 votes out of 250,000, said he is confident that the Electoral Court will undo the decision and will declare him winner.
The Central Election Commission of Albania announced on Monday evening that the government backed candidate Lulzim Basha had won the local elections by receiving 81 votes (out of 250,000) more than the opposition leader Edi Rama.
The Central Election Commission is expected to announce the final results for the mayoral race of Tirana today amid international pressure and daily protests outside its premises. The counting of stray votes ended on the early hours of Monday, 23 May, more than two weeks after the elections.
In the debate following the local elections of 8 May, the Socialist and Democrat politicians remembered to each-other the countless events of vote frauds and manipulation schemes employed by both parties in the last twenty years for which none of them feels remotely sorry.