Albanians vote for new mayor of ethnic Greek town in a case that has sparked tensions with Athens

QEPARO, Albania (AP) — Albanians in the southwestern town of Himara voted for a new mayor Sunday after their previous choice, a member of the country’s ethnic Greek minority, was stripped of his title, convicted and imprisoned on vote-buying charges. He and neighboring Greece have claimed his conviction was politically motivated.

The case against Fredis Beleris has strained relations between Tirana and Athens, with Greece threatening to hold up Albania’s bid to join the European Union. The current election’s two candidates are members of the local ethnic Greek community.

After the voting ended at 1700 GMT on Sunday, the preliminary turnout tally showed that 37.61% — or more than 3% than last year — of the nearly 23,000 registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Central Election Commission, or CEC, the country’s governing election body, adding the voting was held without any issues.

Local media reported some minor technical issues in some polling stations as well as the election documentation, management and voters’ identity cards. Some news outlets reported at least four buses arrived from neighboring Greece filled with locally registered voters. Both rival candidates have invested in bringing Albanian immigrants back to cast their votes, a normal move in every election in the tiny Balkan country.

The voting was held at the culmination of the tourist season with thousands of tourists in areas where the voting took place. Few were aware of the voting that was taking place.

Himara is populated with ethnic Greeks on what has been dubbed the Albanian Riviera, a coastal region with burgeoning tourist development that has been rife with property disputes. The issue of property and its potential exploitation as part of Albania’s tourism boom has been at the center of both candidates’ campaigns.

In the aftermath of the fall of Albania’s communist regime in the early 1990s, property that had previously been seized by the state was distributed among residents. But this often led to disputes over ownership claims. The issue is further complicated in Himara, an area seen as potentially lucrative for future property development, by allegations of ethnic bias in land distribution.

The two contenders in the mayoral race — governing Socialist Party candidate Vangjel Tavo and Petraq Gjikuria from the Together We Win coalition — have called on voters to choose the best person for the job. Gjikuria’s 10-party coalition includes the main opposition’s center-right Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the left-wing Freedom Party of former President Ilir Meta.

Tavo has said he will complete a process begun by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama a few months ago to provide Himara residents with property ownership certificates, while Gjikuria has pledged to better defend residents’ property rights.

The Socialists currently dominate the Town Hall’s assembly.

Besides the property issue, the new mayor will also have to deal with road infrastructure and the water supply. He’ll also have to figure how best to keep young people from leaving the country.

Meanwhile, Beleris, who lost his mayoral position for allegedly offering 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros; $390) to buy eight votes and is serving a two-year prison sentence, has been rooting for Gjikuria and calling on people to vote for him.

On Sunday, CEC head Ilirjan Celibashi said some 6,000 voters were unable to take part in the election due to expired identity cards. During the previous election, the commission allowed people with out-of-date IDs to vote upon the request of some political parties and consequently a decision from the government. This year no such request was filed, according to Celibashi.

Flamur Noka of the main opposition Democratic Party said he considered the voting a “farce” and “an electoral crime.”

Former interior minister Taulant Balla said that despite his call on July 22 for a speedy two-day issuing of IDs, there was no response from Himara voters, especially those living in neighboring Greece.

Beleris, a dual Albanian-Greek national, has called on voters with expired IDs to “resist.” He wrote on Facebook: “Don’t leave the polling stations! Don’t get afraid! Vote! Vote! Vote!”

He won last year’s election with a 19-vote lead, backed by parties opposing the prime minister’s governing Socialists. But he never took office, being detained until his conviction in March. An appeals court in June upheld his conviction and Albanian authorities stripped him of his title of mayor.

Beleris, 51, has claimed the case against him is politically motivated as an attempt by Rama to retain control of Himara and its potentially lucrative property potential. Albanian officials strongly reject those claims, citing the independence of the judiciary.

In June, he was elected to the European Parliament with Greece’s governing conservative party, and was given a five-day leave from prison to attend the parliament’s opening session in Strasbourg.

Results were expected on Monday morning, according to the CEC.

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Llazar Semini, The Associated Press