Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [In last autumn's Albanian parliamentary elections, 500,000 ghost voters were added to the polls at the last minute. And this in a country of barely three and a half million people, more than half of whom are not of voting age. At almost the same time parliamentary elections occurred in Yugoslavia, the results of which were declared tainted - beforehand - by the major NATO powers, who had a vested interest in the outcome, having funnelled millions of dollars of illegal 'campaign contributions' to its handpicked opposition figures and even stationed warships off the coast of Montenegro - to demonstrate their commitment to the democratic process, of course. After the latest round of rigged federal elections in Albania this past June, NATO General Secretary Lord Robertson paid a personal visit to Tirana to "certify" the election results. But as Agence France-Presse dutifully reminds its readers, "Elections in the Balkan country are characteristically contested by the losers." A phenomenon unique to the Balkans, no doubt.] Albanian Opposition Boycotts Parliament TIRANA, Sep 4, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The Albanian opposition, led by former president Sali Berisha, boycotted the first session of parliament on Monday, alleging electoral fraud in the June poll. "We can not sit in an illegitimate parliament, controlled by people from the mafia," Berisha said shortly before the parliament got down to work. The 46 deputies in Berisha's opposition coalition gathered in front of the parliament building shortly before the session opened, before leaving in a sign of protest. "These elections have been a shameful farce, and the opposition does not recognize the results of this vote," Berisha said. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, which monitored the poll, had said that the June elections had been free and fair and that the few irregularities signalled would not influence the final result. The new Albanian parliament is largely dominated by the ruling Socialist party of Prime Minister Ilir Meta, who with its coalition allies got 84 seats while the opposition led by Berisha won 46 seats. Elections in the Balkan country are characteristically contested by the losing party. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
