VIENNA, 18 February 2010 – On 17 and 18 February, in Vienna, OSCE PA President Joao Soares met with Jozefina Topalli, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, as well as Edi Rama, leader of the Socialist Party, and other senior elected officials. Following these meetings President Soares today reconfirmed his support of the OSCE assessment of the 28 June parliamentary elections.

The OSCE's preliminary post-election statement on 29 June 2009 assessed the elections to have demonstrated improvements, but also noted that violations persist.

“The OSCE mission was headed by a very experienced PA Vice-President Wolfgang Grossruck. While noting improvements, he and his team outlined a number of important issues that need to be addressed. Allegations of fraud put forward by the opposition should also be looked at,” said Soares.

Soares called for the elected members of the opposition to promptly accept their seats in the parliament. “In the interests of stability, and to move forward with dialogue and reconciliation, I appeal to all elected candidates to promptly accept their mandates in parliament. I welcome the willingness by both sides to participate in a parliamentary committee which will undertake a full and thorough investigation of the elections, with due respect for the constitution and relevant rulings of the constitutional court.”

In 29 June 2009 assessment, the observers said the elections marked tangible progress with regard to the introduction of new voter registration and identification procedures, and the adoption of an improved legal framework. But the observers also noted that these improvements were overshadowed by the politicization of technical aspects of the process and violations observed during the campaign which undermined public confidence in the electoral process.