Albania votes in tense local poll

TIRANA : Albanians voted on Sunday in a tense but peaceful municipal election that has become the flashpoint of a democratic crisis, with the opposition boycotting the poll and refusing to recognise its results. The Balkan state has been hit by political turmoil since February, when opposition politicians resigned from parliament to launch sometimes violent street protests against Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.

They accuse him of links to organised crime and manipulating elections, which he has repeatedly denied. Earlier this month, Albania’s President Ilir Meta even tried to postpone the election, citing the ongoing unrest.

But Rama’s ruling Socialist Party rejected that bid in parliament and election officials last week refused to let an opposition pull out, effectively green-lighting the election. On Sunday, groups of several dozen protesters gathered outside some polling stations in the capital, Tirana, shouting "Don’t vote!" and "Rama, go!".