US Pushes Albania to Bar Crime-Linked Candidates From Election

The US Ambassador to Tirana, Yuri Kim, has put fresh pressure on Albanian parties to vet their lists of candidates submitted to the Central Election Commission, CEC, ahead of the April 25 elections, suggesting some should be disqualified.

"There are three people [from Albania] that the US Secretary of State has designated [as involved in corruption]. I will not put their names in my mouth, but you can find the record for yourself," she said on a visit to Elbasan.

She was referencing a 2018 US State Department ban on the entry to the US, among others, of Tom Doshi, a former Socialist Party MP and now chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Albania.

If parties fail to filter the lists, Kim called on the CEC and the prosecution to do it themselves. "I think we would not be surprised if some candidates are disqualified after that process," she added.

BIRN Albania on Wednesday found out that one current ruling Socialist Party MP, Ilir Ndraxhi - whose name was revealed in wiretaps of the "339" drug trafficking case in the town of Shijak - is a party candidate standing in the Durres district.

According to prosecutors, Astrit Avdylaj, who has been convicted of drug trafficking, organised a political meeting with Socialist leaders in the Shijak area where Ndraxhi's candidacy on the Socialist list was discussed.

Ndraxhi was placed fourth on the Socialist list in this district in the 2017 elections, and has been given fifth place in the 2021 list.

Prime Minister and Socialist chief Edi Rama has also kept on the Socialist list for Durres current MP Rrahman Rrahja - a figure best known for the justice-related troubles of his family members.

Rrahja holds sixth place on the Socialist list in Durres district, which makes...