From: Arjola Tafaj
Allegations of Socialist Party Missuse of State Institutions Prior to Elections

One month away from elections, the Socialist Party has been accused of turning state institutions into electoral offices and using private data of citizens owned by state institutions

An investigative TV Show “BOOM”, denounced on Wednesday a scandal of electoral representatives of Socialist Party (PS) transferring voters to Tirana Municipalities units with one phone call. It was alleged that the Municipality of Tirana has been put under the service of the PS regarding the registration of these persons.

According to BOOM, they are transferring voters to Tirana via phone call rather than following the necessary legal steps. 

Many citizens live in Tirana but are not registered in the civil registry of the Municipality of Tirana. It’s claimed that the abolition of the fine of 100 thousand ALL (EUR 810) for not declaring the place of residence in time was a mechanism used by PS to register in Tirana their supporters.

According to the electoral law, a deputy mandate in Tirana is won with about 10,000 votes.

The investigative show has requested data from various institutions on how many citizens are registered in Tirana, since the abolition of the fine of 100,000, but they have not received any official response.

Also, the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) deputy chairman Petrit Vasili announced in a press conference that “the Socialist Party is turning state institutions into electoral offices”.

“Socialist Party offices are using private data of citizens, which are owned only by state institutions,” Vasili said in a press release on Wednesday.

The LSI has published an unverified recorded message from a member of the Socialist Party who called a citizen to ask him about his vote. The citizen queries on the tape, where the PS got his number. The person on the phone replies that he received it from the Central Election Commission (CEC). 

“We urge KQZ and the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection to launch an immediate and in-depth investigation and bring all those responsible to justice, Vasili stated.