Rector Mynyr Koni of the University of Tirana has requested Minister of Education Besa Shahini to push back university elections scheduled for June 12, in order to guarantee the students’ right to vote.
In a letter to the Minister, Koni has argued that about 15 thousand students will be unable to vote because the university is closed due to the pandemic.
Students vote to elect the university rector, faculty deans and members of the senate. Their vote counts for 10 percent of the general vote, which also includes the academic staff.
Elections under a state of emergency declared by parliament make it practically impossible for a genuine race between candidates.
The Rector’s request comes after he dismissed five of the seven members of the Tirana University Institutional Election Commission (KIZ) who, according to him, announced rector and senate members’ candidacies unlawfully.
On March 26, two days after the government announced the state of natural disaster, Minister of Education Besa Shahini announced June 12 as the date public university leadership elections would take place.
Under current circumstances, this practically means that students won’t be able to vote in elections, despite government promises that they will vote online.
The Union of Student Councils (UKS) also asked the ministry to postpone elections until students return to class. They added that they were not informed of any “electronic voting” process.
The ministry’s decision to hold elections in absence of students contradicts article 38 of the Regulations for organizing university elections that stipulates:
Elections may be cancelled in cases of:
[…] b) natural disasters occur, to such extents that prevent the participation of voters in the elections.
The Union of University of Tirana Workers has also asked for elections to be postponed and for students’ vote to be guaranteed.
