Albania was for many years the odd man out in the communist world and the allegations of widespread malpractice and falsification in the recent parliamentary elections have underlined how far its transition to democracy has been uneasy and unconvincing. The old communist party (the Albanian Party of Labour) held on to power, under its strong man, President Ramiz Alia, after the first attempt at free elections in March 1991 which by general consensus were largely fraudulent. His successor, President Sali Berisha, the first non communist bead of state, took office after a new parliament was elected in April 1992.
In hindsight, and ironically, that now appears to have been the most genuine expression of Albanian opinion since multi party democracy was established at the end of 1990. Since then, Mr Berisha has survived a split among his followers, some of whom have denounced him for his growing obsession with power and his autocratic ways. One focus of attention has been the judicial system which he has steadily brought under his control to help in removing the former communist leadership, including Mr Alia, from public life. By now, virtually the only channel of dissent is the press, all of which, apart from the government controlled newspapers, condemned the repressive activity, by police after the first round of voting.
Reports of police violence against peaceful demonstrations by the left wing opposition parties, wholesale detentions, the assassination of a socialist election worker, and widespread illegalities noted by foreign observers which led opposition candidates to withdraw from the entire proceedings, all had an uncanny echo of events surrounding the postponed elections held in March 1991, in which the newly democratised communists claimed victory. Some days after that fiasco, demonstrators were shot dead by security forces at Shkoder, ushering in a long period of violent political and labour unrest, whose main purpose was to overthrow Mr Alia, the immediate successor of the Stalinist dictator, Enver Hoxha.
During the wars in ex Yugoslavia, President Berisha's tough regime was generally regarded as a force for stability in the Balkans. This may not remain the case for long: the several million ethnic Albanians scattered across former Yugoslav territories, in southern Serbia and Macedonia, as well as in Greece, and the persistent migration of people fleeing from harsh economic conditions in Albania itself are a potential time bomb affecting the whole region unless political and economic steps are taken to defuse it. This lends force to the voices in the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co operation in Europe urging Mr Berisha to make peace with the opposition and restore the principles of democracy.