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TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albania's opposition Socialists charged Saturday that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before all ballots from last week's national election were tallied.
Albania joined NATO in April and has been under intense international pressure to ensure the June 28 vote was free of the fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country's communist regime fell in 1990. But the Socialists threatened to hold street protests after election authorities declared late Friday that Prime Minister Sali Berisha's Democrats had won enough seats to form a government.
The country's electoral commission is re-counting ballots from some polling stations following complaints about irregularities, and the Socialists insist it cannot declare that the Democrats won 71 seats while recounts are still pending. They accuse Berisha of trying to sway the electoral commission.
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