VVORK

We, 22 members of parliament and 200 citizens of Albania, concerned about the fate of democracy in our country have decided to engage in the ultimate form of peaceful resistance by going on a hunger strike in the name of the cornerstone of any democracy: free and fair elections.

Our demand is simple: a full and thorough parliamentary inquiry into the elections of June 28th 2009, including the opening of the ballot boxes and the examination of the electoral material contained therein. Our demand is not motivated by a yearning for power, but by the aspiration that the next elections are guaranteed against falling prey to the same machinations and manipulations.

For the last nine months we asked for our constitutional right to transparency only to be denied in all our efforts through the arrogance of a government that is no longer constrained by the Constitution in its actions.

In April 30th, 200,000 Albanians protested in Tirana in the name of the transparency of their votes. The same day, we 222 citizens of Albania decided to start a hunger strike.

It is not a decision lightly taken, nor are we ignorant of the gravity of our course of action. Yet we are no more prepared to give up on free and fair elections and democracy in Albania than you would be in any of your countries.

We ask only for what you take for granted in your countries: elections that are free and fair. No more. No less.