Albanian poll results 'manipulated'

TIRANA, Albania -- Albania's opposition Democratic Party has said local polls have been "grossly manipulated" after the ruling Socialists claimed victory in the weekend elections.

But Democratic Party leader and former President Sali Berisha stopped short of saying it would not honour the result.

Berisha said the Socialists would have to pay the price for the "manipulation they orchestrated."

"I denounce most severely the shameful electoral farce that the Albanian state mafia organised on October 1," Berisha said on Tuesday.

The polls were the impoverished Balkan nation's first big political test since it emerged from the anarchy of 1997.

Official results are expected by Wednesday.

International observers said the election marked significant progress toward meeting accepted standards for democratic elections.

Berisha's veiled threat to the government risked prompting a return to the old Albanian stereotype of contested elections and confrontation.

The former president said the Socialists were trying to forge the final tallyn to lower the proportion of the Democratic Party's victories.

Berisha said the party was collecting proof to support its allegations.

Some 2.7 million people were entitled to vote in the polls, which the government and the opposition treated as a trial run for next year's general election. Turnout was around 61 percent.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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