European Forum

Prime Minister’s ruling party claims victory in Albanian elections

Today it was reported that with 99 percent of the ballots counted Albania’s ruling Democratic Party (DP) has claimed victory in Sunday’s general elections. “Our coalition was certified by the people,” Prime Minister Sali Berisha, head of the DP, told a cabinet meeting today. EU integration will be the most important issue in the next four years in government,” he added.

It was, however, not completely clear whether Berisha’s coalition would in fact secure all the mandates it needed to form the next government. The counting of the final ballots in a polling station in two villages, was also strongly contested by the opposition. Leader of the Socialist Party and mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama, contested Berisha’s claim of victory, arguing that the race was not over.

So far, the Democratic Party’s coalition, the “Alliance for Change,” has won 70 deputies, ahead of the 66 deputies won by the Socialists, and four deputies gained by the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI)-led coalition. Based on the results that are now in from 4,709 out of 4,753 polling stations, the DP coalition was on the lead with 46.83 per cent, followed by the Socialist bloc with 45.39 per cent. The LSI came on a third place with 5.56 per cent. Berisha needs at least 71 seats in the 140-deputy chamber to form the new government.

Two newly elected deputies of the LSI declared to the media that they might move into a government with the ruling party. A settled political decision on the part of the LSI is expected on Thursday. The LSI, a splinter party from the Socialists, tried repeatedly to cooperate with Edi Rama before the elections; but its proposals were rejected bluntly by the Socialist leader.

The tense climate during the counting of the ballots, filled with accusations both from the government and the opposition, is expected to affect the final report of the international election observer mission -consisting of OSCE/ODIHR- on Albania’s electoral process. A preliminary report on Monday by the international monitors found that the elections were marked by improvements compared to previous elections, yet the poll did not meet international standards. Also the EU in a statement pointed out to a number of shortcomings during the preparation and in the course of the elections. The highly polarised political environment in which the election campaign took place, was named as the main obstacle. The EU stated that “orderly completion of the remaining stages of the election process is of high significance”.


Sources: BalkanInsight; SETimes; Consilium Europe