Albania’s Election Points To Ruling Party Win

Albania’s preliminary election results, which were made public Monday, point towards the ruling Socialist Party winning another term. The state election commission made the announcement based on the 30% of votes that have been counted so far.

Provisional election results

The current results show that Albania’s Socialist Party has won 49.4% of the votes, which is much greater than other parties in the race. The incumbent party is likely to win, and provided they reach a minimum of 50% of votes, they will be able to govern alone.

Edi Rama, the leader of Albania’s Socialist Party, will likely win a third term as Prime Minister. This will be the first time a single politician has achieved this since Albania began holding multi-party elections in 1991.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party, is projected to come second. They currently hold 38.8% of the vote, up from the 28.8% they won in the last elections in 2017.

The Socialist Integration Movement is third in the current election, holding 7.1% of the vote. This is lower than their fare in Albania’s 2017 election, where they won 14% of the vote. They are likely to lose some of their current 19 seats in parliament.

The final results will be made available on Tuesday.

Main issues of Albania’s election

One of the main issues deciding Albania‘s election is their candidacy for EU membership. Albania has been a candidate for membership since 2014, but progress since then has moved very slowly.

Rama was first elected in 2013 on campaign promises that he would institute a “rebirth” in Albania. Despite this, political opponents claim that he has done little to curb corruption.

One of the factors on which the EU accession hinges is lowering corruption in Albania. Electoral reforms which were put in place prior to these elections call for increased transparency when it comes to election spending as well as other changes.

These reforms are meant to lead to a clearer path to Albanian EU accession. An intergovernmental conference is expected in order to decide the best steps forward for Albanian EU membership.

A defining moment in this election cycle has been the unrest which occurred last Wednesday in the city of Elbasan. Clashes between supporters of rival parties led to the death of Pjerin Xhuvani, who was once the director of the regional health insurance fund.

Prior to his death, Xhuvani had been convicted of corruption. The unrest also led to four others being injured.

The final election results are expected to be announced by the Albanian election commission on Tuesday.