TIRANA – According to the current vote count, the Socialist Party of Albania is on track to win more than 50% of the vote and increase its parliamentary majority, delivering Edi Rama an unprecedented fourth term as Prime Minister. The Socialist Party has been governing Albania since 2013.
As of Monday morning, the results from about a third of polling stations have been reported. The Socialist Party has won 52,5% of the vote, while the coalition around the Democratic Party, led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, has won 34,4%.
In the previous parliamentary elections, held in 2021, the Socialist Party won 48% of the vote and 74 out of 140 seats in the Albanian parliament. It now appears to be on course for an even larger majority.
The projection of the turnout, on the other hand, shows that about 200,000 fewer people voted in these elections compared to the ones four years ago.
Three new parties – Opportunity Party, the ‘Together Movement‘ and ‘The Albania Becomes Movement‘ – could also win seats in the parliament, according to Reporter.al.
The elections are observed by an OSCE mission, as well as a mission from the European Parliament.
In last night’s address, the leader of the Democratic Party Sali Berisha stated that in “traditional centre-right areas, there is a significant increase in the electorate, and the results are expected in line with this increase with real optimism”.
He added that “no vote can and should be counted under pressure”.
Meanwhile, Edi Rama has posted only one sentence on his Facebook profile so far: “What a dawn this is today”.