Albania, PM Rama triumphs in elections. Opposition denounces fraud

Socialist premier Edi Rama's triumph in Albania's parliamentary elections. The first exit polls released on the evening of Sunday, 11 May, give him as the clear winner: in his fourth term in a row, a record ever, the premier is said to have won 79 of the 140 seats in the next parliament, five more than in the current term.

They would guarantee him an absolute majority to crown his dream of joining the EU by 2030. The centre-right opposition led by Sali Berisha, on the other hand, stopped at 54 seats and, as has often happened in previous consultations, denounced fraud and vote buying.

Candidates from 40 parties competed under a proportional system. But the real duel was between Edi Rama, 60, leader of the Socialist Party since 2005, seeking a fourth consecutive term as prime minister, and Sali Berisha, 80, who now aspires to an economically prosperous 'Greater Albania'. Berisha wanted to imitate Trump not only in his slogan but also in his public appearances, always wearing a baseball cap, blue in colour however, like his party's. A choice intended as a provocation against the decision of the US State Department, which in the Biden era declared him 'persona non grata' for 'serious acts of corruption'. At his side in the campaign was an advisor to Donald Trump's party, Chris LaCivita.

The country, by far the most pro-European in the region, waited 13 years between obtaining EU candidate status and the opening of negotiations in July 2022. Today a new challenge is added: for the first time, the diaspora voted from abroad. Albania, a country with low wages, is experiencing, like the rest of the Balkans, an exodus of its inhabitants in search of opportunities, especially the most educated young people, to countries such as Germany and Italy. According to official data from the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), some 246,000 Albanians living abroad are registered to vote. In all, there are about 3.7 million eligible voters.

In the previous elections, in April 2021, the Socialist Party (PS) led by Rama won a third term with 74 seats, defeating the centre-right coalition led by Lulzim Basha's Democratic Party (PD), which won 59.