Albania, Edi Rama towards the fourth consecutive mandate: a clear victory according to the exit polls
The political elections
The prime minister, of the Socialist Party, would become the longest-serving political leader in power after the dictator Enver Hoxha. The leader of the center-right Sali Berisha has been detached. Elections in the name of integration in Europe
Confirmation for Edi Rama and his Socialist Party in the political elections of Sunday 11 May in Albania . Another election in the name of Europe , with the prime minister in office who conducted an electoral campaign insisting a lot on integration into the Union. If, as an announced result seems to anticipate even if not yet official, the proportions are confirmed, Rama will become the political leader who remained in power for the longest time in the history of Albania after the dictator Enver Hoxha , who died in 1985.
Rama has led the government since 2014, so the result could translate into a fourth consecutive term . However, the prime minister's commitment to EU membership by 2030 is unrealistic. Even Rama's main opponent at the polls, Sali Berisha , leader of the center-right Democratic Party , waved the European flag during his election campaign and sported a baseball cap à la Donald Trump, President of the United States. Berisha was already President of the Republic from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013.
About a quarter of the votes have been counted: according to initial information, Rama's party is close to 53% while the Democratic Party has exceeded at least 34%. These results would translate into at least 83 seats in Parliament, 12 more than those needed to obtain a majority, and 52 for Berisha's party. The rest of the votes currently appear to be divided between the Social Democratic Party, close to Rama, and the new party Mundesia, founded by Agron Shehaj, an entrepreneur and current centre-right MP who left the Democratic Party. The former centre-right leader Lulzim Basha and the Movimento Insieme are competing for one seat each.
The data revealed a drop in turnout compared to the 2021 political elections. About 41% of those eligible to vote. For the first time in these elections it was possible to vote from abroad: about 200 thousand out of over a million. The counting of these ballots abroad is delayed but according to initial information Berisha's Democratic Party is in the lead. The opposition has however accused fraud and vote -buying . Seven people arrested for photographing the ballot paper.
High tension in recent weeks in Albanian politics due to investigations by the District Prosecutor's Office and the Special Prosecutor's Office against organized crime and corruption. The ambassador of the European delegation in Tirana, on the day of the vote, visited Durres and Fier. "Areas where there were suspicions of links between politics and crime," he observed to the media. Rama is also the man of the agreement with the Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on detention centers for repatriation to Albania.
l'Unità
