FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama is poised to secure a fourth term in office after his Socialist Party won a clear majority in the May 11 general election, according to near-final results published on May 13.
With 98% of votes counted, the ruling party had secured 52% of the vote, well ahead of the opposition Democratic Party, which is quoted at 34%, figures from the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed.
That translates to 82 seats in Albania's 140-member parliament for the Socialists, while the center-right Democratic Party is expected to take 51 seats. Three smaller parties will share the remaining seven seats.
If confirmed, the result marks an increase for the Socialists compared to the 2021 elections, when Rama received 49% of the vote and had 74 mandates.
"I thank you for your indescribable trust," Rama wrote on Facebook in the early hours of May 14.
However, the opposition has alleged electoral irregularities and demanded that the CEC not take into account more than 50,000 ballots cast by Albanians living in neighboring Greece, the first time that diaspora voters were allowed to vote by mail.
The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, a former president and prime minister, rejected the result and called on supporters to protest on May 16, when European leaders are scheduled to meet in Tirana for a regional summit. “The May 16 protest is a protest on behalf of a people who want to vote freely!” Berisha wrote on Facebook.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said the elections were competitive and professionally run, but criticized the ruling party's use of public resources and the polarized atmosphere. "The campaign was marred by unbalanced media coverage, divisive rhetoric and non-transparent financing," the observers said.
The European Union also raised concerns. “The elections were highly polarized and did not provide a level playing field,” European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement. They called for an investigation into allegations of electoral crimes. /Adapted from Pamphlet by IntellNews/
Lini një Përgjigje