TIRANA, July 25 – Albania’s Central Election Commission approved this week the final results of the June 25 general parliamentary elections, marking the first time in recent history that the body has been able to issue a final official result within a month of the elections taking place.
The official results issued Wednesday confirmed that the Socialist Party will have a majority of 74 MPs, with 48.34 percent of the national votes won. The main opposition Democratic Party will have 43 MPs, with 28.85 percent of the national vote won, while the Socialist Movement for Integration will have 19 MPs with 14.34 percent of the vote. Smaller parties represented include the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity with 3 MPs and the Social Democratic Party with 1 MP. Several smaller parties, including the Republican Party and Unity for Human Rights Party, had their leaders run as part of the DP list so they will also have at least one representative in parliament.
The final voter turnout was measured at 46.77 percent of the registered voters.
Even though this was the first time in recent history that no party appealed the results to the electoral college, a group of judges chosen to hammer out electoral disputes, the opposition nonetheless said the vote had not been fair.
The main opposition Democratic Party representative the CEC, Ivi Kaso, said that in his party’s opinion, the elections were neither free nor fair. He repeated DP chair’s words, calling the elections “a triumph of illegality,” accusing the ruling majority of engaging in massive vote-buying using drug and crime funds.
Kaso said Prime Minister Rama had violated the spirit of an agreement with opposition leader Lulzim Basha, which spelled out how the elections would be protected.
The SP representative said the process met the standards for democratic elections, pointing out concessions made by Prime Minister Rama to the opposition, allowing it to have complete control over the electoral process by nominating caretaker ministers in posts that manage the elections.
