Socialists secure 74 mandates as the opposition moves towards non-recognizing the results
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After the conclusion of the counting process of all the ballots from the parliamentary elections of 25 April, the Socialist Party has won the majority of seats needed to form the government, securing 74 parliamentary seats, 3 more than the 71 required to form the parliament majority. According to the result published by the Central Election Commission, the SP managed to win 768,177 votes or 48.68% of the votes.
For the second time in a row, the SP guided by Prime Minister Rama will have the numbers to govern without needing to form a coalition, while overall this will be the third term for him as Prime Minister. Yesterday, during the celebratory event at Skanderbeg Square, Rama declared in front of his supporters that
The DP and its coalition have received 622,234 votes or 39,43% of the total of votes, which will bring to the new parliament 59 mandates. The second-biggest opposition party, SMI, has received 107,522 votes (6,81%), winning 4 mandates in the next parliament. The biggest surprise of these elections is without a doubt the Social-Democratic Party guided by Tom Doshi, who received 35,477 votes, or 2,25% of the total votes during the 25 April elections, meaning that it won 3 seats in the next parliament. According to the head of CEC, Ilirjan Celibashi, the turnout in the 25 April elections results to be 46,32%.
In the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) published yesterday, “the ruling party derived significant advantage from its incumbency, including through its control of local administrations and from the misuse of administrative resources. This was amplified by positive coverage of state institutions in the media. Allegations of vote buying by political parties were pervasive during the campaign and a high number of investigations were opened in this regard.”
According to IEOM, “widespread practices of vote-buying remained a problem,” adding that around 30 cases related to vote buying are under investigations. The IEOM witnessed also one case of money being distributed to voters outside the voting centre.
“The leaking of sensitive personal data, including political preferences of citizens, is of serious concern and makes voters vulnerable,” IEOM said. In the preliminary results, it was mentioned that despite a legal framework, “ministers continued to campaign during official engagements. The resultant publicity gave the ruling party a significant advantage. The provision of incentives and alleged pressure on civil servants was of concern.”
While the DP saw significant growth compared to the previous elections, it failed to stop Rama from securing a third term. During the election campaign, the leader of the opposition Lulzim Basha refused to answer questions about his fate in the DP in case of defeat, declaring with conviction that on April 25, the opposition would win. Yesterday Basha declared in front of his supporters that he will “fight until victory”, implying that he will continue to be at the helm of the Democratic Party. He listed several reasons that led to the loss of the elections, such as unilateral changes to the Constitution, the use of concession money, or the use of private data of citizens. “These elections had nothing to do with democracy. We went into battle with a regime that did everything to destroy the fair race by amending the Constitution and the Electoral Code. Tens of thousands of votes destroyed, millions of euros invested […] They used the millions gained through the corrupt concessions, stole citizens’ personal data, used criminals and gangs, threatened administrations, journalists and the media, making the electoral massacre even greater,” said Basha. In the meantime, high-ranking members of the Democratic Party, such as former President Bujar Nishani, have requested that Basha should resign from his position in the party.
Although not on the same ticket, the Socialist Movement for Integration, the second-biggest opposition party, that had signed a pre-election agreement with the DP to form a government coalition after the elections in case of a possible win, received a huge blow, losing in many areas considered as strongholds. The SMI has secured only 4 parliamentary seats nationwide, an extraordinary contraction compared to 2017 when it had 19 seats. Although the leader of SMI, Monika Kryemadhi, recognized several mistakes made by the opposition in the past years, she further attacked the majority for distorting the people’s vote. “The SMI and the citizens faced a great perfidiousness that deeply distorted their will, gave space and spirit to gangs and crime, gave the oligarchs the opportunity to alienate and obscure any position,” said Kryemadhi. None of the leaders of the opposition so far has accepted the results of the elections, meaning that they will make such issues as vote-buying part of their future agenda.
Meanwhile, President Meta, after declaring yesterday that the elections were “calm” and “peaceful”, today confirmed that he will continue to maintain the role of President until 2022. On various occasions, Meta had declared that in case of a possible win by Rama, he would have resigned the day after. After Meta’s statement, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Taulant Balla reacted by saying that once the counting process will be officially over, the SP will start the process of dismissal of the president.
Another surprise was Doshi’s resignation immediately after the start of the counting process. For many analysts, that move suggests that the seats of SDP will support Rama’s government, considering the ties Doshi and Rama have had in the past. Doshi has been mentioned on many occasions by the US ambassador to Tirana, Yuri Kim, who before the elections urged Albanian institutions to prevent Doshi’s running in the elections, due to allegations of “significant corruption”. Although Rama has been previously urged not to collaborate with Doshi, after Doshi’s resignation it will be easier for Rama to cooperate with SDP.
