Poll Shows Opposition Ahead In The Next Elections

TIRANA, March 11 – A poll conducted by Zogby International for broadcaster Top Channel TV showed that Albania’s opposition Socialist party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama is ahead of the ruling Democrats of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, just four months ahead of June 28 parliamentary elections.
However, like the previous month, the governing Democrats may surely say the poll is not fair and another one may tell a different rate for them.
Albania is not used to polls ahead of elections and they normally turn into a political tool or an instrument to heat up an already hot and ever-squabbling political atmosphere in the country.
The poll released on Tuesday but conducted on February showed that 39 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the Socialists, 34 per cent for the Democrats, PD, and 5 per cent for the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI. Some 12 per cent of the people interviewed were undecided.
The poll has a margin of error of plus/minus 3.2 per cent.
Rama had an approval rating of 44 per cent, while Berisha 36 per cent, the poll said.
Albanians remain divided about the direction the country is headed with 41 percent approving it, and 45 percent disapproving.
Among undecided voters Berisha has a 22 percent approval rating, while Rama 29 percent.
Half of the respondents have already chosen for which party to vote, 29 percent have a preference, while 20 percent remain undecided.
Albanians ranked employment as their greatest concern, with 67 percent saying that they are concerned about the employment situation, followed by the economy with 64 percent, poverty with 43 percent, followed by corruption with 31 percent.
Zogby International will conduct a series of polls every month leading to the general elections on June 28.