TIRANA, May 1 – Albania’s two major ruling parties, Socialist Party and Socialist Movement for Integration published their electoral rolls for the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18.
Upon the launch of the electoral lists, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that he still believed that the Democratic Party-led opposition would participate in the elections.
Each of the parties that comprise the ruling coalitions will run separately after they failed to meet the deadline required for the registration of electoral coalitions.
“We do not enter elections only for victory but also to meet the objectives set in our government. We have applied a thorough selection of our representatives and each of them has been vetted,” Rama said in a press conference.
The Socialist Party chairman praised the decision of some senior SP members who decided to withdraw and pave the way to the participation and commitment of junior representatives in politics.
The senior coalition party list includes 37 candidates for the district of Tirana, 15 candidates for Vlora, 12 for Shkodra, 8 for Lezha, 4 for Kukes, 13 for Korca, 7 for Gjirokastra, 16 for Fier, 20 for Elbasan, 6 for Dibra and 8 candidates for Berat.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party and smaller opposition parties have insisted they will not participate in the parliamentary elections.
