Preliminary results from Albania’s Central Election Commission (CEC) show a lead for the ruling Socialist Party, though the race between the Socialists and the two main opposition parties remains tight. 

With 1,695 of the 5,199 ballot boxes counted as of the morning of April 26, Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party has so far taken 49.32% of the vote in the April 25 general election. 

Its main rival, the Democratic Party, is on 38.88% and the Democrats’ ally, the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) is on 7.13%. 

The result indicates a better than expected performance for the Socialists, though with only around a third of the ballot boxes counted there is still room for the picture to change. 

Earlier, an exit poll released shortly after voting ended on April 25 indicated an extremely close race between the Socialists and the Alliance for Change formed by the country’s two main opposition parties. The exit poll by Euronews in collaboration with MRB put the Socialists on 43.3-47.5% of the vote, with the Democratic Party not far behind on 40-44% and the LSI on 6-9%. 

Representatives of both main parties were upbeat about their prospects. 

Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj has publicly hailed the victories of the Socialists so far, and an official statement from the party on April 26 claimed “the victory of the Socialist Party is very clear now”. 

Meanwhile, Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha talked of a “heavy defeat” for the Socialists, and claimed that the initial strong showing for the ruling party was because ballot boxes in left-wing areas were being counted first. 

President Ilir Meta, former leader of the LSI, also claimed that ballot boxes were being counted selectively. “Counters should not be influenced by intentional selections of counting boxes for demoralisation purposes … Everyone keep calm until the final results are announced. Every vote in the box will be counted and recounted to the end,” the president wrote on Facebook. 

While the situation has remained relatively calm as Albanians wait for the results to come in, controversy has arisen over opposition ballot counters, who have been accused of delaying the process by taking what the Socialists have claimed are “excessive” breaks. 

Ilirjan Celibashi of the CEC wrote on Twitter: “Political parties that have counters must adhere to the public promise to guarantee uninterrupted counting and evaluation of votes.

"There is no justification for interrupting the process due to the lack of counters. Tired counters and / or commissioners should be replaced immediately.”

The count follows a tense election campaign and several incidents on election day, including a knife attack on a police officer at a polling station in the town of Puke and a threat to burn the ballot boxes at one polling station in Fier. Two people carrying envelopes of cash were arrested for vote-buying. 

The events on election day followed two shootings of party activists in the week before the election, one which resulted in the death of a Socialist Party activist. There were several other physical confrontations between rival supporters of the main parties earlier in the campaign. 

After eight years in power, much of Rama’s campaign focused on bringing investment into Albania and specifically on investments into major infrastructure projects like new ports and airports – he envisages raising the number of international airports in the country from two at present to four or five. The prime minister also sought to capitalise on his handling of the pandemic and the November 2019 earthquake. However, critics have warned that such high-profile projects won’t do much to address the concerns of ordinary Albanians, which are focused on the lack of jobs and mass emigration, especially of young people.

Basha, by contrast, offered a fresh start to voters disillusioned after eight years of the Socialist Party. As it prepares to return to Parliament, the Democratic Party has been working to show voters it is ready to govern responsibly and guide Albania towards EU accession. While all the main parties want to take Albania into the EU, Basha was especially vocal on this issue and is committed to launching accession talks within 100 days should he become prime minister. He also repeatedly accused the Socialist government of corruption and claimed it is controlled by oligarchs.

As the results are counted, international observers have appealed for calm. 

“Voters in Albania turned out in full force to express their will. Election & law enforcement authorities have the duty to ensure integrity of the vote. Candidates and leaders, too, have their duty: not to presume results but to accept the judgment of voters when the count is finalised,” said US Ambassador Yuri Kim. 

“Visiting counting centre at the National Museum in #Tirana, where operations have started. We expect that they will be carried on with the highest level of integrity and responsibility. We welcome the call by parties’ leaders about the importance to wait patiently for the results of the counting. It will be equally important to respect the outcome of the elections by [the Central Election Commission],” wrote Luigi Soreca, EU Ambassador to Albania, on Twitter.