Albania PM's socialist party scores large victory in parliamentary elections

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late Tuesday.
The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there.
According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the 140-seat assembly.
The vote was dominated by the contest between three-time premier Rama, 60, who focused his campaign on European integration, and right-winger Berisha, from the Democratic Party of Albania.
The two campaigned mainly on economic issues, such as pensions, wages, infrastructure and tourism.
But there were bitter exchanges too on the fight against corruption and organised crime, both of which are seen as essential requirements for Albania's EU bid.
On Tuesday, the 80-year-old Berisha -- Albania's first post-communist president -- made allegations of electoral irregularities, accusing the Socialists of pressure, fraud and vote-buying.
"It's impossible to reconcile with such elections. No, forget (about) that," he told reporters in Tirana.
Berisha called for a protest on Friday, when European leaders would be meeting in Tirana for the sixth European Political Community Summit
The election was closely watched by the EU and seen as a test of the democratic maturity of the Balkan country, by far the most Europe-oriented in the region, after decades of dictatorship.
"The elections were managed generally in an inclusive and transparent manner, the election day being calm and well organised, despite some shortcomings," EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement.
Without waiting for the official results, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni late Tuesday congratulated her friend Rama for his "reappointment as head of the Albanian government".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his British counterpart Keir Starmer also congratulated Rama on the election victory.
In Sunday's vote, around 40 parties were trying to attract the ballots of a total of 3.7 million voters.

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