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Albania Ruling Coalition Leading in Polls
Tirana | 30 June 2009 | Besar Likmeta
Prime Minister Sali Berisha
The coalition led by the Democratic Party of the incumbent Prime Minister Sali Berisha is leading its rivals, the Socialist Party led by Tirana Mayor Edi Rama, in a tightly fought parliamentary election after more two-thirds of the ballots were counted.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Berisha said he would accept the verdict of the election and would not contest the result.
With unofficial results now in from 3,856 out of 4,753 polling stations, the Socialists led overall with 40.98 per cent, trailed by the Democrats on 39.88 per cent. The Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, was coming third with 4.82 per cent.
However, the Democratic Party’s coalition, the “Alliance for Change,” has already won 71 deputies, the minimum needed to form a new government, ahead of the Socialist coalition, on 66 deputies.
Because ballots are still being counted, the situation could yet change, with one to three mandates moving from one party to another. Whichever bloc emerges winner from this election is likely to have only a small majority in parliament.
Three exit polls published after the voting closed gave a significant advantage to Berisha, but that does not seem to have materialized now the ballots have been counted.
The elections have been peaceful and calm, with only minor technical incidents reported. International observers have concluded that they saw “marked progress” this time round compared to Albania’s previous elections.
