Election - June 2005
In 2005, the Democratic Party and its allies returned to power, pledging to fight crime and corruption, decrease the size and scope of government, and promote economic growth. Their leader, Sali Berisha, was sworn in as Prime Minister on September 11, 2005.
Since the election, Prime Minister Berisha's government has made the fight against corruption and organized crime a priority, although the former has met with limited success. The opposition has criticized the government's approach to fighting corruption and crime as unconstitutional and an attempt to undermine independent institutions. While previously relations between the government and opposition SP party were characterized as antagonistic, both sides have at times shown willingness to work together to achieve major policy objectives, such as the constitutional reforms of early 2008.
Another politically contentious process was the pre-electoral period prior to the 2007 local elections. Although the February 18, 2007 local elections were generally peaceful and democratic, over-politicized debate during the preceding months resulted in procedural and administrative problems during the conduct of the elections. A major positive step forward was the performance of the police force.
The fragility of the Albanian electoral system was tested again during the parliamentary by-election in zone 26 (Shijak) on March 11, 2007. The left-wing opposition parties withdrew their commissioners from the polling stations and the counting center, in spite of prior concessions from the Central Elections Commission (CEC) to the opposition's demands. Opposition commissioners left and took with them one of the seals that mark the ballots. By midday, the opposition candidate also announced his withdrawal from the parliamentary race. However, the right of citizens to vote prevailed and the process continued thanks to the technical arrangements of the CEC. The only visible sign of violence was the wounding of a Democratic Party commissioner, who was fired upon by a militant.
Both elections were an indication of lack of political will to cooperate and of the need for a comprehensive electoral reform of the Albanian electoral system. On July 20, 2007 President Bamir Topi was elected within Parliament after six members of the opposition coalition broke ranks to vote for his candidacy. Out of 90 deputies present at the session, 85 voted for Topi, while Neritan Ceka, head of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, won five votes. Topi, 50, a former agriculture minister, succeeded President Alfred Moisiu for a five-year mandate.
In 2008, the new Socialist leader, Edi Rama, struck a deal with Prime Minister Berisha on changes to the electoral code, making it more difficult for small parties to secure seats in parliament. Rama’s goal in agreeing to the changes was to shrink the political clout of the LSI, whose ambitions had grown difficult to accomodate. The deal angered Meta, whose party had helped Rama secure re-election as Socialist leader the previous year. Despite efforts to reconcile the two leaders, the two parties went their separate ways in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
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