Albania - Election April 2021
The tenth parliamentary elections in Albania since the fall of the communist regime headed by Enver Hoxha in 1991 are due to take place on 25 April 2021. At the parliamentary elections 140 members of the Parliament will be elected in 12 multimember constituencies through the open-list system and using proportional representation, with a 1% national threshold and allocation of mandates on the basis of the d'Hondt method. The demographic changes have led also to changes in the number of seats for specific constituencies. In example, the Tirana constituency will elect 36 representatives, Fier 16, Elbasan 14, Shkodra 11, Lezha 7, Berat 7, and Kukës only three representatives. In February 2019 the opposition withdrew from the work of the Albanian parliament.
The parliamentary elections will once again mean a confrontation between two political groups, one is gathered around the Socialist Party (PS/S&D) and Prime Minister Edi Rama and the other one is the opposition group led by the Democratic Party (PD/EPP) headed by Lulzim Basha, which includes the Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) headed by Monika Kryemadhi. However, some minor political parties will also participate. The specificity of these elections is the newly adopted controversial election law which regulates that pre-election coalitions are no longer allowed. The law is aimed to prevent consolidation of the opposition, although the PD and LSI, in cooperation with another minor party, had already announced establishment of a pre-election and postelection coalition. The Democratic Party (PD) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) boycotted the local elections[2] that took place on 30 June 2019, which were organized by Edi Rama's regime. The turnout at the elections was 22.96% and only the Socialist Party (PS) participated in them.
Edi Rama did not manage to rebrand Albanian socialists into a modern European left-wing party, not program-wise nor ideology-wise. The economic recovery, recovery of the society, return of democracy and integration into Europe, as the four key pillars of the program of socialists – have not been implemented. The initial enthusiasm disappeared very quickly and Edi Rama became the symbol of "cannabization of Albania" and the boom of organized crime and narco business. Using the already tested recipe in the region, Rama draws the attention of the public away from these issues by focusing on nationalism and nationalist rhetoric.
Albania has become a case-country when it comes to the silencing of the media. At the same time, public-private partnerships with criminal structures, as a new modern combination of the authoritarian model, are being established in the Balkans before the eyes of the public. As Albania is a country with the highest level of public support to membership in the EU, it is surprising to see how much the integration process has been postponed since 2013. Specifically, since the beginning of the authoritarian rule of Edi Rama, which is maybe the reason behind all the postponements.
The reasons for the existing situation could be found in the "intimate" and direct cooperation between the Albanian Socialist Party (PS) and organized crime networks. The election of individuals with serious criminal files to the parliament and local municipalities resulted in intensification of activities of criminal networks related to production and trafficking of drugs. Such a development was facilitated through their direct cooperation with the executive branch and the tolerance demonstrated by judicial bodies. Subsequently, this was also an additional impetus to the phenomenon of purchase of votes with the funds from criminal and illegal profits from narcotics.
At the time when crime intensity was at its height, in 20109, neither the Constitutional Court nor the Supreme Court of Albania were in function (due to the inability to reach a political agreement of election of judges). In 2020, thanks to the efforts of Albanian President Ilir Meta the vacant judicial positions were manned. In practice, this simultaneously meant that the opposition was not able to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court, because all the power was concentrated in one man - Prime Minister Edi Rama.
As Prime Minister Rama is in the epicenter of the agreement with criminal networks and has almost absolute power, the opposition was not able to use the legal remedies. Therefore, the opposition constantly invited Rama to resign and in such a way end the agony of the country, which could even result in the collapse of a country. In February 2019, the Albanian opposition decided to annul its mandates and requested free and fair elections. Since then it has not been participating in the work of the parliament.
In the conditions of unprecedented undermining of democratic standards, rule of law and balance of forces, MPs from the united Albanian opposition resigned from the Parliament. They also refused to participate at the last local elections which were held in Albania on 30 June 2019, believing that fair and free elections cannot be held under the existing circumstances. As a result, Rama simultaneously took over all the key positions in all the municipalities, the state, legislative and executive branches. As the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court were not functional due to the postponement of the vetting procedures - and it is now debatable whether all this was premeditated as well - Rama became the absolute potentate, who de facto has absolute control of all the segments of the state and society. The key question is who on the West provides support to Rama's rule and which foreign officials are involved in Rama's corruption octopus? How does Rama, as a corrupt potentate, deceive the West? The Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed the fatality of Rama's regime for citizens of Albania.
Lulzim Basha is a different kind of a political leader in Albania. On one side, he is a family man who is in direct communication with the people and daily contact with citizens, owners of small and medium size companies, and particularly the youth. He is fully available and at service to every citizen. His doors are open to all citizens who seek his assistance. On the other side, Basha also maintains a broad network of personal contacts with leaders and heads of states and governments of EU member countries, who regularly talk to him. They engage in consultations and talk about the "day after", that is the day after Edi Rama steps down from power.
After eight years of authoritarian regime and postponement of integration into the EU, Albania is stagnating in its political development. Basha, who brought Albania into NATO and achieved the visa-free regime agreement, believes that he has the strength to take Albania to full-fledged membership in the EU. Furthermore, Basha's political career is spotless, free of crime or corruption.
Analysts remind that the Democratic Party had toppled the Enver Hoxha's regime and that, in cooperation with the modern left-wing Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) and with the support of Albanian citizens at the upcoming elections, it can have the strength to topple Edi Rama's regime, which is a combination of Slobodan Miloševic's and Enver Hoxha's regimes. Sali Berisha (PD) and Ilir Meta (LSI), as veterans of Albanian politics, are aware of their historical responsibility and that Albania cannot have a prosperous future under Edi Rama. The fall of Rama's regime will open a new opportunity for Albania and a new chapter in its development. Albania should not miss this opportunity and its development can be successfully led by Lulzim Basha, as the new Albanian prime minister, who enjoys broad and strong support of key European leaders, particularly those from the European People's Party (EPP) in the EU.
Albania’s ruling Socialist Party secured 49.4% of votes in the 25 April 2021 parliamentary election, the state election commission announced on 26 April 2021 on the basis of 30% votes counted. The opposition Democratic Party came second with 38.8% of the vote, while the Socialist Integration Movement was third with 7.1% of voters’ backing. If the Socialists led by Edi Rama won more than 50% of votes, they will be able to govern alone as they did in the previous Parliament.
The April 25th parliamentary elections held in the poorest country of Southeast Europe, showed once again how fragile democratic institutions can become when free and fair elections are impossible to hold. Albania’s Socialist Party under the leadership of Edi Rama has installed a one-party state regime.
According to a statement on the parliamentary elections issued by Elisabeth Rosenstock-Siller, the OSCE’s Acting Deputy Chief of Mission: “In Albania’s parliamentary elections, the United States notes the OSCE observation mission’s finding that the ruling party derived significant advantage from its incumbency, including through its control of local administrations and from the misuse of administrative resources. We also note their finding that widespread practices of vote-buying remained a problem, and we reinforce concerns over the leaking of sensitive personal data, including political preferences of voters.”
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