Albanian parliamentary election, 2017

Last updated
Albanian parliamentary election, 2017
Flag of Albania.svg
  2013 25 June 2017Next 

All 140 seats to the Parliament of Albania
71 seats needed for a majority
Turnout46.80% Decrease2.svg
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Edi Rama 2014.jpg Lulzim Basha 2012 (cropped).jpg Blank.png
Leader Edi Rama Lulzim Basha Petrit Vasili
Party Socialist Democratic LSI
Last election65 seats50 seats16 seats
Seats won744319
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 9Decrease2.svg 7Increase2.svg 3
Popular vote764,791456,481225,975
Percentage48.34%28.85%14.28%
SwingIncrease2.svg 7%Decrease2.svg 1.8%Increase2.svg 3.8%

Zgjedhjet e pergjithshme 2017 (harta qarqeve).svg

Prime Minister before election

Edi Rama
Socialist

Elected Prime Minister

Edi Rama
Socialist

Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 25 June. [1] They were first scheduled for 18 June, but after a possible boycott was announced by the opposition parties, during a large political crisis that lasted 3 months, an agreement was reached between all the political parties on 18 May to change the date. [2] On 28 June, the central election council announced that Socialist party had won a majority. [3]

Albania country in Southeast Europe

Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and a maritime border with Italy to the west.

2017 Albanian opposition protest

The 2017 Albanian opposition protests were a series of anti-government protests, largely in Tirana, which centered around government corruption, the illicit drug situation in Albania, fear of electoral fraud in the parliamentary elections, and alleged manipulation of the voting process by the Socialist government.

Contents

Background

The previous parliamentary elections were held on 23 June 2013 and resulted in a victory for the Socialist Party of Albania-led Alliance for a European Albania, which received 57.6% of the vote, winning 83 of the 140 seats. The opposition Alliance for Employment, Prosperity and Integration headed by Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party received almost 39.5% of the vote and won the other 57 seats. The Socialist Party led by Edi Rama formed the government with Rama as Prime Minister.

Socialist Party of Albania Albanian political party

The Socialist Party of Albania, is a social-democratic political party in Albania; it gained power following the 2013 parliamentary election. The party seated 66 MPs in the 2009 Albanian parliament. It achieved power in 1997 following a political crisis and governmental realignment. At the 2001 parliamentary election the party secured 73 seats, which enabled it to form a government. At the general election of 3 July 2005, the Socialist Party lost its majority and the Democratic Party of Albania (PD) formed the new government, having secured, with its allies, a majority of 81 seats.

Sali Berisha Albanian politician

Sali Berisha , is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the second President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013. He was also the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania twice, from 1991 to 1992 and then again from 1997 to 2013. To date, Berisha is the longest-serving democratically elected leader and the only Prime Minister to serve two full terms since the end of Communism.

Electoral system

The 140 members of Parliament were elected in twelve multi-member constituencies based on the twelve counties using closed list proportional representation with an electoral threshold of 3% for parties and 5% for alliances. [4] Seats were allocated to alliances using the D'Hondt method, then to political parties using the Sainte-Laguë method. [5]

Parliament of Albania Parliament of Albania

The Parliament of Albania or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of not less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal, periodic and equal suffrage by secret ballot. The Parliament is presided over by a Speaker of the Parliament, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-seat constituencies, corresponding to the country's administrative divisions.

The Counties of Albania are second-level administrative divisions in the Republic of Albania.

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can (effectively) only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters have at least some influence then it is called an open list.

Demographic changes led to some changes in the number of seats for some constituencies; Tirana gained two seats and Durrës one, whilst Korça, Berat and Kukës all lost a seat. [6]

#County2016 populationSeats
1 Berat 139,8157
2 Dibër 134,1536
3 Durrës 278,77514
4 Elbasan 298,91314
5 Fier 312,44816
6 Gjirokastër 70,3315
7 Korçë 221,70611
8 Kukës 84,0353
9 Lezhë 135,6137
10 Shkodër 215,48311
11 Tirana 811,64934
12 Vlorë 183,10512
Source: Instat (populations)

Contesting parties

NameAbbr.IdeologyLeader
Albanian Democratic Christian UnionPBDKSHEduart Ndocaj
Christian Democratic AllianceADKZef Bushati
Christian Democratic Party of Albania PKD Christian democracy Dhimiter Muslia
Communist Party PKSH Marxism–Leninism, Anti-revisionism Qemal Cicollari
Democratic Alliance AD Liberalism, centrism Eduart Abazi
Democratic Party of Albania PD Centre-right, Liberal conservatism, Conservatism, Nationalism, Pro-Europeanism, Economic liberalism Lulzim Basha
Libra Party LIBRA Centrism, Social liberalism, Civic nationalism, Pro-Europeanism Ben Blushi
National Arbnore AllianceAAKGjet Ndoj
New Democratic Spirit FRD Liberal conservatism, pro-Europeanism Bamir Topi
Party for Justice, Integration and Unity PDIU Right-wing, Nationalism, Ethnic nationalism, Cham issue Shpëtim Idrizi
Party for the Future of the Greek MinorityMEGAKristaq Kiço
People's Alliance for JusticeAPDBilal Kola
Republican Party of Albania PR Right-wing, National Conservatism, Pro-Europeanism Fatmir Mediu
Challenge for Albania SFIDA! Centrism, Pro-Europeanism Hektor Ruci
Social Democracy Party PDS Social democracy Paskal Milo
Socialist Movement for Integration LSI Centre-left, Social democracy, Progressivism Ilir Meta
Socialist Party of Albania PS Centre-left, Social democracy, Third Way, Progressivism, Social liberalism Edi Rama

Opinion polls

Nationwide

PollsterDateSample PD PS LSI PDIU Libra SFIDA! Other partiesLead
Exit poll 25 June 201730-34%45-49%11-15%3-5%--15%
IPR + Ora News 19 June 201733%48%13%1.8%2.3%0.5%15%
IPR + Ora News 7 June 201780037%45%13%1.5%2%0.3%8%
Piepoli 6 June 201780028-32%

41-45 seats

48-52%

69-73 seats

9-13%

14-18 seats

1-2%

2-4 seats

1-3%

1-3 seats

1-3%

1-3 seats

20%
IPR + Ora News 29–30 May 20172,00236%43%12%1.8%2.3%1.0%3.9%7%

By county

Tirana

PollsterDateSample PD PS LSI PDIU Libra SFIDA! Other partiesLead
IPR + Ora News 29–30 May 20171,00033%41%14%1%6%1.5%3.5%8%

Elbasan

PollsterDateSample PD PS LSI PDIU Libra SFIDA! Other partiesUndecidedLead
American Eye 4 June 20171,03429.2%46.1%6.4%7.1%0.7%-3.4%7.1%16.9%

Results

Parliamentary seats
PS
74/140
PD
43/140
LSI
19/140
PDIU
3/140
PSD
1/140
Diagrama e Kuvendit te Shqiperise (2017).svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Socialist Party of Albania 764,79148.3474+9
Democratic Party of Albania 456,48128.8543–7
Socialist Movement for Integration 225,97514.2819+3
Party for Justice, Integration and Unity 76,0644.813–1
Libra Party 19,7561.250New
Social Democratic Party of Albania 14,9870.951+1
New Democratic Spirit 5,1180.3200
Sfida për Shqipërinë 3,5340.220New
Republican Party of Albania 3,2170.200-3
Social Democracy Party of Albania 2,4730.1600
Christian Democratic Party of Albania 2,4150.150–1
Party for the Future of the Greek Minority2,2870.1400
People's Alliance for Justice1,4910.090New
Communist Party of Albania 1,0290.0700
Albanian Democratic Christian Union9200.060New
Christian Democratic Alliance7670.0500
Democratic Alliance Party 5410.0300
National Arbnore Alliance3490.0200
Invalid/blank votes32,188
Total 1,614,479 1001400
Registered voters/turnout3,452,32446.80
Source: CEC (99.96% of polling stations reporting)

By county

County Socialist Democratic LSI PDIU LIBRA Other parties
CountySeatsVotes%SVotes%SVotes%SVotes%SVotes%SVotes%S
Berat 745,63754.53%416,30219.48%119,76423.62%26350.76%05880.70%02,4480.91%0
Dibër 624,79534.46%221,33129.65%212,26717.05%112.60517.52%12330.32%02,4710.55%0
Durrës 1473,066 49.67%843,16329.34%421,94114.91%24,5193.07%01,5151.03%06,7231.98%0
Elbasan 1472,881 44.59%733,86820.72%323,53614.40%229,43118.00%21,2860.79%05,5491.50%0
Fier 16104,162 57.15%1046,79925.68%421,38011.73%26,3483.48%01,6150.89%05,3491.07%0
Gjirokastër 527,22250.21%313,32124.57%112,59723.23%11710.32%03400.63%01,6861.04%0
Korçë 1162,78748.39%642,17732.51%410,46515.00%12,0031.54%01,8091.39%04,2221.17%0
Kukës 318,38743.79%119,93547.48%22,9387.00%0130.03%03190.76%01,2450.94%0
Lezhë 730,40641.55%327,55037.65%311,21015.32%12,1252.90%07951.09%02,6271.49%0
Shkodër 1139,24735.68%440,76337.06%512,73711.58%12,1721.97%09240.84%016,55712.87%1
Tiranë 34200,51748.24%18128,06530.81%1155,89413.45%412,4342.99%09,5742.30%017,2332.21%0
Vlorë 1265,68460.31%823,20721.31%312,24611.24%13,6083.31%07580.70%05,2573.13%0
Albania 764.79148.34%74456,48128.85%43225,97514.28%1976.0644.81%319.7561.25%071,4122.47%1

Related Research Articles

Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, where the President of Albania is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Albania the head of government in a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised by the Government and the Prime Minister with its Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Albania. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of Albania is laid out in the 1998 constitution. The Parliament adopted the current constitution on 28 November 1998. Due to political instability, the country has had many constitutions during its history. Albania was initially constituted as a monarchy in 1913, briefly a republic in 1925, then it returned to a democratic monarchy in 1928. It later became a socialist republic until the restoration of capitalism and democracy in 1992.

Edi Rama Prime Minister of Albania

Edi Rama is an Albanian politician, artist, writer and former basketball player, who has been the 42nd Prime Minister of Albania and the Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2013 and January 2019, respectively. Rama has also been Chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. Before his election as Prime Minister, Rama held a number of other positions. He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, a position that he held until 2000.

The Botswana National Front has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections. It achieved its greatest electoral success in the 1994 elections, when it won 37.1% of the vote and 13 of 40 parliamentary seats. A factional conflict in 1998 led to the departure of 11 of these MPs, who then founded the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). In the 1999 elections, the BNF's vote share declined to 26% and it won 6 parliamentary seats. In the 2004 general election the party won 26.1% of the popular vote and 12 out of 57 seats. Its representation was sharply reduced in the 2009 elections, with the party reduced to only six seats in the National Assembly of Botswana. The BNF's parliamentary representation fell to 5 seats following the defection of the party's former Vice President, Olebile Gaborone, to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in July 2010.

Elections in Bangladesh

Elections in Bangladesh gives information on election and election results in Bangladesh.

1985 Portuguese legislative election election

The Portuguese legislative election of 1985 took place on 6 October. In June of the same year, the former Prime-Minister, Mário Soares, had resigned from the job due to the lack of parliamentary support, the government was composed by a coalition of the two major parties, the center-right Social Democratic and the center-left Socialist, in what was called the Central Bloc, however this was an unstable balance of forces and several members of each party opposed such alliance.

2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election election

Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the newly independent Republic of Montenegro on 10 September 2006. Prime Minister Milo Đukanović's Coalition for a European Montenegro, at whose core was the Democratic Party of Socialists, won 39 seats in the 81 seat parliament with the vote near fully counted. The opposition blocs together received 34 seats. There were 484,430 eligible voters.

Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 22 April 2001. The result was a victory for the Victory is of Montenegro alliance formed by the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro and the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro, which won 36 of the 77 seats.

In 1991, the Socialist Party of Albania, with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After 1990, Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West. What followed were deliberate programs of economic and democratic reform, but Albanian inexperience with capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes – which were not banned due to the corruption of the government. Chaos in late 1996 to early 1997, as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes, alarmed the world and prompted the influx of international peacekeeping forces. In 1995, Albania was accepted into the Council of Europe and requested membership in NATO and is a potential candidate country for accession to the European Union. The workforce of Albania has continued to emigrate to Western countries, especially Greece and Italy.

Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 24 June 2001. The result was a victory for the ruling Socialist Party of Albania, which won 73 of the 140 seats, resulting in Ilir Meta remaining Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 53.6%.

2009 Albanian parliamentary election

A parliamentary election was held in Albania on 28 June 2009. No alliance achieved 71 deputies on its own needed to form a parliamentary majority, hence to form the new government the Democratic party and Socialist Movement for Integration joined forces.

1913 Italian general election

General elections were held in Italy on 26 October 1913, with a second round of voting on 2 November. The Liberals narrowly retained an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, while the Radical Party emerged as the largest opposition bloc. Both groupings did particularly well in Southern Italy, while the Italian Socialist Party gained eight seats and was the largest party in Emilia-Romagna. However, the election marked the beginning of the decline of Liberal establishment.

2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election

The 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election took place in Djibouti on 10 January 2003 to elect the National Assembly of Djibouti. The ruling coalition of President Ismail Omar Guelleh won all 65 seats in the election defeating an opposition coalition.

2012 French legislative election

Legislative elections took place on 10 and 17 June 2012 to select the members of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic – a little over a month after the French presidential election run-off held on 6 May.

2012 Albanian presidential election election

Indirect presidential elections were held in Albania on 30 May, 4, 8 and 11 June 2012. the seventh such elections since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991. The first through third rounds of voting were inconclusive. The fourth round resulted in the incumbent party's member Bujar Nishani being elected as President.

2013 Albanian parliamentary election 2013 parliamentary election in Albania

Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 23 June 2013. The result was a victory for the Alliance for a European Albania led by the Socialist Party and its leader, Edi Rama. Incumbent Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party-led Alliance for Employment, Prosperity and Integration conceded defeat on 26 June, widely viewed as a sign of growing democratic maturity in Albania.

The next Croatian parliamentary elections will be held on or before 23 December 2020. It will be the tenth parliamentary election since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and will elect the 151 members of the Croatian Parliament unless there is a change in the electoral system or number of seats before the date of the election.

31st Legislature of Albania legislative term of the Albanian Parliament, 2017–

The Thirty-first Legislature of Albania, officially known as the IX Pluralist Legislature of Albania, is the legislature of Albania following the 2017 general election of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Albanian Parliament. The party of the Prime Minister Edi Rama, PS, obtained an absolute majority of 74 deputies, alongside its ally, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which secured 1 seat and Party for Justice, Integration and Unity (PDIU) 3 seats.

References

  1. "Presidenti Nishani e dekreton: 25 qershori data e zgjedhjeve parlamentare". gsh.al (in Albanian). 21 May 2017.
  2. Agreement unveiled, Parliamentary Elections on June 25 Albania Daily News
  3. Albanian Socialists to get parliamentary majority, partial vote count shows Reuters, 26 June 2017
  4. Election Profile IFES
  5. Electoral system IPU
  6. Harta e re elektorale, një mandat më pak Kukësit, Korçës e Beratit Shqiptarja, 3 December 2016