Elections in Albania

Last updated

Regular elections in Albania are mandated by the Constitution and legislation enacted by Parliament. The Parliament (Kuvendi) has 140 members elected for four-year terms. [1] The electoral system is open list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the country's 12 administrative regions. Within any constituency, parties must meet a threshold of 3 percent of votes, and pre-election coalitions must meet a threshold of 5 percent of votes. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

This electoral system replaced a mixed-member system in November 2008. [5] Under the old system, 100 members were elected directly in single member constituencies with approximately equal numbers of voters. 40 were elected from multi-name lists of parties or party coalitions according to their ranking. The total number of deputies of a party or a party coalition was to be, to the closest possible extent, proportional to the valid votes won by that party or coalition on the national scale in the first round of elections. Parties that received less than 2.5% and coalitions that received less than 4% of the valid votes on the national scale in the first round of elections did not benefit from the respective multi-name list.

The change was criticised by the smaller parties, but supported by the two main parties. It was considered an important step towards Albania's European integration. Other changes included limiting the prosecutor general's term to five years, forcing an early election in case of a no-confidence vote and reducing the majority required to elect the president from three-fifths to half the MPs. [6]

The president is elected by parliament.

Albania has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and several other parties that are electorally successful.

History

On 31 March 1991, the first pluralist elections were held in the country. [7] The elections were conducted with a clean majority system in 250 constituencies. [8] 98.2% of voters took part in the voting. The participating parties registered a total of 1,074 candidates while 17 of the candidates were independent. The final election results declared the Labor Party the winner with 56.17% of the vote. The Democratic Party won 38.71% of the vote, the Republican Party 1.77%, the Omonia Organization 0.73%, the Agrarian Party 0.07% and the Veterans Committee 0.28%. With a 250-seat parliament, the results were translated into 169 deputies for the Labor Party, the Democratic Party 75 deputies, Omonia 5 deputies and the Veterans Committee 1 deputy. The Democratic Party achieved high results and received a larger number of deputies compared to the Labor Party in the main cities such as: Durrës (13 deputies out of 19 in total), Shkodër (16 out of 19 in total), Tirana (19 out of 29). Whereas in Krujë and Vlorë the number of deputies of the two major parties was equal. [8] This was considered a great victory for the DP given that the communist party that had ruled the country for about 50 years still continued to have strong control over the population, especially in those living in rural areas and still doubting that the dictatorship would fall. [9]

On 8 May 2000, the Albanian Parliament approved the Electoral Code only with the votes of the Socialists, which had an overwhelming majority in the assembly that emerged from the 1997 elections. [10] The Democratic Party rejected the Electoral Code in its entirety due to the composition of the Central Election Commission (KQZ or CEC) of 6 members. They boycotted his approval in parliament even though he had attended most of the roundtables organized for the debate over the Electoral Code. According to the new Electoral Code, voting in Albania would be based on a mixed, majority-proportional electoral system. From where 100 deputies, in the 140-seat parliament, would be elected by majority vote from single-member constituencies, while 40 seats were filled by national multi-member lists of political parties in order to achieve a proportional approach between nationally received votes and deputies which represented a political party in the assembly. To win a proportional mandate, political parties had to cross the 2.5% electoral threshold, while coalitions had to cross the 4% threshold. [11]

Presidential elections

The presidential elections in Albania are held every five years, with the president being elected by the parliament of the nation. This electoral process is regulated in the constitutional framework, particularly articulated in the fourth part, encompassing articles 86 to 94 of the constitution of the nation. As the head of state, the president representes the unity of the Albanian people and ensures the adherence to and functioning of the constitutional order.

Latest election

Results of the 2022 Albanian presidential election [12]
CandidateParty [a] First roundSecond roundThird roundFourth round
Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %
Bajram Begaj Independent No candidates7895.12
Against44.88
Required majority84 votes71 votes
Valid votes8298.8
Abstentions11.2
Total83100
Absents5740.71
Registered voters14059.29

Previous election

ElectionCandidatesWinning candidateParty
1925 1 Ahmet Zogu Progressive Party
1991 1 Ramiz Alia Party of Labor
1992 1 Sali Berisha Democratic Party
2002 1 Alfred Moisiu Independent
2007 3 Bamir Topi Democratic Party
2012 7 Bujar Nishani
2017 1 Ilir Meta LSI
2022 1 Bajram Begaj Independent

Parliamentary elections

Latest election

Albania Parliament 2021.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Socialist Party of Albania 768,13448.67740
Democratic Party – Alliance for Change 622,18739.4359+13
Socialist Movement for Integration 107,5386.814–15
Social Democratic Party of Albania 35,4752.253+2
Nisma Thurje 10,2170.650New
Democratic Conviction 8,2390.520New
Movement for Change7,0540.450New
Albanian Democratic Movement Party4,7050.300New
New Movement Party3,7670.240New
New Democracy Alliance Party3,2320.200New
Albanian National Front Party 1,9460.120New
People's Union Alliance Coalition1,3760.090New
Independents4,2470.270New
Total1,578,117100.001400
Valid votes1,578,11795.00
Invalid/blank votes83,0595.00
Total votes1,661,176100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,588,86946.29
Source: KQZ

By county

County PS PD-AN LSI PSD Total
seats
Berat 52007
Dibër 23005
Durrës 860014
Elbasan 860014
Fier 961016
Gjirokastër 31004
Korçë 650011
Kukës 12003
Lezhë 34007
Shkodër 351211
Tirana 18152136
Vlorë 840012
Total745943140

List of elections

Parliamentary elections

This is a list of parliamentary elections in Albania from the year 1921 till present day. Direct presidential elections have not been held. [14] [15]

No.LegislatureDateCandidatesRegistered votersTurnout %
1 National Council 5 April 192165
2 Constitutional Assembly 27 December 192395
3 Deputies Chamber - Senate 17 May 192549/16
4 Constituent Assembly/Parliament 17 August 192849
5 Parliament 11 November 193254
6 Parliament 31 January 193757
7 National Assembly/Parliament 1 October 1943193
8 Constitutional Assembly/People's Assembly 2 December 1945101603,56689.9
9 People's Assembly 28 May 1950116641,24199.4
10 People's Assembly 30 May 1954129702,47699.9
11 People's Assembly 1 June 1958180788,250100
12 People's Assembly 3 June 1962210889,875100
13 People's Assembly 10 July 1966234978,161100
14 People's Assembly 20 September 19702611,097,123100
15 People's Assembly 6 October 19742381,248,530100
16 People's Assembly 12 November 19782501,436,289100
17 People's Assembly 14 November 19822501,627,968100
18 People's Assembly 1 February 19872501,830,653100
19 Constitutional Assembly 31 March 19912501,977,51698.6
20 People's Assembly 22 March 19921302,021,16990.4
21 People's Assembly 26 May 19961402,204,00289.1
22 Assembly 29 June 19971501,947,23572.6
23 Assembly 24 June 20011352,499,23853.6
24 Assembly 3 July 20051402,850,82148.0
25 Assembly 28 June 20091403,084,94650.8
26 Assembly 23 June 20131403,271,88553.5
27 Assembly 25 June 20171403,452,32446.8
28 Assembly 25 April 20211403,588,86946.3

Local elections

The candidates column lists only the number of candidates for mayor of the municipality. It does not include candidates for member of the municipal council. [16]

No.DateCandidatesRegistered votersTurnout %
1 26 July 1992 3571,988,79570.7
2 20, 27 October 1996 35758.5
3 1, 15 October 2000 3742,329,63950.7
4 12 October 2003 3732,703,60845.7
5 18 February 2007 3732,929,29346.3
6 8 May 2011 3733,166,27950.9
7 21 June 2015 613,372,47147.3
8 30 June 2019 61812,24922.9
9 14 May 2023 611,395,62738.23
Partial elections were held on
1 September and 3 November 2013, 25 June 2017. [17]

See also

Notes

  1. In accordance with Article 89 of the Albanian constitution, which was enacted in 1998, the president is prohibited from maintaining affiliation with any political party. Consequently, the individual elected to the presidency is required to renounce their party affiliations for the duration of their presidential term. [13]

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References

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  15. Political Parties of Eastern Europe
  16. Historia e zgjedhjeve lokale në Shqipëri
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Sources