Albania votes in general elections as PM Edi Rama seeks a fourth term

A weary electorate votes successful parliamentary elections aft run dominated by EU hopes and governmental corruption.

Albanians are casting ballots successful the wide election, with Prime Minister Edi Rama seeking an unprecedented 4th word aft a run dominated by promises of European Union rank and corruption allegations.

Polling stations opened astatine 7am section clip (05:00 GMT) connected Sunday and would adjacent astatine 7pm (17:00 GMT), with results expected connected Monday.

Nearly 3.7 cardinal Albanians, including hundreds of thousands surviving abroad, are eligible to vote. For the archetypal time, members of the diaspora tin formed their ballots by mail.

Rama, person of the governing Socialist Party since 2013, has positioned himself arsenic the designer of Albania’s EU future. He has pledged that the state volition articulation the bloc by 2030, repeating the committedness astatine his last rally: “We volition get our 4th mandate, and we volition not suffer a azygous time for Albania 2030 successful the EU.”

Rama’s main rival, 80-year-old Sali Berisha, a erstwhile president and premier minister, leads the blimpish Democratic Party.

Despite being banned from entering the United States and the United Kingdom implicit alleged corruption, which helium denies, Berisha has retained a loyal pursuing and adopted slogans including “Make Albania Great Again”.

Rama has faced allegations of authorities capture, with absorption voices informing that the governmental playing tract is acold from even.

Critics accidental Rama’s dominance implicit nationalist institutions has undermined antiauthoritarian checks.

Rama’s medication has not escaped scrutiny, with his adjacent state – Tirana’s politician Erion Veliaj – arrested this twelvemonth implicit alleged corruption and wealth laundering. Both men contradict the allegations.

‘I privation to permission the country’

The governmental contention is, successful galore ways, a rematch of aged rivals. Rama and Berisha person dominated nationalist beingness since the autumn of communism successful 1990. Many younger voters person grown disillusioned with both.

“I volition ballot for caller politicians due to the fact that those similar Rama and Berisha person been present for 3 decades and they lone regenerate themselves,” said 21-year-old Arber Qazimi, speaking to the Reuters quality agency.

Others, similar Erisa, an economics student, program to abstain entirely. “I americium lone reasoning however to spell retired of the state to survey and past enactment determination and ne'er travel back,” she said, echoing the sentiment of galore among the estimated 1 cardinal Albanians who person emigrated successful the past decade.

With the Socialists perchance needing allies to clasp their constrictive majority, smaller parties could beryllium decisive successful shaping the adjacent government.

The run way shifted mostly to societal media platforms, though a yearlong TikTok prohibition – imposed implicit online bullying and incitement – has led to accusations of censorship.

The Democratic Party brought successful American governmental strategist Chris LaCivita, known for his relation successful US President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, successful a bid to sharpen their message.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies