Latest news with #Berisha
Korea Herald
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Albania PM's Socialists score large election win: official results
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival, Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the 140-seat assembly. The vote was dominated by the contest between three-time premier Rama, 60, who focused his campaign on European integration, and right-winger Berisha, from the conservative Democratic Party of Albania. The two campaigned mainly on economic issues, such as pensions, wages, infrastructure and tourism. But there were bitter exchanges too on the fight against corruption and organized crime, both of which are seen as essential requirements for Albania's EU bid. On Tuesday, the 80-year-old Berisha -- Albania's first postcommunist president 1992-1997 -- made allegations of electoral irregularities, accusing the Socialists of pressure, fraud and vote-buying. "It's impossible to reconcile with such elections. No, forget (about) that," he told reporters in Tirana. Berisha called for a protest on Friday, when European leaders would be meeting in Tirana for the sixth European Political Community Summit The election was closely watched by the EU and seen as a test of the democratic maturity of the Balkan country, by far the most Europe-oriented in the region, after decades of dictatorship 1944-1985. "The elections were managed generally in an inclusive and transparent manner, the election day being calm and well organised, despite some shortcomings," EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement. Without waiting for the official results, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni late Tuesday congratulated her friend Rama for his "reappointment as head of the Albanian government." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his British counterpart Keir Starmer also congratulated Rama on the election victory.
France 24
14-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Albania PM's socialist party scores large victory in parliamentary elections
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Central Election Commission (CEC). Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the 140-seat assembly. The vote was dominated by the contest between three-time premier Rama, 60, who focused his campaign on European integration, and right-winger Berisha, from the Democratic Party of Albania. The two campaigned mainly on economic issues, such as pensions, wages, infrastructure and tourism. But there were bitter exchanges too on the fight against corruption and organised crime, both of which are seen as essential requirements for Albania's EU bid. On Tuesday, the 80-year-old Berisha -- Albania's first post-communist president -- made allegations of electoral irregularities, accusing the Socialists of pressure, fraud and vote-buying. "It's impossible to reconcile with such elections. No, forget (about) that," he told reporters in Tirana. Berisha called for a protest on Friday, when European leaders would be meeting in Tirana for the sixth European Political Community Summit The election was closely watched by the EU and seen as a test of the democratic maturity of the Balkan country, by far the most Europe-oriented in the region, after decades of dictatorship. "The elections were managed generally in an inclusive and transparent manner, the election day being calm and well organised, despite some shortcomings," EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement. Without waiting for the official results, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni late Tuesday congratulated her friend Rama for his "reappointment as head of the Albanian government". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his British counterpart Keir Starmer also congratulated Rama on the election victory. In Sunday's vote, around 40 parties were trying to attract the ballots of a total of 3.7 million voters.
Dubai Eye
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Albania's Rama wins historic fourth term, opposition say vote stolen
Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in Sunday's election, official results showed on Tuesday, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. If confirmed, the result would extend PS's four-seat majority and give Rama a comfortable margin to form a government. It would also enable him to continue working to honour his pledge to bring Albania into the European Union by 2030, although many experts say that timeline is optimistic given the reforms required, especially in eradicating corruption. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrongdoing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation."
The Advertiser
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Albania's Rama wins historic fourth term
Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in the election, official results showed, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted on Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrong-doing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation." Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in the election, official results showed, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted on Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrong-doing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation." Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in the election, official results showed, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted on Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrong-doing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation." Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in the election, official results showed, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted on Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrong-doing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation."
Perth Now
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Albania's Rama wins historic fourth term
Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in the election, official results showed, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen. With 96 per cent of ballots counted on Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) had 52 per cent of the votes, ahead of the second-placed Democratic Party (PD) on 34 per cent, figures from the election commission showed. As it stands, PS wins 82 seats in the 140-seat parliament while PD gets 52. If confirmed, the result would extend PS's four-seat majority and give Rama a comfortable margin to form a government. It would also enable him to continue working to honour his pledge to bring Albania into the European Union by 2030, although many experts say that timeline is optimistic given the reforms required, especially in eradicating corruption. Doubts clouded the results, however. International observers questioned the fairness of the poll and Albania's special prosecutor said it was investigating 39 cases related to the election, mostly for vote buying. It did not say which parties were under suspicion. PD's firebrand leader, former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, dismissed the results and called for a protest on May 16, the day leaders from across Europe are scheduled to gather in the capital Tirana for a summit. "We will never accept these elections - never," Berisha told a press conference on Tuesday in which he alleged wrong-doing without publicly providing evidence. Berisha continued the acrimonious language of the campaign trail, calling Rama a "narco-dictator". In a statement to Reuters, Rama's PS denied election fraud and called Berisha, 80, "an old hopeless former communist politician" - a particular slight in a country that was locked away from the world for 50 years under hard-fisted communist rule until 1990. Rama, in power since 2013, had been favourite to win the election, bolstered in part by an influential network built up over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a fractured opposition. Two days before the vote, he forgave all government fines from 2015 to 2024, including for traffic, construction and health and safety infractions. The government has not put a price on the fines, but the opposition say they amount to 200 million euros. Still, the scale of victory has surprised some analysts who had expected that corruption scandals and recent unrest would dent Rama's lead. Instead, the resounding win may prolong a sense of predictability in Albania in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria, where ruling parties have faced political crises over the past year. "No-one expected there to be a qualified majority for a single party. It is like (Hungary's Prime Minister) Orban in his best days," said political analyst Lutfi Dervishi. Rama has won favour from the West by accepting migrants from Italy and housing Afghans awaiting visa processing for the United States. But voters at home say he runs the country on a system of patronage and has done little to eradicate unemployment and graft that involves Albanian gangs laundering drug and weapons money at home. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have emigrated since Rama came to power, in search of better prospects abroad. An international election monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been a "misuse of public resources and institutional power by the ruling party" in the campaign. It said there were "numerous reports of pressure on public employees and other voters as well as cases of intimidation."
