2009 Albanian parliamentary election

2009 Albanian parliamentary election

28 June 2009
All 140 seats in the Parliament of Albania 71 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	50.77% ( 1.70pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Alliance for Change (70 seats) PD Sali Berisha 40.18 68 +12 PR Fatmir Mediu 2.11 1 −10 PDI Tahir Muhedini 0.95 1 +1 Unification for Change (66 seats) PS Edi Rama 40.85 65 +23 PBDNJ Vangjel Dule 1.19 1 −1 Socialist Alliance for Integration (4 seats) LSI Ilir Meta 4.85 4 −1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Largest alliance by county Seat distribution by county Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Sali Berisha PD Sali Berisha PD

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Albania

Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 28 June 2009. No alliance achieved 71 deputies on its own needed to form a parliamentary majority. A coalition government was formed by the Democratic Party and Socialist Movement for Integration.

Electoral System

The 140 members of Parliament were elected in twelve multi-member constituencies analogous to the country's twelve counties. Within the constituencies, seats are elected by closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of 3% for parties and 5% for alliances.^[1]

Seats are allocated to alliances using the d'Hondt system, then to political parties using the Sainte-Laguë method.^[2]

Background

Prior to the election, the electoral law was changed to a regional and proportional system.^[3][4] Polls from March and April 2009 saw a very close race, with both the governing Democratic Party of Albania and the opposition Socialist Party of Albania around 37%, with minor parties like the Socialist Movement for Integration, the G99 Movement, the Unity for Human Rights Party and the Republican Party of Albania in the low single digits.^[5]

Shortly before the election, the ethnic Greek Unity for Human Rights Party switched their allegiance, abandoning their alliance with the Democratic Party of Albania to join the Socialist Party of Albania.^[6] The Party for Justice and Integration, a party representing the interest of ethnic Albanians whose properties in Greece were seized after WW2, joined the coalition Alliance of Change.

Alliances

This election saw a total of 33 parties organized in four alliances, one party running on its own and one independent candidate.^[7]

• Alliance of Change (Aleanca e Ndryshimit), was a centre-right coalition made up from 16 parties and led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
• Union for Change (Bashkimi për Ndryshim), was a coalition made up from 5 center-left and left winged Parties, led by that-time Mayor of Tirana Edi Rama.
• Socialist Alliance for Integration (Aleanca Socialiste për Integrim), was a coalition made up from 6 center-left and liberal parties, led by former Prime Minister Ilir Meta.
• Pole of Freedom (Poli i Lirisë), was a conservative coalition made up from 6 right winged parties, led by former Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi.

Results

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	Alliance for Change		Democratic Party of Albania	610,463	40.18	68
			Republican Party of Albania	31,990	2.11	1
			Party for Justice and Integration	14,477	0.95	1
			Environmentalist Agrarian Party	13,296	0.88	0
			Legality Movement Party	10,711	0.71	0
			Christian Democratic League	6,095	0.40	0
			Albanian National Front Party	5,112	0.34	0
			Liberal Democratic Union	5,008	0.33	0
			Democratic Alliance Party	4,682	0.31	0
			Democratic National Front Party	4,177	0.27	0
			Party of New Albanian European Democracy	2,111	0.14	0
			New Party of Denied Rights	1,408	0.09	0
			Alliance for Democracy and Solidarity	1,067	0.07	0
			Macedonian Alliance for European Integration	1,043	0.07	0
			Ora of Albania	786	0.05	0
			Forca Albania	319	0.02	0
		Total		712,745	46.92	70
	Unification for Change		Socialist Party of Albania	620,586	40.85	65
			Social Democratic Party of Albania	26,700	1.76	0
			Unity for Human Rights Party	18,078	1.19	1
			G99	12,989	0.86	0
			Social Democracy Party of Albania	10,395	0.68	0
		Total		688,748	45.34	66
	Socialist Alliance for Integration		Socialist Movement for Integration	73,678	4.85	4
			Real Socialist Party '91	6,548	0.43	0
			Freedom and Human Rights Movements	2,931	0.19	0
			Green Party of Albania	437	0.03	0
			Party for the Defence of the Rights of the Emigrants	376	0.02	0
			New Tolerance Party	437	0.03	0
		Total		84,407	5.56	4
	Pole of Freedom		Demochristian Party of Albania	13,308	0.88	0
			Movement for National Development	10,753	0.71	0
			Albanian Democratic Union Party	1,030	0.07	0
			Conservative Party	1,067	0.07	0
			Albanian Party of Democratic Reforms	495	0.03	0
			Path of Freedom Party	1,002	0.07	0
		Total		27,655	1.82	0
	Law and Justice Party			4,865	0.32	0
	Independents			756	0.05	0
Total				1,519,176	100.00	140
Valid votes				1,519,176	97.01
Invalid/blank votes				46,903	2.99
Total votes				1,566,079	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				3,084,946	50.77
Source: OSCE

Aftermath

Initially, the Democratic Party-led coalition entered into discussions about dividing cabinet posts.^[8] While it was still unclear whether the PD-led alliance held 70 or 71 seats, Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) leader Ilir Meta announced on 4 July 2009 that he had accepted Sali Berisha's invitation to form a government with the Democratic Party. Meta said that he wanted LSI to be a stabilising factor in Albania's path towards European Union membership.^[9] With the addition of LSI's four seats, the coalition had the necessary parliamentary majority to form a government.^[9]

The result was disputed by the Socialist Party, led by Edi Rama, which alleged irregularities and demanded the opening of ballot boxes and election materials. The OSCE/ODIHR final report stated that the elections marked "tangible progress" in several areas, including voter registration, identification, the legal framework, voting, counting and dispute adjudication, but also noted that these improvements were overshadowed by politicisation of technical aspects of the process, campaign violations and problems during counting and tabulation.^[10]

Following the election, the Socialist Party boycotted parliament, beginning a prolonged political deadlock. In January 2010, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deplored the political crisis that had followed the June 2009 elections, noting that the opposition was boycotting parliament and contesting the political legitimacy of the Democratic Party-led government. It also stated that the boycott made major reforms impossible because the governing majority lacked the three-fifths majority required to pass constitutional reforms.^[11]

In May 2010, the Socialist Party escalated its campaign by organising a hunger strike in Tirana. About 200 opposition MPs and supporters, including 22 Socialist MPs, set up tents on Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard in front of the prime minister's office and demanded electoral transparency, including the opening of ballot boxes from the 2009 election.^[12][13] The strike ended later that month after talks between Berisha and Rama were arranged with the involvement of European Parliament figures, but the underlying dispute remained unresolved.^[14][15]

The stalemate also affected Albania's European integration process. In November 2010, the European Commission stated in its opinion on Albania's application for EU membership that the political stalemate since the June 2009 elections was a significant barrier to Albania's candidacy for European Union membership.^[16] The Commission later stated that the deadlock had diverted political attention away from EU-related reforms and that Albania had made only limited progress in fulfilling the political criteria for membership.^[17]

The crisis intensified in January 2011 after a corruption scandal involving Deputy Prime Minister and LSI leader Ilir Meta. On 21 January 2011, an opposition protest outside the prime minister's office in Tirana turned violent. Four protesters were shot dead and several dozen demonstrators and law-enforcement representatives were injured.^[18][19] The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights reported that firearms had been used by members of the Republican Guard and called for a thorough investigation into the deaths.^[18]

The political confrontation continued during the 2011 Albanian local elections. The most disputed race was the election for mayor of Tirana, in which Democratic Party candidate Lulzim Basha defeated Rama by 81 votes after a controversial count of ballots placed in the wrong ballot boxes. The dispute over Tirana further damaged relations between the government and opposition.^[20][21] The 2012 presidential election also took place without cross-party consensus; parliament elected Bujar Nishani as president in a vote boycotted by the main opposition.^[22]

In April 2013, LSI left the Democratic Party-led government and joined the Socialist Party-led opposition coalition ahead of the 2013 Albanian parliamentary election. The move forced a government reshuffle and marked a major political realignment, since LSI had been Berisha's coalition partner since 2009.^[23] The Socialist Party-led Alliance for a European Albania, which included LSI, won the 2013 election. Berisha conceded defeat on 26 June 2013, clearing the way for a transfer of power to Rama.^[24][25] On 15 September 2013, the Albanian parliament approved the new Socialist-led government. The Centre for Eastern Studies reported that the new coalition, dominated by the Socialist Party and LSI, had won 57.7% of the vote and 84 of the 140 parliamentary seats.^[26][27]

References