TIRANA
The ruling coalition has won Sunday’s local election in Albania, according to the preliminary results announced by the electoral authority.
Nearly 3.3 million Albanian citizens were registered to vote Sunday on the country’s seventh local election to elect 61 mayors. The turnout was 47.53 per cent.
It is the first ballot held in Albania after the parliament in 2014 made a territorial reform, dividing the country into 61 municipalities from over 300 communes and 65 municipalities it was divided since early 1990 after the fall of communist system.
According to preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission, based on the vote count completed for 55 of 61 municipalities, the Socialist Party-led Alliance for European Albania coalition won 41 of 61 municipalities.
People's Alliance for Jobs and Dignity coalition, led by the right wing Democratic Party, won 13 municipalities, and the Mega Party, representing Greek minority in the country, won one municipality.
Counting continues for six municipalities, including Tirana, Albania’s capital and biggest city. But the uncounted votes in Tirana are unlikely to change the result, and the Socialist party candidate Erion Veliaj has declared his victory.
Veliaj thanked his rival in the race, Halim Kosova for a good campaign and invited him to cooperate for the good of what he called “our common house”.
Kosova, standing for the right-wing coalition, congratulated Veliaj on his victory and wished that he would keep his promises.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, leader of the Socialist Party, is planning to hold a speech later on Tuesday.
A large number of international observers, including representatives from the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), monitored the voting.
