Albanian parliamentary election, 2009

Albanian parliamentary election, 2009

28 June 2009
All 140 seats to the Assembly of the Republic of Albania 71 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   110x100px Leader Sali Berisha Edi Rama Ilir Meta Party PD PS LSI Last election 56 seats 42 seats 5 seats Seats won 68 65 4 Seat change 12 23 1 Popular vote 610,463 620,586 73678 Percentage 40.18% 40.85% 4.85%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   130x130px Leader Fatmir Mediu Skënder Gjinushi Vangjel Dule Party PR PSD PBDNJ Last election 11 seats 7 seats 2 seats Seats won 1 0 1 Seat change 10 7 1 Popular vote 31,990 26,700 18,078 Percentage 2.11% 1.76% 1.19%
Prime Minister before election Sali Berisha PD Elected Prime Minister Sali Berisha PD

A parliamentary election was held in Albania on 28 June 2009. No alliance achieved 71 deputies on its own needed to form a parliamentary majority, hence to form the new government the Democratic party and Socialist Movement for Integration joined forces.

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.

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

Background

Prior to the election, the electoral law was changed to a regional and proportional system. 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.

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. 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.

• Alliance of Change (Aleance e Ndryshimit), was a center-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 (Alenaca 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

National level

  Summary of the 28 June 2009 Assembly of the Republic of Albania election results

Coalition	Party		Votes	%	Seats
Alliance for Change
	Democratic Party (Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë)	PD	610463	40.18	68
	Republican Party (Partia Republikane e Shqipërisë)	PR	31990	2.11	1
	Party for Justice and Integration (Partia për Drejtësi dhe Integrim)	PDI	14477	0.95	1
	Environmentalist Agrarian Party (Partia Agrare Ambientaliste)	PAA	13296	0.88	0
	Legality Movement Party (Partia Lëvizja e Legalitetit)	PLL	10711	0.71	0
	Christian Democratic League (Lidhja Demokristiane)	LDK	6095	0.4	0
	National Front Party (Partia Balli Kombëtare)	PBK	5112	0.34	0
	Liberal Democratic Union (Bashkimi Liberal Demokrat)	BLD	5008	0.33	0
	Democratic Alliance Party (Partia Aleanca Demokratike)	AD	4682	0.31	0
	Democratic National Front Party (Partia Balli Kombëtar Demokrat)	PBKD	4177	0.27	0
	Party of New Albanian European democracy (Partia Demokracia e Re Europiane Shqiptare)	PDRESh	2111	0.14	0
	New Party of Denied Rights (Partia e të Drejtave të Mohuara e Re)	PDMR	1408	0.09	0
	Macedonian Alliance for European Integration (Aleanca e Maqedonasve për Integrim Evropian)	AMIE	1043	0.07	0
	Alliance for Democracy and Solidarity (Aleanca për Demokraci dhe Solidaritet)	ADS	1067	0.07	0
	Ora of Albania (Ora e Shqipërisë)	POSh	786	0.05	0
	Forca Albania (Partia Forca Albania)	PFA	319	0.02	0
	Total		712745	46.92	70
Unification for Change
	Socialist Party (Partia Socialiste e Shqipërisë)	PS	620586	40.85	65
	Social Democratic Party (Partia Socialdemokrate e Shqipërisë)	PSD	26700	1.76	0
	Unity for Human Rights Party (Partia Bashkimi për të Drejtat e Njeriut)	PBDNJ	18078	1.19	1
	G99 (Grupim 99)	G99	12989	0.86	0
	Social Democracy Party of Albania (Partia Demokracia Sociale e Shqipërisë)	PDS	10365	0.68	0
	Total		688748	45.34	66
Socialist Alliance for Integration
	Socialist Movement for Integration (Lëvizja Socialiste për Integrim)	LSI	73678	4.85	4
	Real Socialist Party '91 (Partia Socialiste e Vërtetë '91)	PSV '91	6548	0.43	0
	Movement of Human Rights and Freedoms (Lëvizja për të Drejtat dhe Liritë e Njeriut)	LDLNj	2931	0.19	0
	Green Party (Partia e Gjelbër)	PGj	437	0.03	0
	Party for the Protection of Immigrants' Rights (Parti për Mbrojtjen e të Drejtave të Emigrantëve)	PMDE	376	0.02	0
	New Tolerance Party (Partia Tolerancë e Re e Shqipërisë)	PTR	437	0.03	0
	Total		84407	5.56	4
Pole of freedom
	Christian Democratic Party (Partia Demokristiane e Shqipërisë)	PDK	13308	0.88	0
	Movement for National Development (Lëvizja për Zhvillim Kombëtar)	LZhK	10753	0.71	0
	Democratic Union Party (Partia Bashkimi Demokrat Shqipëtar)	PBD	1030	0.07	0
	Conservative Party (Partia Konservatore)	PKONS	1047	0.07	0
	Democratic Reform Party (Partia e Reformave Demokratike Shqiptare)	PRDSh	495	0.03	0
	Path of Freedoms Party (Partia Rruga e Lirisë)	PRrL	1002	0.07	0
	Total		27655	1.82	0
	Law and Justice Party (Partia Ligj dhe Drejtësi)	PLiDr	4865	0.32	0
	Independent		756	0.05	0
	Total (turnout: 50.77 %)		1,519,176	100.00	140
Source: CEC

Regional Level

The electorate was split in twelve regions, in a regional proportional system, each of which elected a specific number of Members of Parliament (deputet). The following table details the regional results going from North to South.

Regions	Alliance of Changes		Unification of Changes		Socialist Alliance for Integration		Pole of Freedom		Total seats
	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats
Shkodër	58.11	7	35.18	4	2.9	0	3.45	0	11
Kukes	65.00	3	31.31	1	2.97	0	0.67	0	4
Lezhe	54.32	4	34.47	3	5.61	0	3.37	0	7
Diber	57.72	4	32.38	2	5.72	0	4.08	0	6
Durrës	51.65	7	39.22	5	8.02	1	0.85	0	13
Tirane	46.83	16	45.69	15	5.24	1	1.82	0	32
Elbasan	45.06	7	47.77	7	5.04	0	1.94	0	14
Fier	39.98	6	51.83	9	6.47	1	1.55	0	16
Berat	33.16	3	54.62	4	11.35	1	0.68	0	8
Korce	46.96	6	47.82	6	4.21	0	0.59	0	12
Vlore	37.46	5	54.89	7	5.01	0	2.45	0	12
Gjirokastër	40.10	2	55.9	3	3.27	0	0.59	0	5
Total	46.92	70	45.34	66	5.56	4	1.82	0	140

Aftermath

Initially the PD led coalition interred into discussions about dividing up the various cabinet posts.

While it was still unclear whether the PD-led alliance held 70 or 71 seats, the leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) announced on 4 July 2009 that he had accepted Berisha's invitation to form a government with the PD and stated he wanted to be a stabilising factor in Albania's path towards European Union membership. With the addition of the four seats from LSI, the coalition had the necessary majority to form a government. Nonetheless, in November 2010, the EU in its "Key findings of the Opinion on Albania" found that the political stalemate since the June 2009 elections was a significant barrier to Albania's candidacy for European Union membership.