On Tuesday midday, with 94% of the votes tallied, Rama’s re-election is almost guaranteed, leading the Socialist Party to victory over the center-right Democratic Party of Salih Berisha.

Specifically, Rama’s ruling Socialist Party received 52% of the votes against 34% for the main opposition party, according to official election commission data, with official results expected later today. The preliminary turnout for Sunday’s elections was nearly 42.16%, about 4% lower than four years ago.

Rama’s Election Victory and Promise of EU Accession
“These results surpass all expectations, even before the full vote count,” a government source told The Guardian. “The fourth consecutive victory is remarkable. Edi has every reason to be very happy.”

The 60-year-old Edi Rama, in power since 2013, largely based his campaign on his promise to integrate Albania into the EU — a goal he committed to achieving within five years from October 2024.

On the other hand, 80-year-old Berisha, who was also the country’s first president after the fall of the Soviet Union over three decades ago, argued that Albania is not ready for EU accession.

It is also worth noting that Berisha’s Democratic Party united with 20 other political groups in hopes of removing Rama from power.

However, the Socialist victory was already evident early Monday morning.

Over 190,000 Albanians Abroad Voted by Mail
Analysts noted that the Socialist Party seems to have gained support from overseas voters, as for the first time, the Albanian diaspora was allowed to vote by mail.

More than 192,000 votes were counted from nearly 246,000 Albanians registered to vote abroad before Sunday’s elections. Currently, Albania has a population of 2.7 million.

According to a November Eurobarometer survey, 83% of Albanians support joining the EU, the highest percentage in the entire Western Balkans.