Final week of campaigning: familiar front-runners, fragmented newcomers, and a historic emigrant vote

As Albania approaches its May 11 parliamentary elections, 53 political parties will wrap up their campaigns this Friday. The ruling Socialist Party (SP), running alone and seeking a fourth consecutive mandate after 12 years in power, will close its campaign with a rally at the Olympic Park in Tirana. The Democratic Party (DP), leading a broad coalition of 26 parties, will hold its final event at the capital’s Mother Teresa Square—where it also launched its campaign.

Why is this important: Despite a large field of contenders, the election remains largely a race between the two dominant parties. New forces have emerged, but their failure to cooperate and present a unified alternative has left them fragmented and less effective. Meanwhile, emigrant voters—casting ballots from abroad for the first time—could prove decisive in tight races.

Context: The campaign has been largely calm on the ground, with normal political rhetoric and attacks between the two main camps. The ODIHR mission, in its interim report, noted that the fiercest exchanges have occurred online, particularly on social media platforms.

This election has drawn notable attention for the number of new political forces participating for the first time in a general election. While logic might suggest voters are ready for change after over a decade under SS and rotating leadership between SP and DP since the fall of communism, the reality has proven more complex.

The first remarkable fact, is that SP has retained and even slightly increased its share of the vote over the past decade. Thus. most new parties seem to be fishing for support in the same waters: voters on the center-right disillusioned with DP’s turmoil, or the relatively narrow slice of the electorate that rejects both major blocs. However, they have struggled to demonstrate a clear identity or bring credible teams to the field. Their leaders often campaign alone and lack strong structures or recognizable allies. Despite having similar platforms and criticisms, these new groups have not joined forces—instead, they’ve engaged in open and at times bitter disputes, weakening their potential impact.

The platforms. SP is asking voters to support two core goals: continuing the justice reform that it spearheaded and has backed institutionally for nearly a decade, and working to complete EU accession by 2030. Prime Minister Edi Rama points to the formal opening of negotiations in 2022, the three chapters already opened, and the Commission’s praise for Albania’s negotiating team as signs that EU membership is realistically within reach this decade—under his leadership.

DP, by contrast, enters the race after years of internal division, legal battles over its leadership and official symbols, and a public split between Berisha and his former successor – and predecessor – Lulzim Basha. Berisha—still under investigation for corruption and only recently released from house arrest—has campaigned with sweeping promises: doubling salaries and pensions, slashing taxes, and expanding social aid. Many of these pledges appear difficult to reconcile with Albania’s fiscal reality and have to date failed to gain traction with voters.

Diaspora: For the first time in Albania’s post-communist history, emigrants have been allowed to vote by mail from the countries where they live. Of the 245,000 who registered, only around 144,000 had returned their ballots by early this week. While their final influence remains to be seen, their votes could sway closely contested districts and are being closely watched by all major parties.

What else: The Central Election Commission reports that a total of 3,713,761 Albanians are eligible to vote on May 11, including 114,642 first-time voters.