| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Kuvendi Popullor / People's Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
3 July 2005 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
Elections were held for all the seats in the Assembly on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Albanians went the polls on 3 July to elect members to the 140-seat parliament. A total of 22 political parties and coalitions took part in the elections. In the 2001 elections, the Socialist Party of Albania (PSS) had obtained 73 of the 140 seats, while 46 had gone to the main opposition coalition, Union for Victory, composed of the Democratic Party of Albania (PDA), the Legality Movement Party (PLL), the Liberal Union Party (PBL), the National Front Party (PBK), and the Republican Party (PR).
Opinion polls before the 2005 elections put two parties that have dominated Albanian politics since the collapse of Communism in 1991 neck and neck: the PSS, led by Prime Minister Fatos Nano, and the PDA of former President Sali Berisha. The PSS is the legal successor of the Albanian Labor Party, which was the sole legal political party in Albania during the communist era between 1946 and 1991. The right-wing PDA won the first free elections in the country in 1992. The Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) of former prime minister Ilir Meta, which split from the PSS in September 2004, offered voters an alternative, and was felt to be well placed to play a key role in the formation of a coalition government.
The elections were considered a crucial step towards Albania's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). The EU insisted that free and fair elections would be a condition for the conclusion of a Stabilization and Association Agreement, paving the way to EU membership. Both the PSS and the PDA supported joining the two organizations. They also called for strong ties with the United States and supported Albanian troop deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. But the parties proposed different policies over tax reform. The PDA insisted on cutting taxes in half in order to promote investment, which the PSS criticized as being irrational. Continuing problems of corruption in the country were also an important issue in the elections, and the PSS was criticized for not handling the problem efficiently.
The elections were monitored by 3,500 local observers together with a total of 400 international observers, mainly from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe.
About 50 per cent of the 2.8 million eligible voters turned out at the polls in the country of 3.5 million inhabitants. Less election-related violence was reported than in previous elections. However, an election official was shot dead in the capital Tirana on voting day, while another man was shot dead outside the PDA's office. The man allegedly involved in this killing was later killed in a reprisal shooting.
The OSCE said the conduct of the poll showed only limited progress since previous elections, criticizing incorrect procedures related to the use of ink to prevent multiple voting, the secrecy of the vote and verification of voters' identities. A delegation from the European Parliament stated that voter lists were "intentionally inaccurate", which thus disillusioned voters. The head of the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Mr. Jorgen Grunnet, praised the "mature and well-behaved manner" of Albanian voters but criticized "overcrowding, delays and uncertainty regarding identification of voters" as a sign of disorganization.
On 10 July, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) announced the final results for 97 of the 100 single-seat constituencies. Following complaints filed with the CEC, re-runs were held on 21 August for the remaining seats. The results confirmed the pre-election opinion polls, with the PDA winning 55 seats and the PSS 40. The other two seats went to the LSI and an independent candidate. Following the allocation of the proportional representation seats, the PDA and its allies secured an absolute majority of 73 seats, while the PSS and its allies totalled 64 seats.
The National Assembly was convened on 2 September 2005 and elected Ms. Jozefina Topalli as its speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 3 July 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
2'850'891
1'403'473 (49.23%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% of votes |
|
|
| Democratic Party of Albania (PDA) |
|
|
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|
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| Socialist Party of Albania (PSS) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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| Other parties |
|
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|
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| Republican Party (PR) |
|
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| Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
|
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| Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) |
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| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total of seats
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party of Albania (PDA) |
56
|
|
|
|
|
| Socialist Party of Albania (PSS) |
42
|
|
|
|
|
| Other parties |
21
|
|
|
|
|
| Republican Party (PR) |
11
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
7
|
|
|
|
|
| Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
130
10
7.14%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
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| Distribution of seats according to profession |
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| Comments |
Preliminary results of 14 July 2005.
Given the number of irregularities in the first ballot, re-elections were held in two constituencies in Shkodra and Lushnja on 21 August (the Central Election Commission of Albania; 8 August 2005). |
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