Chamber:
	Kuvendi Popullor
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	26 May 1996 02 June 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	General elections had previously been held in March 1992. The 1996 polling date was announced on 10 April and the campaign started that same month. Altogether 24 parties and 1180 candidates contested the 140 seats at stake. During the campaign, both the ruling Democratic Party (PDS) of President of the Republic Sali Berisha and the main opposition Socialist Party (PSS), led by ex-Prime Minister Fatos Nano, promised to alleviate the country's problems of poverty and corruption in official circles, and to bring Albania closer to European integration. The ex-communist PSS accused the outgoing Government of abusing its power. Polling day was reportedly marked by a large turnout. In the midst of the voting, six opposition groups, led by the PSS, withdrew from contention. They accused the PDS of intimidation and demanded that the elections be annulled and new ones held under "democratic conditions". Reservations about the procedures followed were expressed by the many international observers on hand, including teams from the OSCE and the European Parliament. They pointed to "a number of irregularities and technical shortcomings" and noted that the poll "did not meet international standards for free and fair elections" and did not conform with the requirements of Albanian law. On 30 May, the OSCE called for repeat polling in some constituencies. Results of this first round as confirmed on 29 May by the Central Electoral Commission gave the PDS 95 of the 115 majority seats. The Socialists announced that they would refuse to take their seats in the Assembly. The PDS claimed outright victory, denied any fraud and again emerged as the winner in the 2 June second round, which was boycotted by virtually all opposition forces. Such non-participation was again the case on 16 June, when repeat elections were held in 17 constituencies. There were no official OSCE observers after the first round. On 6 July, President Berisha reappointed Mr. Alexander Meksi (PDS) as Prime Minister and asked him to form a new Government. The Composition of the New Council of Ministers was announced on 11 July. All Ministers but one were members of the PDS or independents.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (26 May 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	2,204,002
Voters	1,963,344 (89.08%)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Democratic Party of Albania (PDS)	55.53
Socialist Party of Albania (PSS)	20.37
Human Rights Party (PMDN)	4.04
Albanian Republican Party (PRS)	5.74
National Front (BK)	4.97

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Democratic Party of Albania (PDS)	122
Socialist Party of Albania (PSS)	10
Human Rights Party (PMDN)	3
Albanian Republican Party (PRS)	3
National Front (BK)	2

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	123
Women:	17