Foreign ministers of Albania

After winning an unprecedented third mandate to govern Albania, Edi Rama's Socialist Party has turned its attention to its only rival who currently has a senior institutional position, President Ilir Meta.

Edi Rama wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that his party has won the parliamentary elections and called on his supporters and "whoever wants to join us celebrate the victory" to attend a celebration in the evening in Tirana's central square despite concerns about the spreading of the coronavirus.

For years on, Socialist chief Edi Rama and Democratic Party boss Lulzim Basha face each other again in a parliamentary election - and not much has changed in the meantime, except the slogans.

Tensions rose in the run-up to the weekend's polls in Albania when a young man was shot in his knee inside the electoral office of the opposition Democratic Party in the central Albania town of Kavaja late on Monday.

Illustration: David Maddison/Flickr

Bushati said prosecutors asked him where the information came from, and said he had refused to reveal his source, calling the meeting "a short meeting without much substance" while suggesting that the prosecutors should instead investigate how the personal data of the citizens ended up in the hands of a political party.

The main opposition Democratic Party, PD, and the smaller left-wing Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, put their ideological divisions aside on Monday to sign a pre-election agreement ahead of a legislative vote on April 25, under the slogan, "Albania, a home that wins".

Judge Adrian Dvorani. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN

"Judge Dvorani developed mechanisms to reduce political and criminal influence in the justice system, steps that contributed to the EU's decision in March to open negotiations for Albania's accession," the State Department said in a statement.

The Albanian government under Prime Minister Edi Rama has secretly proposed to extend the contract for the private management of Tirana International Airport from 22 to 35 years, parliamentary submissions show.

According to the investigation file seen by BIRN, prosecutors have identified a total of 96 instances in which votes were bought for the Socialist Party candidate and eventual winner, Muharrem Rama.

Albania protester threw a stone against police in this photo of 10 December 2020 in Tirana. Photo: LSA

Prime Minister Edi Rama dismissed suggestions that the fatal shooting of the unarmed citizen was a result of a police culture of violence and called the event "an isolated one" - while announcing that Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj had offered his resignation.