Albanian citizens in Albania and - for the first time - those outside it are electing members of parliament for the next four years today, BTA reported.
The parliamentary ballot includes 11 parties and coalitions, with 2,046 candidates competing for the 140-seat parliament of Albania, distributed across the country's 12 districts.
According to a new electoral formula, each party participates in the elections with 186 candidates for deputies, divided into closed lists (arranged by the party) with 46 people each and open lists (where voting is done with preferences) with 140 people each.
A total of 3,713,761 Albanian citizens have the right to vote, according to data from the information portal "Schiptar". The polling stations, which total 5,225, will open at 7:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. Bulgarian time) and close at 7:00 p.m. (20:00 Bulgarian time).
Machine voting and vote counting will be available in the Tenth District of Tirana and the municipality of Vora (Central Albania).
The ruling Socialist Party (SP/PS) of Albania, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, is running for a fourth consecutive term under the slogan "Albania (by) 2030 in the EU", making this its main priority. Prime Minister Rama presented a 12-point program for his fourth term, which includes wage increases, employment and social protection, education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, energy and more.
The leader of the coalition around the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (PD) of Albania - former president and prime minister Sali Berisha - said he would overthrow what he called the "dictatorship of Edi Rama" and leveled accusations at the government. The Democrats have been in opposition since 2013, when the Socialist Party came to power.
Opposition to Rama has grown in the past year over an alleged crackdown on the opposition, including Berisha, while Rama himself has been embroiled in a series of scandals, Reuters reports. These include the arrest this year of his ally, Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, on corruption and money laundering charges. Veliaj and Berisha deny wrongdoing.
The latest polls show the Socialists leading, followed by the opposition coalition.
However, many, mostly young voters are tired of people like Berisha and Rama, who have governed the country in various capacities since the fall of communism in 1990, Reuters notes.
In addition to the "big players" - the SP and the coalition around the DP - the race for parliamentary seats will also include smaller political entities, led by newcomers and already familiar politicians.
On election day, the last postal shipments from abroad with the votes of the diaspora will also arrive. Not a single vote that arrived after 7 p.m. local time, however, will not be respected, notes "Schiptar".
The diaspora vote was included in the amendments and additions to the Electoral Code of Albania in July last year.
The parliamentary elections in Albania today are considered decisive for assessing the democratic maturity of the Balkan country and determining its European future - a dream on which Albanians are unanimous beyond domestic political passions, notes Agence France-Presse.