TIRANA, Albania — Prime Minister Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania’s prime minister in a general election on Sunday, after taking on his political nemesis in a boisterous campaign dominated by the country’s uphill effort to join the European Union.
Rama’s Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years, sticking to an ambitious pledge while battling conservative opponents with public recriminations and competing promises of pay hikes.
Opening up the election to voters abroad for the first time has added to the volatility, along with the appearance of new parties, a shift in campaigning to social media and a recent TikTok ban. And Rama’s opponents have hired a heavy hitter from the United States to steer their campaign.
The country of 2.8 million people, with 3.7 million eligible voters including the diaspora casting ballots for the first time ever by mail, will elect 140 lawmakers to four-year terms, choosing from 2,046 candidates representing 11 political groupings, including three coalitions.
Black and blue baseball caps
Rama, 60, secured the start of EU membership negotiations last October and is relying heavily on that momentum. His campaign also highlighted achievements in infrastructure and justice reform.
Under the party slogan, “Albania 2030 in EU, Only with Edi and SP,” Rama insists that full EU accession is possible by 2030 with annual funding of 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) upon joining.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is pressing Albania to continue reforms — particularly in governance and anti-corruption efforts — to stay on track for EU membership.
Commentators are also skeptical. “It is an electoral pledge which is a citizens’ desire,” independent analyst Aleksander Cipa says, describing Rama’s timeline as “not realizable.”
Rama’s main challenger is Sali Berisha, a hoarse-voiced and energetic 80-year-old survivor of Albania’s tumultuous politics. Berisha, a former president and prime minister, has led the conservative Democratic Party of Albania since its founding in 1990, when student protests marked the end of communist isolation.
He argues that Albania still isn’t ready for EU membership. Berisha’s leadership — fraught with party feuds and corruption allegations — and messaging remain contentious. He started the campaign — borrowing from U.S. President Donald Trump — with the slogan “Make Albania Great Again,” but eventually settled on “Grandiose Albania.”
Albania’s Democratic Party hired Chris LaCivita, the veteran Republican political consultant and architect of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Berisha often appears at rallies wearing a blue baseball cap marked with a No. 1, the party’s position on the ballot. In response, Rama sports a black cap emblazoned with the Socialist Party’s No. 5.
Economic and tourism pledges
Economic concerns have been central to the campaign.
The Socialists say they will accelerate a tourism boom, from 10 million arrivals in 2024 to 30 million by 2030, diversifying destinations by expanding infrastructure projects.
The Democrats argue that the government’s dismal performance has driven more than 1 million Albanians to leave the county over the past decade.
