Albanian parliamentary election, 2005

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3 July 2005

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100 Constituencies and 40 Compensatory seats with National Proportional Representation
71 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Sali Berisha	Fatos Nano	Fatmir Mediu
Party	Democratic	Socialist	PR
Last election	46 seats	73 seats	0 seats
Seats won	56	42	11
Seat change	10	31	11
Popular vote	602,066	538,906	272,746
Percentage	44,1%	39,4%	20,0%

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Leader	Skënder Gjinushi	Ilir Meta	Genc Pollo
Party	PSD	LSI
Last election	4 seats	New	3 seats
Seats before		New	3 seats
Seats won	7	5	4
Seat change	3	5	1
Popular vote	174,103	114,798	101,373
Percentage	12,7%	8,4%	7,4%

Prime Minister before election

Fatos Nano
Socialist

Elected Prime Minister

Sali Berisha
Democratic

Fatos Nano
Socialist

Sali Berisha
Democratic

Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 3 July 2005. The result was a victory for the opposition Democratic Party (PD) and its allies, prominently the Republican Party (PR). Former president Sali Berisha became prime minister as a result of the election. Voter turnout was only 48.0%.

The 140 members of parliament were elected using the Mixed-member proportional representation. Voters elected 100 deputies directly from electorates (constituencies) and 40 from party lists or proportional representation.

The proper conduct of the election was seen as crucial in maintaining Albania's eventual EU hopes. For the most part, election day was peaceful, but OSCE monitors said that the poll only partially complied with international standards, citing disorganization, improper procedures and "a few violent incidents." The Central Election Commission (CEC) received over 300 complaints.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe called the election a “disappointment,” saying it failed to comply with international standards because of “serious irregularities,” intimidation, vote-buying and “violence committed by extremists on both sides.”

On 14 July the CEC released final results for 97 constituencies as well as the tentative national proportional results. The clear winners were the Democratic Party and its allies, though with many close constituency races between the PD and the governing Socialist Party of Albania (PSSh). In the proportional ballot, most voters chose minor parties rather than the two major parties. The only party to win both proportional and constituency-level seats was the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) of former prime minister Ilir Meta, as Meta himself won the party's lone constituency mandate. Despite this, the LSI did not fulfill pre-election expectations that it might emerge as a dealmaker in the next parliament.

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