Albania elections: PM and right-wing veteran

TIRANA: Albanians vote for a new parliament on Sunday, with socialist Edi Rama hoping to be prime minister again, stopping right-wing veteran Sali Berisha from a return to power.Leftist Prime Minister Edi Rama, a former basketball player who went to art school in Paris, is seeking his fourth term in office on a pledge to "guarantee Albania's entry into the European Union by 2030"."With the European passport, Europe becomes as small as Albania and Albania becomes as big as Europe", the 60-year-old Rama said repeatedly.Rama, a former student leader opposed to the communist regime that had kept Albania in isolation for over four decades, took over the helm of the Socialist Party in 2005.It was in the middle of his 11-year-stint as mayor of the capital Tirana, while he earlier held the culture portfolio.Rama, who has been prime minister since 2013, is regularly accused by his opponents of links with organised crime.But he has vowed to withdraw from political life if anyone proved it.Rama is also still a keen artist, hanging many of his works on the walls of his office and holding occasional international exhibitions.Fluent in English, Italian and French, Rama regularly uses social networks where he is posting both private pictures and photos of his meetings with other top officials.The prime minister often comments on his opponents using black humour and irony, comparing them to animals, plants or objects.

"I'm not perfect, but I'm fighting, I want our children to have a future in Albania", he said repeatedly.

Sali Berisha, right-wing veteran

Sali Berisha, a political veteran who is a symbol of the fall of communism, is hoping to return to power after 12 years in opposition.The country's first non-communist president and a former prime minister, he became leader of the right-wing opposition in 2022, joining forces with more than 20 parties in the hope of ousting Rama from power.The 80-year-old is promising a "Great Albania" with an election manifesto based on the country's economic revival, similar to Donald Trump in the United States.As prime minister from 2005 to 2013, Berisha, a cardiologist by training, stepped down as head of the Democratic Party he founded. He named his close ally Lulzim Basha as his successor but the pair fell out.For the campaign, Berisha has engaged US political consultant Chris LaCivita, assuring that he would be the architect of his return to power.LaCivita, Trump's campaign co-manager, stood next to Berisha at every electoral rally.Addressing the crowd in English, LaCivita argued that the "only future for Albania is for Berisha to be prime minister".Berisha has been banned from entering the United States and Britain because of his alleged involvement in organised crime and corruption, He is also being prosecuted in Albania for "passive corruption".But Berisha has repeatedly rejected the charges against him as politically motivated and accused Rama of being behind them.Berisha's opponents see him as representative of a corrupt political system and responsible for the chaos of 1997, when more than 2,000 were killed in an armed rebellion. The unrest was triggered by the collapse of a fraudulent pyramid investment scheme that he had allowed to flourish.