In the present article, we are laying out the number of Councilors in the Municipal Council, following the May 14th elections, based on how Electoral Subjects performed in each of country’s Municipalities. We have set out to identify which are the parties that achieved the majority in each council, winning more than 50% of council seats. Likewise, we will introduce the new structure of representation based on political subjects for every Municipality.
There were 1 395 645 citizens that participated in the 2023 local elections or 38.23% of the total Albanian citizen registered voters, which are of legal age and bestowed with voting rights.
A majority of 53 municipalities, out of 61 in total, were won by SP mayors; The Together we Win Coalition won 7 Mayors, and one municipality, namely Finiqi, chose a mayor from MEGA, a political subject belonging to the Greek Ethnic Minority for the Future.
SP won the majority of members of the city Councils in 28 Municipalities. That means that the SP has won both the Mayor and the Municipal Council, with a majority of over half of the seats.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The municipalities in which the Socialist Party gained fewer council members are Kukësi with only 4 out of 31 members, Fushë Arrëz and Puka with only 2 out of 15 members, Hasi with 4 out of 21.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
No other political subject has managed to win more than half of the city council seat in any municipality.
The Together We Win coalition in its best result, has won 33% of the council members in Roskovec, Skrapar, Libohova and Himara.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The Social Democratic Party has managed to win 32% of the seats (10 out of 31) in the municipal council of Vau i Dejes. They also won 27% of council seats in Pukë and 26% in Malesia e Madhe. This political subject managed to secure city council seats, with at least one representative winning, in 46 of the 61 municipalities in the country.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The Official Democratic Party, headed by Mr. Enkelejd Alibeaj, scored the best results in the municipal council in the Municipality of Dimal, winning 19% of the council members.
There are 7 municipalities in which the Official Democratic Party will not have any council seats, after the 2023 local elections. In four of these municipalities, namely Dropull, Pustec, Roskovec and Vorë, the Democratic Party did not run, whereas, in the other three, it failed to win any seats despite running, specifically Tropoja, Skrapari and Kolonja.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The Socialist Party has won more members in the municipal councils, compared to the other political subjects, in 54 municipalities of the country (88.5%). Meanwhile, there are no municipalities in which the Together We Win Coalition and the Democratic Party managed to win the majority of council seats. However, the Together We Win coalition shares an equal number of council members with the SP in two municipalities of the country. PSD, headed by Tom Doshi, has won the majority of council members in 3 municipalities of the country, while sharing an equal number of seats with SP in the Municipality of Mirdita, and with the Agrarian Environmental Party in the municipality of Fushë Arrëz.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Table: Municipalities and the number of council members, based on the political subjects leading by number
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
There are 1,613 council members elected in al61 municipalities, where SP has won 47% of them or 757 expressed in the absolute numbers. Meanwhile, there are a total of 292 council seats in all 61 municipalities that were won by the Together We Win Coalition (18.1%). In third place, concerning the number of city council seats won, stands the Official Democratic Party, having won 123 of them.
The Social Democratic Party secured 116 council members across the country or 7.2% of the total number of municipal seats.
Throughout the 2023-2027 four-year period, there are 7 independent political candidates, which managed to collect enough votes as to win the mandate council seal.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
When compared to the Local Government elections, 2015, it emerges that the Socialist Party has increased the members of the municipal councils in every municipality. In 2015, the Socialist Party had a total of 394 seats in the municipal councils nationwide (25% of the seats), out of a total of 1595 seats. (The number of seats in the municipal councils increased by 10 seats in 2023 compared to 2015, in the municipalities of Vau de Deja, Vlora and Fier, whereas it was reduced by 6 seats in Memaliaj and Përmet).
In the municipalities of Vlora and Fier, which have expanded the number of total council seats by 10 spots, the Socialist Party won 15 plus seats in the first and 17 plus seats in the second.
At the same time, following the 2023 local elections in Durrës, Elbasan, Pogradec, Dropull, and Gjirokastër, the SP has gained 12 more council seats, compared to the mandates won in the municipal councils in 2015.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
In 2015, the Democratic Party won 295 seats in the Municipal Councils nationwide, while the Socialist Movement for Integration won 291 seats; Human Rights Union Party (PBDNJ) won 16 mandates and the Demo-Christian Party (PDK) which secured 24 mandates.
In 2015, the Socialist Movement for Integration and the Christian Democratic Party were in coalition with the Socialist Party, whereas the Human Rights Union Party was running alone in the local elections.
In 2023, if we join the Together We Win Coalition and the Official DP results, they secured 415 members in the municipal council jointly, or 25.7% of the total seats.
These parties decrease in electorate concerning the election of municipal councilman is of 13.5 percentage points, or expressed in mandates, 209 such (*in 2023 there are 18 additional council seats nationwide, compared to 2015).
Together We Win and the PD managed to win one more council member, than in the 2015 elections, only in the municipalities of Përrenjas and Roskovec. In 6 municipalities, there was no change in the number of council, seats secured, whereas in the remaining 53 municipalities, even if taken together, the number of municipal seats won has plummeted. The biggest loss was recorded in Shkodër with 14 council members less than in 2015.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
In the 2015 elections, the members of the municipal council were istributed, as shown in the table below.
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: CEC
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
In the 2023 local elections, a total of 35 political entities managed to secure at least one council spot in one of the country’s 61 municipalities. Meanwhile, in 2015, the number of political subjects that won a minimal number of council seats nationwide was 57.
Download excel: May 14, 2023, Election Results: Council Members by Political Subject and MunicipalityComments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Contributed by: Ilir Brasha
Translated by: Rezarta Cushaj
