Communes run by candidates of the same political party. The“Bastion“ phenomenon 2000-2015

Open Data Albania has conducted a research on the selection of mayors in the last four electoral processes.The data were obtained in the electronic manuals of the Central Election Commission. The  research article contains statistical and nominal information about the winners as mayors in the local government elections of 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2011. In the Republic of Albania under the relevant law on the basis of territorial administrative division function 308 municipalities.

In total, communes that might be considered as affected by the “Bastion” phenomenon or a consecutive affirmation four straight times of a single political direction constitute 94 communes nationwide. More concretely, 50 are run by right-wing electoral entities, 39 are run by left-wing electoral subjects and 5 communes are run by independent candidates and candidates of the Human Rights Union Party when this party has run alone in the elections.

^{Source: Central Election Commission
Comments and analysis: ODA}

According to the research analysis of Open Data Albania, electoral candidates of the left wing subjects have won four times consecutively in 39 communes or 12.66 per cent of the seats nationwide.

According to the research of ODA, electoral candidates of the right wing subjects have won four times consecutively in 50 communes or 16.23 per cent of seats nationwide.

^{Source: Central Election Commission
Comments and analysis: ODA}

Independent candidates, or candidates of the Human Rights Union Party (HRUP) when that party ran alone without a coalition with other political formations, are not classified as belonging to a political direction. The independent candidates and candidates of the Human Rights Union Party when that party ran alone without other political formations have won four times consecutively 5 communes or 1,62 per cent of the seats nationwide.

Interestingly, the phenomenon of refraction of the political “Bastions” can be observed in the 2011 local elections. Those elections were marked by 41 rotations of the political direction after three consecutive mandates, respectively 30 rotations from left to the right and 11 rotations from right to left.

^{Source: Central Election Commission
Comments and analysis: ODA}

31 communes or 10,06 per cent of the communes nationwide are examples of zones unaffected by the phenomenon of the political “Bastion”.

^{Source: Central Election Commission
Comments and analysis: ODA}

The local elections of 2000 and 2011 were characterized by two special elements. In 2000 the Democratic Party and its allies withdrew from participating in the second run-off, considering the counting process of the first run-off as irregular. In the 2011 local government elections, political parties were organized in mixed coalitions in terms of political direction. Thus, the Socialist Movement for Integration, the Democratic Alliance and the Environmental Agrarian Party ran under the coalition Alliance for the Citizen (a right wing coalition), while in the other local government elections they had previously run as left-wing parties. The same phenomenon was observed in the other coalition, the Alliance for the Future (a left wing coalition) with which the Christian Democrat Party was aligned; in previous elections for local government it had been part of the right-wing coalition.  

The electronic list below reflects all heads of the communes elected in the last four elections, providing accurate information about the political direction of the electoral subject that appointed them.

^{Source: Central Election Commission
Comments and analysis: ODA}