Albania Opposition Demands Vote Recount

Latest News Updates Tens of thousands of Albanian opposition Socialist Party supporters launched their latest protest to demand the government either recount the vote in a controversial June 28 election or hold another.

Socialist Party leader Edi Rama accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party of rigging the parliamentary elections to "steal Albania's wealth."

The Socialists lost to Berisha in the tightest race since Albania abandoned communism, but have not accepted the result and refuse to enter parliament unless a number of ballot boxes, ruled "irregular" by election authorities, are opened.

They say the votes inside would give them victory overall. Berisha's Democrats have just 70 seats in the 140-seat parliament, and the Socialists 66. The Democrats rule with support from the four Socialist Integration Movement seats.