Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 25 April 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic to elect the 140 members of the parliament. A total of 1,871 candidates, including 732 women, were registered, with ten political parties, two coalitions and three independent candidates contesting the election. The Socialist Party (PS), led by incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama, opted for an independent participation, while the opposition Democratic Party (PD), under Lulzim Basha, formed the Democratic Party – Alliance for Change (PD – AN), a coalition with 12 smaller parties. Other notable political entities, including the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), also pursued electoral success independently. The election campaign was highly polarised, with competing narratives centered on pressing national issues such as European Union (EU) accession, economic development, healthcare reform, infrastructure modernisation, and the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Campaign strategies were significantly altered due to the pandemic, with political parties increasingly relying on digital platforms and social media to reach voters, as traditional in-person events were limited by public health restrictions.
Voter turnout was recorded at 46%, with 1,661,176 voters casting their ballots. The PS emerged as the dominant political force, securing 49% of the vote, which translated into 74 seats in parliament, thereby maintaining its parliamentary majority. This marked a third consecutive victory for the PS and Prime Minister Rama. The PD – AN coalition experienced a notable recovery compared to previous electoral cycles, securing 39% of the vote and winning 59 seats. Conversely, the LSI suffered a sharp decline, losing 15 seats and securing just four seats overall, while the PSD contested the elections with limited success. One of the key challenges in the election was the high rate of invalid votes, 83,059 ballots, 5% of the total, were invalid, primarily due to voter confusion with the new ballot design, which only displayed candidate numbers rather than names for preferential votes.
