Jonila Godole, the head of the Institute for Democracy, Media and Culture (IDMC) argued that clientelist parties like the Social-Democratic Party of Tom Doshi, with no electoral program or political vision, receive wide support in Albania, while new parties with proper political programs like Nisma Thurje can’t even have an impact in the capital, Tirana.

She further argued that this fact shows that democracy in Albanian is weak, and sends the message that despite political programs, no new political initiative can compete with old parties.

“Something’s wrong here. If we consider Tirana, Nisma Thurje had a political program of Western democracy, but it had no impact, while the SDP of Doshi received one parliamentary seat. Whom do we know at his party? It receiving more votes [than Nisma], shows that something is not right. The result of these elections sends the message that despite the program, no new political force can compete with clientelist parties,” Godole said.

In her analysis of factors bringing to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s success in this election, the connection Albanians have with their leader is reminiscent of their past.