On May 11, 2025, Albanians voted for stability.
According to official figures, political forces seeking a new model of governance collectively received more votes than ever before.There was a wave of energy, a societal awakening, and a concentrated disappointment that was channeled into new political alternatives, many of which offered clean platforms, untainted leaders, and modern emphases: on social justice, the green economy, youth, and meritocracy.
Yet, the Socialist Party (SP) alone won a fourth mandate with 83 seats in Parliament.
Here we have a democratic paradox!
A majority of fragmented political forces for change face a united party for continuity and fail to make rotation functional.
This contrast is not merely an arithmetic problem, but a structural tension between the citizens’ expressed will and the way it is institutionally translated.
Voters demanded a different kind of politics—cleaner, more honest, more accountable.
But their vote was absorbed by an electoral system that rewards strategic unity and punishes conceptual fragmentation, regardless of how sincere or principled it may be.
At its core, this is a form of “managed democracy”, where rules of the game are designed to preserve control by those already in power, rather than to reflect genuine shifts in public opinion.This creates a duality:
- Pluralism of political offerings exists,
- But institutional pluralism fails, due to a punishing electoral system and lack of cooperation among new forces.
Therefore, the challenge is no longer just to win citizens’ hearts, but to create a political and institutional architecture that gives real value to change-oriented votes.
This requires abandoning political solitude and transitioning into strategic coordination.Otherwise, even in 2029, the same system may block the change people vote for.
The Electoral Code: A mechanism for preserving the status quo.
The regional-corrected proportional system, introduced with the 2020 amendments,
- Favors large alliances,
- Penalizes solo parties, especially those with scattered but low percentages
This turns pluralism into a technical obstacle:A party with 4% nationwide, but no district-level threshold, loses its political power—and gifts mandates to the largest party.
New forces didn’t lose on ideas—but on how they entered the race.
Was the problem with the content?
No!
Campaigns by civil society actors, activists, and independent professionals:
- Free of corruption,
- Free of clientelism,
- Full of fresh energy,
- Offered clear identity and
- Connected public policies with real people’s concerns.
The problem was how they ran:Each alone, in a system that punishes political individualism.
What needs to happen next?
From this analysis, three strategic alternatives emerge for the forces of change:
1. Building a political federation
A coalition of values and principles, not just an electoral fusion.
- Each retains identity,
- But together craft a unified platform to reform the system.Starting this fall, they must create a shared front with clear cooperation rules and responsibility-sharing.
2. Electoral reform as a political and civic battle
Focus must shift to the rules of the game.
- Demand a national proportional system (no regional correction), or
- Lower national thresholds.
Time for organized pressure on Parliament and international partners to revise the Electoral Code—a matter of democratic order.
3. Grassroots political action beyond elections
Losing parties must not vanish until 2029.They must become active structures that:
- Influence local issues,
- Oversee budgets,
- Monitor public services,
- Encourage citizen participation.
A political force that dies after election day doesn’t grow in citizens’ minds.
A second chance to understand democracy
The numerical victory of SP is not a sign of popular enthusiasm, but a result of a system designed to preserve existing power.Yet this does not make the loss meaningless.For the first time, change wasn’t absent—it failed to unite.
Albanians who want change must move from the emotional phase to the organizational phase.This begins now with:
- Collaboration,
- Strategy,
- And the belief that the vote is just one tool to change power—Not the only one.
If politics is the architecture of the future, then it’s time to build a common home for those who want to live differently.