ALBANIAN socialists look set to win the country’s parliamentary elections, according to today’s emerging results.

The count from Sunday’s poll showed the ruling Socialist Party ahead, with voters supporting the country’s effort to join the European Union and Prime Minister Edi Rama’s bid for a fourth term.

Mr Rama’s Socialists have about 53 per cent of the votes over the 35 per cent won by the opposition right-wing Democratic Party-led coalition of Sali Berisha.

The Socialists appear on track to win the required 71 seats to govern without need for a coalition.

Preliminary turnout in Sunday’s poll was almost 42.16 per cent.

About 3.7 million eligible voters in Albania and abroad voted to elect 140 lawmakers for a four-year mandate in the Balkan nation. 

Ilirjan Celibashi, the head of the Central Election Commission, said after the polls closed: “For the most part, excluding some sporadic cases, the process has been in line with the rules and standards.”

Mr Rama’s Socialist Party claims it can deliver EU membership in five years — end the negotiations until 2027 and wait for approval from each of the EU’s 27 member countries until 2030.

The Socialists say they will accelerate a tourism boom and increase foreign visitors from 10 million arrivals in 2024 to 30 million by 2030.