TIRANA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Albania's ruling Socialist Party is poised to win the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections on Monday with two thirds of votes counted, data from the country's election body showed in the afternoon.
Vote counting is expected to finish by 10:00 p.m. (20H00 GMT), however, the trend clearly shows a landslide victory for incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialists.
Based on preliminary results at 7:00 p.m. local time, the Socialist Party (SP) had garnered 533,392 votes or 72 seats in Albania's 140-seat parliament.
The Democratic Party had won 318,478 votes, or 44 seats, and the Socialist Movement for Integration had garnered 159,945 votes, or 19 seats.
The fourth party winning four mandates so far is Party for Justice, Integrity and Unity.
If this momentum maintains, Prime Minister Rama will win a second term.
Rama said in a social media statement Monday the results were a masterpiece by the common people of this country.
Rama sought more than 71 seats during the campaign, as according to him this would enable him to form a government without having to join coalitions and put all efforts towards advancing the country's European Union integration agenda.
According to Albania's electoral code, 71 mandates are needed to form a government.
