TIRANA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Socialist Party of Albania is about to win an overall parliamentary majority in the general elections, the preliminary results showed early Monday, while the vote counting is still underway.
The polls were held on Sunday with 18 political parties and groups vying for the 140 seats in the legislative body for a four-year term.
Vote counting began around midnight after ballots were collected and transported to the counting stations. Socialists showed a strong lead in most regions with about 20 percent of ballots counted as of 7:30 a.m. local time (0530 GMT).
The Socialist Party is winning more than 75 seats in the country's 140-seat parliament, outgoing Prime Minister Edi Rama said Monday, claiming a landslide victory.
The main opposition Democratic Party has so far won 27 percent of the vote, which would be translated into 45 seats, followed by Socialist Movement for Integration with 20 seats.
Rama, leader of the Socialist Party, is seeking re-election and a parliamentary majority in the polls so as to push forward the reforms needed to take Albania closer to the European Union.
During the electoral campaign, Rama highlighted reforms. The Socialist Party's win in the polls will pave the way for him to launch within 2017 full European Union membership negotiations.
The turnout was quite low at around 44 percent and the final results are expected to be released later in the day.
