The day before the general elections on May 11, Elbasan did not look like a city waiting for a decisive race. The pedestrian area was filled with citizens drinking coffee, fans discussing football and little attention to politics. But beneath this calm, there was a certainty that was mentioned at every table: Sara Mila, the candidate of the Socialist Party, would come out with the most votes. And so it happened.
The elections in Elbasan took place in an atmosphere that, at first glance, resembled the city’s usual daily life. The presence of political figures such as Arlind Qori and suspicions of organized crime interference in the electoral process made the situation more complicated and tense. Reports on the ground indicated clear attempts to influence the vote in favor of certain candidates.
In Elbasan, allegations of voter suppression and the involvement of notorious criminal figures became part of the election narrative. International observers took note, but the inability to stop phenomena such as vote buying and intimidation gave way to ironic comments from the city’s residents.
The silence that kills
On the evening of May 10, members of the Together Movement were drinking coffee quietly in one of the bars in the center of Elbasan. But what was being talked about the most in the city had nothing to do with political campaigns or promises.
“It has been said that Sara will receive over 25 thousand votes. Even Edi Rama has asked Suel Çela to work for him,” said citizens who preferred not to be identified. Others, even if they were opponents of the SP, accepted the fact as inevitable.
The name of Suel Çela, rumored in the media for links to structured criminal groups, was regularly mentioned as part of the mechanism that was guaranteeing Mila’s victory.
Sara Mila is a simple employee of the State Social Service who managed to become a big surprise in Albanian politics, becoming the most voted candidate of the Socialist Party on open lists throughout Albania. She debuted in politics in October last year and quickly gained great support, especially in the Elbasan region, moving from a modest administrative profile to an important political figure. Before that, Mila had built her career in the public sector, where she was appointed sector director at the State Social Service in 2022.
Beyond her work in administration, Sara Mila has a family connection to the business world, as the daughter of a businessman and the wife of the owner of an aluminum factory in Tirana.
Opposition leader Sali Berisha has claimed that Sara Mila’s victory in the elections is not the result of citizen support or her engagement in the administration, but of illegal influence. According to Berisha, she benefited from the support of Suel Çela, a figure known for his links to organized crime in Elbasan and currently wanted for several criminal offenses.
He accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of ordering this support. “Edi Rama’s message to Suel Çela is to vote for Sara Mile, that’s where he will show his true strength,” Berisha accused during the electoral campaign.
A local administration employee told how certain groups had tried to convince him to vote for the young girl.
“They called me too, they told me you should vote for Sara and campaign for her. I told them that I have a family of DP deputies. If that’s the case, there’s no problem. They shook my hand and didn’t say anything to me. Sueli doesn’t bother me like that, he’s a man. He hasn’t bothered anyone in Elbasan, let’s be realistic.”
In the context of the elections, the Special Prosecution Office has stated that there will be investigators and prosecutors on the ground to monitor the electoral process, with a special focus on areas considered at risk, such as Elbasan. Despite this preventive measure, reports from the field show another reality.
The vote-buying in Elbasan had taken on grotesque forms. In the evening, Elbasan was still quiet. There were no cars with tinted windows, no suspicious groups of people to create a sense of intimidation. But there were people who fearlessly declared the sale of their votes.
“I’ll sell my vote for 50 thousand lek. And my body too,” said a woman in her 40s without hesitation.
The vote earthquake in Elbasan
The elections in Elbasan began with the usual technical chaos, delays and uncertainty in some polling stations, but behind the facade of calm, the atmosphere remained charged and with growing tension. Problems with electronic equipment were reported in several schools, while in “Hamit Muslli” a woman was caught photographing her vote – a direct violation of the electoral law.
Majlinda, a lady, during the moment of voting, took out her phone and took a picture of the vote.
“I heard the flash and we stopped it immediately. We declared the vote invalid and referred it to the police,” the head of the commission at this polling station told me.
The woman, part of the Roma community, claimed that she needed the photo so she wouldn’t forget who she had voted for.
Other cases showed lack of preparation or indifference. A woman entered to vote with her daughter, whom she left inside watching “Baby Shark” on an iPad. “Now that Saliu got sick, the party is completely dead,” a waiter commented sarcastically, underscoring the decline of the PD in the city.
In Peqin, the dominance of the SP was even clearer. At a polling station, a commissioner openly admitted: “I am with the PSD. You understand…” The DP candidate, Mustafa Pashja, later accused the municipality of having representatives near the centers to exert pressure.
Belshi was also engulfed in the same atmosphere of calm, albeit supportive, with commissioners offering pies and cookies to journalists. In all areas of the district, the trend was the same: a clear victory for the Socialist Party and an undisputed dominance of Sara’s candidacy.
The results confirmed the rumors and predictions of citizens: Sara Mila was ranked as the most voted in Elbasan with over 17 thousand votes. A victory that was not built on May 11, but much earlier – in closed meetings, in the silence of local institutions and in the citizens’ distrust of change.
Elbasan had no violence, no riots, no scandals in the public eye. But that cold calm, that lack of hope for real competition, was the clearest sign of complete control over a process that, although legally correct, was experienced as a formality. In a city where everything is known before it happens, the voter’s voice was more an echo than a real decision.
Gazetar dhe bashkëpunëtor në “Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri” - RRKOKSH.
Ka mbaruar studimet në fakultetin e historisë dhe filologjisë, Universiteti i Tiranës.
