The last time the city of Berat elected a Democratic mayor was in 1996, and since then, the Socialists have had a lead in both local and national elections in this municipality, with an advantage that has been deepening.
The municipality of Berat was governed for 12 years by Fadil Nasufi [2003-2015], who began his political career in the Labor Party as the head of the party's Youth Union in the last years of communism. Nasufi is currently a member of parliament for the Socialists.
The merger of the former municipalities of Otllak, Rroshnik, Sinjë and Velabisht into the larger municipality in the 2015 reform seems to have strengthened the position of the socialists. In fact, in those elections, the opposition candidate, Kasëm Mahmutaj, offered a strong competition, where in the city of Berat he lost by a very narrow margin of votes to the LSI candidate Petrit Sinaj, who was running within the SP-LSI alliance. Sinaj was elected with 54% of the vote after winning the rural areas by an overwhelming majority.
The Democrats did not come close to a majority in the territory of the present-day municipality of Berat even in 2007 and 2011, when their control over the central government favored them, especially in rural areas. In the 2007 elections, right-wing candidates in the municipality and former communes of Berat received 43% of the vote compared to 47% for Socialist candidates, while in 2011, the vote was split 47-50% with 3% received by candidates outside the two main parties.
Berat is an area where the population is constantly decreasing due to internal migration and emigration. In the 2023 census, the municipality counted 62 thousand resident inhabitants while it counts 100 thousand citizens according to the civil registry.
The continuous decline in population is also noticeable in the participation in elections. In 2015, 35 thousand citizens voted in this municipality, while in the 2023 local government elections, only 28 thousand people voted. In the 2025 parliamentary elections, resident voters were 29 thousand. Consequently, votes for left-wing candidates have fallen from 19 thousand in 2015 to a little more than 15 thousand in 2025, but at the same time, votes for the right have fallen even more.
The Municipality of Berat is heading towards the November 9th by-elections following the resignation of former mayor Ervin Demo, today MP and State Minister for Local Government.
The candidates for Sunday's elections are Ervin Ceca from the Socialist Party and Pavllo Shkarpa, an independent but supported by the main opposition. /BIRN/
