Albania's governing socialists far ahead in early vote count

Preliminary results show that Albania's left-wing Socialist party is heading for a new governing mandate in crucial elections in the country's bid to launch membership negotiations with the European Union.

The Central Election Commission's preliminary results after counting one-third of the votes on Monday morning show the Socialist party of Prime Minister Edi Rama winning almost half the votes compared with 28% for the opposition Democratic party of Lulzim Basha.