IT is touch and go in Albania. As voters filed into the polling stations yesterday to vote in the second round of their general election they were hoping against hope their country might be given a second chance.

Plunged into anarchy six months ago, armed gangs control half the country, political parties shade into militias, and now there is a royal joker in the pack.

In extraordinary scenes last week, the 58-year-old gun-toting Leka Zogu, son of Zogu, the first and last king of modern Albania, strode back on to the political stage. Mostly ignored by the media in the first round of the polls on June 29, voters were also asked whether they wanted to restore their monarchy.

The man who would be king claims he won 65% of the vote. The authorities claim he won ''around'' 35%. Enraged, King Leka, who at 6ft 8in towers above his countrymen, dawned military uniform and pistols. With a crowd of angry supporters he marched on the building of the Central Electoral Commission. Following a royal shoot-out one person died.

Now King Leka predicts an ''explosion'' is ''inevitable''. He also promises that, if his supporters take to the mountains to fight, he will lead them. ''I'm not prepared to tell people to take up arms - but they must defend their vote,'' he said.

Albanians will find out over the next few weeks whether the Sandhurst-trained former arms dealer is bluffing or not.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the first round of the elections it is clear the country is going to be dominated by the Socialists who have little sympathy for Leka. The new prime minister is set to be Fatos Nano, the Socialist Party leader who spent four years in jail. It was widely believed he was sent there on trumped-up charges by President Sali Berisha. If Mr Nano has his way the presidency will soon be stripped of its powers.

President Berisha had promised to stand down if his Democratic Party lost the election. It is already clear from the first round they have made a miserable showing. But in Tirana many now fear Mr Berisha will try to fan the flames of monarchist anger so he has an excuse to say that, as the country is in turmoil, he must stay at his post.

Given Leka Zogu's colourful life things do not bode well for those who had hoped Albania might now fade from the headlines and reappear in the international business pages.

His friends say that his heart is in the right place but admit that he is also a bit of a maverick. Colonel David Smiley, one of the wartime British liaison officers who fought alongside Albanian Royalist forces, has known Leka all his life. ''He's got a lot of guts,'' he said, ''but he is a bit of a boy scout.''

Ahmed Zogu, Leka's father, was a northern tribal chieftain who fought his way to the top and crowned himself king in 1928. In 1939 Mussolini's fascist forces were poised to invade but King Zog refused to flee before his Hungarian aristocrat wife had given birth to his son and heir. No sooner had Queen Geraldine delivered than she fled with the one-day-old Leka.

His early years were ones of wandering. He lived in Egypt, England, and France surviving on handouts from King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. When he was murdered in 1975 the money dried up. As Colonel Smiley puts it: ''He then had to earn his keep as best he could.'' Leka turned to arms dealing, was deported from Spain, and then settled in South Africa. There he met an Australian girl who worked as a travel courier. Their marriage made her Queen Susan.

In 1993, travelling on a passport purporting to be issued by the ''Kingdom of Albania'' with his profession listed as ''king'' Leka Zogu flew into Tirana Airport, paid his $10 landing tax, and set up court in the old Dajti Hotel in the town centre. President Berisha, whose own authoritarian tendencies were by then beginning to be remarked upon, was outraged. Leka was expelled post haste.

Since that day the two men have nursed a deep hatred for one another. But it is clear President Berisha finally consented to Leka's return in April hoping to use him to shore up his own crumbling powerbase.

Whatever his original intentions that plan appears to have gone awry. Julia Goga, editor of the BBC Albanian Service, says that although President Berisha may have hoped to use Leka he now appears to have flipped the leash. ''Why should Leka play Berisha's game? He's playing his own now. He's saying he has been cheated in the referendum and he can take advantage of the situation to say he's won.''

Gloomily Ms Goga concludes: ''With so many weapons around and so many forces out of control it's easy once you have a spark. You never know where things are going to end.'' King Leka clearly agrees with her. Asked what he thought would happen now, he said menacingly: ''Let's find out.''