Florian Raunig, Head of the OSCE Mission in Albania, presented the
annual report for the situation of Albania. The 13-pages report that was
secured by Top Channel, starts with an evaluation for the reforms
initiated by the government, saying:
“The government of Albania, a coalition of the Socialist Party, (led by Prime Minister Edi Rama) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (led by Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta), has supported the reforms in the key areas. The coalition is showing determination about the strategic reforms, such as those of the judiciary sector, through a strong process in which is included the international and local expertise, including the opposition”.
The report analyzes the political actions of the opposition.
“The opposition, led by the Democratic Party, keeps the irregular attacks against the government, arguing that the government and state structures are corrupted and that people with a criminal past are appointed in important posts. The opposition has repeatedly to be part of the key reforms in the judiciary and other important laws”.
For the decriminalization process, the OSCE suggests not only exclusion from politics:
“The decriminalization issue is wider when compared to special cases for which there are credible accusations and which say that high-level officials are involved in compromising position. This issue will have the public’s attention and the government will benefit, if these efforts cause the punishing of corrupted officials, including governments. As result, this will make sure that all officials of the highest levels will have higher ethical standards. For this, the Democratic Party presented a draft law for decriminalization on September 4th”.
For the judiciary reform:
“The government and the parliament have considered the judiciary reform as the main priority of 2015. If the opposition doesn’t become part of this, the credibility and stability of the reform can be damaged for the future”.
The report says that Albania has still impunity of corrupted high-level officials.
“Despite the initiatives to criminally prosecute some mid-level officials, Albania has not been able to successfully realize a register for people with criminal records and who come from the political and economic elite, especially as regards illegal wealth, corruption and organized crime”.
The OSCE report underlines that punishment of corrupted judiciary members remains very low.
“Accountability of judges remains a serious concern. It should be balanced as a need for independence and justice. Since October 2004, only five judges have been investigated, three of whom for corruption and two for hiding assets. The High Council of Justice in 2014 gave 13 disciplinary measures for the judges compared with only 1 in 2013”, the report underlines.
The report greets the work done by the state police in the fight against narcotics:
“The intensive efforts of the police in the fight against drug cultivation, combined with other initiatives in a wide national scale, such as the reduction of electricity theft, illegal constructions, are part of the government’s efforts to secure a good implementation of the legislation. This is to be greeted”, the report underlines.
According to the OSCE, the number of lawsuits for unlawful interruption of working relations has been reduced.
“All Ministries have new structures for recruiting public officials. As result, the number of lawsuits for employment issues at the Administrative Court have been reduced for the”, the report says.
The challenges of Albania for the next year are the inclusion of more young people in the democratic and government processes, the further consolidation of democracy, reinforcement of the rule of law, and the reforms, which depend on the will of the Albanian politicians.
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