The country now ranks as the most corrupt in the region, according to the latest Transparency International annual report
TIRANA, Dec. 5 – The latest Transparency International report on corruption shows Albania has worsened its position in the ranking by 18 points, going from 95 last year to 113 this year.
That means that Albania is the most corrupt country in the continent, outside the former Soviet Union, much behind all the other regional neighbors.
Despite the pledges and the work claimed by the authorities the report showed that corruption is getting a strong grip on the country’s social and economic life. The report calls for more cooperation to fight corrupted in Albania.
“The continued stalemate between political parties has stalled important reforms for the past two years. The judicial system needs reforms to ensure independence and the accountability and professio-nalism of judges. This includes increasing capacity and developing more precise criteria for the appointment of judges, and limited immunity in the event of misconduct and corruption. There is political interference in the appointment of civil servants, and the parliament lacks a professional and independent admini-stration,” write the authors.
The main opposition Socialist Party says the report was the government’s gift for the 100th anniversary of independence.
“Albania has fallen in the darkest area of international corruption. In only one year we have gone 15 places down, ranking between Ethiopia and Nigeria, symbols of the international corruption,” Socialist leader Edi Rama said in a press conference.
The ruling Democratic Party, which came to power in 2005 largely under an anti-corruption platform, implied the numbers by Transparency International Albania were misguiding and were the result of judicial corruption out of the government immediate control.
“The acute problem with the corruption perception index is the situation in the administration of the justice system during the time of the monitoring. The perception and several public testimonies speak about jobs and careers for judges who were sold for 200.000 euros, st a time when justice was administered by the owners of Transparency International Albania,” said Democratic MP Gerti Bodani, referring to former President Bamir Topi and former deputy head of the High Council of Justice Kreshnik Spahiu who now lead two opposition parties. “This justice corruption index cannot stain the work of the Albanian government in the war against corruption and governing of the country. It cannot stain our admirable achievements and the numbers that are served by Spahiu for the index in question cannot deceive the Albanians and cannot divert our attention from the fight against corruption.”
Spahiu and Topi both countered that the government cannot hide after such accusations.
“Berisha brought Albania to this point, with a government that is much more corrupted that the government of Hashim Thaci and Fatos Nano. Albania is heading to isolation. Albania will recover only if citizen Sali Berisha will be arrested and punished,” Spahiu said in a press conference.
Fighting corruption needs strong efforts from the government, the judiciary, the political groupings and the whole society, the report notes.
