TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
With the official 2011 census results now out, a predictable controversy has boiled over, as many parts of Albanian society see its findings with mistrust.
The problem is not new. Before a single interview was conducted, debate over questions on the country’s ethnic and religious makeup almost guaranteed the findings would prove controversial for several portions of the population.
While the ethnicity questions can provide a nice platform for nationalists and ethnic minorities to fight over a few percentage points, few would argue against the fact that Albania is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in Europe. Whether ethnic minorities make up one or five percent of the country, they are a very small portion of the population. These ethnic minorities should be treated according to EU standards and should be seen as a vibrant part of life in this republic. But at the end of the day, Albania is clearly overwhelmingly ethnically Albanian.
This newspaper, however, believes Albania was not ready for the religious questions. And the final results issued by the census officials are troubling, because they do not reflect the reality on the ground.
First, there is no believable evidence to justify the deep decline in the numbers of the Christian Orthodox and Bektashi Muslim populations from their historical averages.
Second, the self-declaration of religion by Albanians does not reflect the true nature of Albanian religiosity as a global audience would understand it. The mantra of religious tolerance works well in this country for one reason: Albania is not religious. In fact, it is one of the the least religious countries in Europe, according to international studies.
As such, we believe, a separate census should be conducted on the religiosity of Albanians based on their practice of religion. While anyone is free to declare a religion of their choosing, we believe it is only fair that non-practicing believers should be labeled as such. If one has never been in a mosque or church, except as a tourist, the census should point that out.
Third, there is overwhelming evidence that census workers, often young students, did not perform their duties to the best training possible, often not asking all the needed questions and not explaining the complicated language of the census to those being interviewed. Some communities report that no census workers ever reached out for interviews.
A reliable census demands everyone’s trust. The latest census has failed to win over large portions of the population, as 14 percent of those interviewed refused to answer religious and ethnicity questions. Several ethnic minority and religious leaders have also come up to denounce the findings.
As such, it is now clear the state census has failed to gain the wide acceptance required to fully trust its results. As such, it’s findings should be taken with a very big grain of salt.
