TIRANA, Nov 17 – More than half of Albania’s citizens believe that their members of parliament are corrupt, a Transparency International survey has found.
The report, People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia, was released on Nov. 16. Albania ranks third for the highest level of perception that MPs are corrupt, with 55 percent, behind only the former Soviet republics of Moldova, where the rate is 76 percent, and Ukraine, where it is 64 percent.
Thirty-four percent of Albanians see corruption and bribery as the main problems the country is facing. However, 40 percent of Albanian citizens surveyed believed that the government is tackling corruption “fairly well.”
According to the global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, bribery is a common phenomenon in Albania. About one in three of those surveyed admitted to having bribed public servants at least once.
The report urged political parties to establish strict criteria for those running for office, giving weight to public credit, community service and professional achievements.
“Selection checks criteria have to combine professional and financial backgrounds in order to counter the growing trend of business people entering office,” the watchdog said in a statement.
In addition Transparency International recommended officials to publish “regularly comprehensive biographies of election candidates, and funds and expenditure details during the next 2017 electoral campaign.”
In Albania, it is the position of the Prosecutor General that presents a particular concern, Transparency International said.
“The Prosecutorial Council, which oversees the work of prosecutors, is a very formal and weak structure, unable to keep a check on the Prosecutor General’s power over prosecutors’ careers and discipline,” the report added. “Most of the prosecutors believe that the current appointment formula for the Prosecutor General lacks independence and has to be changed.”
The corruption watchdog also noted that police in the country suffers from massive turnover and political interference.
Transparency International reiterated calls for the implementation of justice reform, a precondition for the start of accession talks with European Union.
The justice reform was approved in July, but a bill drafted together with EU and U.S. experts that requires checks on the personal and professional backgrounds of judges and prosecutors was suspended by the Constitutional Court, hence holding back the process by at least several months.
The Transparency International report is based on a poll that involves 60,000 citizens in 42 countries. Participants respond to 14 questions and the result reveal perceptions of people in these countries regarding corruption in everyday life, their contact with it and their thoughts on how governments should deal with the issue.
