Tiny Albania has nearly 400 local government units that cost taxpayers billions, but a political minefield surrounds a proposed administrative reform aiming to cut that number by two thirds in order to gain savings and efficiency
TIRANA, Feb. 5 – Take a drive east of Tirana toward Dajti Mountain, and you can immediately tell where the municipal border is: A large neighborhood of new tower blocks emerges as soon as you leave the area under the administration of Tirana City Hall. Where there were only olive trees two decades ago, concrete now reigns.
It is cheaper to purchase an apartment here, and it had been easier to obtain construction permits, precisely because the Fresku neighborhood is not part of the Tirana Municipality, residents say. Those who live in the area, aptly named after the Albanian word for fresh air, are residents in one of Albania’s 319 communes – municipalities that don’t have the population concentration to incorporate as a city or a town. In this case, the Dajti Commune, and several other communes surrounding Albania’s capital are among the country’s most populous, but the vast majority of their counterparts that operate across Albania are tiny, with 309 having a population ranging from 500 to 10,000 people.
The problem, the central government and Albania’s international advisers say, is that they are also expensive and inefficient for a small country. The communes spend 2.5 billion leks annually, about 24 million dollars, on salaries alone, with about 100 of these units spending more than 80 percent of their budget on paying salaries to their employees. In addition, half of the total number of communes raises no money through local taxes, relying entirely on the central government for funding. Fifty percent also make no investments in the communities they govern, according to a study published late last year with the assistance of the Swedish government.
The central government says it has a plan to deal with the problem. It wants implement a major administrative reform that would shrink the number of municipalities in Albania by two thirds, and hoping to save millions in the process.
“Much more can be done with the same financing resources just by changing a number of internal territorial and administrative borders,” says Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has spoken in public events about this issue several times in the past few months.
Rama’s Socialists and their political allies say that this reform is fundamental and required along the efforts to get Albania closer to the European Union. They also say the reform will scrap unneeded spending and bring millions in savings to the state budget.
But despite proponents who point to the benefits, this is also a politically contentious issue.
The main opposition Democratic Party says it fears the governing Socialists will end up using the reform to draw the new borders to serve political interests in elections, starting with next year’s administrative polls, which the central government says should take place under the new structure. The Democrats also say there should be wide public consultation on the matter.
“Territorial and electoral reforms cannot move forward without bringing back legitimate consensus decision-making at every step between the majority and the opposition. Not only consensus with the opposition, but broad consensus citizens through consultation, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability is a constitutional imperative,” says Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha.
Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda, who was visiting Tirana last week, explained Albania needs to modernize its local governance system.
“I am from Austria, and there we have done this 40-50 years ago,” he says. “Without wanting to criticize Albania of behind behind the times, this reform should be carried out. Based to talks with the opposition leader, the prime minister and speaker of parliament, I do not see any obstacle in performing of this reform. Community services cannot be achieved without quality local authorities. European experience shows that it helps the democratization of the country.”
But obstacles do exist, as both the Socialists, and particularly the Democrats in opposition, are likely to come under pressure from their own local representatives who might see their encirclements cut under the new system, as hundreds of public employees, often with political ties, would be terminated under the plan.
No municipality, no matter how small or rural, can be erased from the map without offering a hearing to its citizens, says Basha.
In addition, the Democrats are likely to push for other concessions from the ruling coalition in order not to veto the reform. The Democrats requested and were granted veto rights on the reform, because the ruling coalition said the reform was important enough that it would not have legitimacy unless it was done by consensus, though the government has the needed votes to pass the deal.
The parliament has created an ad-hoc commission on administrative reform, giving equal rights to the opposition, which has so far refused to participate, saying not all their requests were met, including the government’s refusal to launch two unrelated investigative commissions in parliament.
Analysts say opposition parties often boycott crucial reforms without good reasons in Albania when they don’t get their way. The Socialists often did the same when they were in opposition.
“This [administrative reform] commission is invalid. Without full restoration of the principle of consensus, as we have made it clear repeatedly, together with our allies. We want to let you know here and our international partners as well, that the product of a reform that is arbitrary and unilateral cannot be recognized and will not ever be recognized by the opposition Democratic Party of Albania,” Basha says.
But Ilir Meta, leader of Albania’s third largest party and a member of a governing coalition says it’s time for the reform to take place.
“It’s time to do the administrative and territorial reform in the country,” he says. “The new majority is committed to the reform and the opposition will be given all the equal rights to contribute, starting with the establishment of the ad hoc commission with equal membership and co-chairs from both the left and the right.
Albania’s minister for relations with parliament, Ilirijan Celibashi, has indicated the government might push the reform through without consensus. He said this week government has been very patient with the opposition, but it can’t wait forever to implement the reform.
But international and local independent representatives stress that the reform must be implemented by consensus.
U.S. Ambassador Alexander Arvizu says his country will help Albania with the implementation of the territorial administrative reform.
“We firmly believe that this process will move forward,” says Arvizu. “It is something very important for Albania, and we hope that the process will result in a good final product.”
The EU’s progress reports on Albania have been quite explicit about various concerns about the functioning of local government units, says the head of EU’s delegation to Albania, Ambassador Ettore Sequi, adding that these concerns related to collection of revenues, strategic planning, human resource management, financial control, transparency, as well as a high number of staff with temporary contracts in local government units.
The OSCE, which has been one of the organizations helping to study both administrative and electoral reforms in Albania, says the administrative and territorial reform is a key component of ensuring good governance
“The reform should comply with the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and, in particular, must guarantee the political, administrative and financial independence of local governments,” says head of the OSCE in Albania, Ambassador Florian Raunig, who spoke a conference on administrative reform late last year. “It is essential to ensure that the decision-making process for this reform be transparent, inclusive and consensual,” he added.
