Albanians to receive new ID cards next year, says minister

TIRANA, June 6 – Interior Minister Bujar Nishani said that Albanians would be equipped with new digital identity cards next year.
The lack of IDs has been a continuous problem, which has mainly affected the ability to conduct fair elections in post-communist Albania.
The government said they would seek international bids for the production of digital IDs and passports for all Albanians, with plans for the process to be concluded by autumn 2008.
This has been a long-made promise by all governments in the country.
But this also means that the country should compile a correct civil registry, which it lacks, following the migration of large number of Albanians from the poorest areas of the country into the cities.
Opposition lawmakers were doubtful that this pledge would be respected by the government. They said that from the start, the amount of money allocated for the project, some 2 billion leks, was not enough.