TIRANA, April 11 – The independent watchdog organization Freedom House assessed democracy in Albania did not make any progress during 2017 either, as “every step forward was devalued by another step back.”
Albania continues to be under the nations-in-transition category, also titled a ‘hybrid regime’, despite marking a slight increase in performance thanks to the peaceful and generally democratic and fair 2017 elections.
According to the Freedom House annual ‘Nations in Transition’ report, the country’s advancements in controlling cannabis cultivation were overshadowed by the alleged involvement of former Minister of Interior Saimir Tahiri in the Albanian-Italian drug trafficking network uncovered last September.
Similarly, the progress made in the fight against corruption was overshadowed by the election of Ilir Meta as the country’s president, even though “he is perceived by many citizens as the symbol of corruption.”
Freedom House listed as an equally important step backwards the appointment of a temporary General Prosecutor on December 18, 2017 through a simple parliamentary majority vote in the Albanian Assembly.
“This seriously belittled the reliability and independence of the institution,” the report read.
With number one representing the highest democratic level and number seven the lowest, Albania’s score went to 4.14 from the 4.11 of the previous year, due to the parliamentary elections of June 25, which offered a number of guarantees for the country’s opposition.
However, the report did not fail to mention the four-month political knot between the government and opposition which preceded elections and “put the entire electoral process in danger,” the polarization between the country’s two main political parties and the government’s “authoritarian inclinations” during 2017.
Even though progress was made in drastically lowering cannabis cultivation in the country, in part through the involvement of Albanian police, the still-unresolved Tahiri-Habilaj case significantly hampered overal advancement.
In the same manner, the progress achieved in controlling petty corruption was compromised by losing ground in the fight against high-level corruption and state-officials’ capture.
In this context, the report said there is still no regulatory framework for lobbying and an inefficient legal framework for conflict of interest cases.
Concerning the judicial reform, the report said the opposition’s parliamentary boycott harmed the process, as it prevented the establishment of two key judicial reform bodies: the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecution Council.
The report pointed at the absence of these two bodies in failing to appoint a successor when former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla’s mandate ended, which brought the appointment of temporary GP Arta Marku through a simple parliamentary majority and oppositional protests within parliament last December.
Prime Minister Edi Rama’s parliamentary majority and cult-leading governance has raised concerns among experts over the past year, and was also mentioned in the House of Freedom report in the context of the government’s authoritarian inclinations.
According to the report, a series of executive decisions throughout 2017 have laid ground for concern over Rama’s ‘iron fist’ governing.
Civil society and media also lost points during 2017, as Freedom House reported public trust towards both dropped significantly, while the Roma minority continues to be the most discriminated, followed by LGBT members, who suffer “from high levels of homophobia” in the country.
The report concluded that 2018 could be the year of significant reforms from the governing SP or that it could mark a serious drift towards authoritarianism, depending on the policy path Rama and his government will decide to follow.
