The Democrats in power have based their campaign on their achievements in the last eight years, while the Socialists vow to fight rampant corruption, return to a progressive tax system
TIRANA, June 20 – The state of the economy has been a driving factor in Albania’s electoral campaign, with parties making many pledges to voters.
The incumbent Democrats pledge to take the country ahead with more investment in infrastructure, agriculture, industry and the like.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha is also betting on the TAP gas pipeline project which could bring in 2 billion dollars of investment and tens of thousands of jobs. A final decision on TAP, which has a major rival, will be made after the election.
The Democrats have based their campaign on their achievements in the last eight years they have been in power. They say there are now more than 10,000 kilometers of new or rehabilitated roads countrywide. They mention millions of dollars supporting farmers. They say they have built and reconstructed thousands of schools, hospitals and health centers.
“I invite you on to vote on the June 23 elections to join us for a greater support for agriculture, new infrastructure, and for better wages and pensions,” Berisha said at a campaign stop.
The Democrats say the key to their success has been the implementation of a flat tax.
“We have imposed the flat tax, which is the most honest tax this country has ever seen. With this tax, everyone pays only 10 percent of what is earned,” Berisha said at a recent rally. Berisha says they are going to raise the minimum salaries to at least 350 dollars and the average to 700 dollars.
Berisha has pledged they will turn Albania into a developed country.
The promises aim to boost support for Berisha’s center-right coalition, which is trailing the opposition Socialists in the polls by several percentage points.
The opposition, on the other hand, says it wants to fight corruption in the same way Democrats did when they came to power in 2005 against then-Socialists premier Fatos Nano.
Today’s Socialists, led by Rama, have targeted their attacks toward Berisha and his close family, telling Albanians they have improperly profited from politics and power becoming millionaires. They also target several other ministers to show how corruption in politics has become pervasive.
The Socialists’ main policy proposal is the return to a progressive tax for personal income. They say that 95 percent of the population will profit from the move.
“Whoever lives on a salary should not think party affiliation, but should vote the Socialist Party to remove the flat tax,” Rama said at a recent rally. “Those who make less will pay less in taxes.”
And the pledges continue with turning the country’s economy into production, instead of one only offering services and importing most good.
The Socialists say the health system will be improved and be free and open to all. They say that the education system will be reformed to reach international standards and not simply serve as a diploma mill.
The Socialists also claim that within 300 days they will make the country safer, noting that there has been an increase in crime in the past two years. They accuse the government of not doing enough to fight crime and say some officials have criminal ties.
“Crime is out of control today,” Rama said at a recent campaign stop. “By voting for us on June 23, common Albanians will make the state police and will turn it into their service, protecting their lives and property.”
Independent analysts note that despite a recent rise in crime, Albania remains one of the safest countries in Europe, with crime statistics for cities like Tirana far lower than those of major EU hubs.
Legalization of the properties, including those built illegally, has been another key element used from both political groupings during the electoral campaign.
The two political groupings have also dedicated much of their attention to the immigrants; there are more than a million Albanian voters in nearby Italy and neighboring Greece. These migrant voter have been heavily courted by the parties. There were reports that the governing Democrats were offering free plane tickets to thousands of voters, while the opposition Socialists are making busing people in from Greece.
There are still fears that there may be manipulations in the voting system, starting with the voters’ list. There are some 300,000 registered voters who have no fixed address and that means that, like previous times, some of them may be used to cast ballots in more than one polling station.
The role of smaller political parties like that of the Socialist Movement for Integration on the left and the New Democratic Spirit Party on the right might become very important. According to polls, the two large political parties might not be able to form a coalition on their own.
“We are a political force that want decision-making to take place in parliament, to have a real state that represents its citizens and not simply the wills of party leaders,” former Albanian President and NDS leader Bamir Topi said at a recent campaign stop taking aim at Berisha and Rama.
Even if the Socialists or Democrats manage to get 71 seats in the 140-seat parliament, they still need the smaller groupings to create the three-fifth number of 84 votes when they have to pass many reforms and laws needed especially for the country’s reforms and requests in the integration process into the EU.
Economic woes worry voters
Albania’s economy has slowed down to a crawl in recent months. Though not technically in recession, with virtually no growth the results are the same.
Both the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development showed this week that the country will have a forecast of 1.8 or 1.6 percent growth this year. Experts say that when that figure is below 2 percent that practically means recession for the country’s tiny economy which needs to return to its previous 6 percent growth rate it saw years ago to effect change.
The crisis in Greece and Italy where most of the country’s migrant workers reside has had its negative impact in Albania. The figures of the remittances immigrants bring have diminished so much.
These two countries are also Albania’s main trading partners.
And moreover, the government has surpassed the 60 percent threshold of the budget deficit. Its last mentioned figures said it was 62.8 but other sources speak of 66 percent, which if true, would be the highest in the region. Meanwhile the government again increased public salaries and pensions by as much as 6 percent. It also reduced taxation in many products and areas, which can lead to a larger deficit.
The opposition claims the government has spent the entire annual budget in the first five months of the year and most of them for expenses related to the electoral campaign.
