Surveys show Albanians do not trust their political class. The upcoming local administrative elections could provide some measurable data to see how that mistrust translates on voting day.
By ANDI BALLA
aballa@tiranatimes.com
Albanians are worried about the economy and jobs, and they want those in power to find solutions. However, many voters have little faith in the political class and its ability to resolve problems, outside the cases when political parties serve as direct employment agencies for their activists. In addition, many Albanians have also created a sort of an allergic reaction to political involvement due to pervasive negative perceptions and mistrust about the political parties and their leaders.
That sour mood has been captured by several surveys, the most comprehensive and recent of which is an annual report by the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute, which took a snapshot of views at the end of 2014, with trends likely to endure under the current conditions.
The survey’s findings are unflattering for the country’s political class, which Albanians believe “features lack of meritocracy and persistent corruption,” according to the survey.
These findings, which were released a couple of months ago, are an important indicator of the lack of general trust in the political class among Albanians, as voters prepare to make up their minds on who to support in the local administrative elections, which are now just two weeks away.
Pre-election polls, the accuracy of which has varied in the past, have gained a lot of attention over who they put ahead, but there is little attention on the other fact they reveal – many Albanians are undecided. Another figure that does not show in the polls is the number of Albanians who have decided not to vote at all.
The reason these two groups could turn out to be large can be explained by the NDI survey’s findings. Many Albanian voters don’t trust the political class, and potential voters often don’t like the choices they are being given at the ballot box. For the past three years, the same NDI report has consistently indicated Albanians’ “disappointment with the overall negative political climate” and the fact that “mistrust of parties is pervasive.”
But why don’t more Albanians become politically active to change things? “The participants claim that the perception of politics as ‘dirty business’ makes them reluctant to consider joining a political party,” the report notes.
The general mood was best captured by one Shkodra resident who told NDI survey takers: “I can’t commit myself to any party. When you enter politics the most successful person is the one who is a better liar.”
As the current municipal election campaign fills the airwaves with promises that vary from doable to ambitious to completely unattainable, candidates and the parties they represent should know that Albanian voters, based on the survey, say that “keeping promises” is, by far, one of the biggest expectations of political parties. They also express disappointment that parties often fail to do so.
One of the greatest concerns citizens raise is that they are not consulted when the major coalitions select candidates. In essence, voters often don’t like the choices they are being given, and they have no say in the candidates’ selection.
The report reserved some of the harshest findings for the quality of the current parliament, which was selected through a closed-list system – one seen by many voters as a serious erosion of their democratic rights to select their representatives. Since 2008, the party leaders have had complete control of who gets to be a member of parliament by compiling closed lists for each region. Voters are then given the choice of voting for the list or not. Loyalty to the party leader and deep pockets to finance campaigns have often superseded the meritocracy of the candidates on the list, critics charge.
In the upcoming local administrative elections, there are strong indications the candidates for mayors were again selected from party headquarters rather than through internal and local party democracy. The campaign is also having a national flavor to it, when many of the problems Albanian cities and towns face are hyper-local.
There are no immediate solutions to be offered in the short time ahead of the local elections, but there is plenty of time for the political class to reflect and change in the future.
These upcoming elections will give some measurable data to see if the mistrust surveys captures will translate to the ballot box. One indicator, which would be positive for Albanian democracy, might be a higher number of Albanians who vote for quality independent candidates. Other indicators, that are negative for the democratic process, would be a lower-than-usual voter turnout or a high number of ballots made purposefully invalid by voters angry with a perceived lack of quality choices.
