TIRANA TIMES
TIRANA, June 30 – Freedom House’s Annual Survey Nations in Transit has included Albania this year. The 2010 report – covering events of 2009 – tracks democratic developments and setbacks of 29 countries in the former Communist states of Europe and Eurasia.
The report says that two decades after the collapse of the Communist regime in late 1990, Albania has achieved some positive results in terms of Euro-Atlantic integration. Albania is a member of NATO as of April 4, 2009. The Stabilization and Association Agreement signed by Albania with the European Union (EU) in 2006 entered into force in April 2009, and the procedure for considering the country’s application for EU membership has officially started.
Elections
It pays special attention to the parliamentary general elections held in Albania on June 28, 2009, which were considered a positive achievement, meeting almost all of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) election standards. However, irregularities were noticed in the vote counting procedure, as well as misuse of public administration and public goods.
These problems were enough of a setback for the opposition parties to disagree with the overall assessment of the general elections, it continues.
The Socialist Party (SP) chose to boycott the Parliament and, later, the partial local elections held in November. The political conflict is yet to be resolved and is practically blocking the country’s much-needed reforms along its integration path toward the European Union.
Albanian society remains heavily affected by the country’s political polarization; politics influence the judicial system, media, and civil society, thus hindering the country’s progress toward the consolidation of democracy.
It says that the Socialist Party boycott of parliamentary proceedings has greatly hindered the functioning of Parliament, and has crated an impasse in state institutions.
Albania’s national democratic governance rating worsened from 4.25 to 4.50. Albania’s electoral process rating remained at 3.75.
Civil Society
Albanian civil society is at a crossroads and lags behind its peers in the region. Scarce financial resources, high donor dependence, and a substantial decrease in advocacy activities are some explanations for this stagnation, as well as decreased membership in associations and networks and the lack of capacity of NGOs in both urban and rural areas, according to the report. Albania’s civil society rating remains at 3.00.
Independent Media
Albanian media have advanced in terms of technology, but the legislative framework covering free media is not yet complete. This lack of legal framework combined with little transparency in the funding of print and electronic media favors the interests of media owners and politicians rather than the public interest, and similarly hampers editorial quality.
Reform of the public service broadcaster has stalled. Cases of violence against journalists have been sporadic, yet investigative journalism remains under threat
Owing to increasing intimidation of investigative journalism and the influence of politics over media regulatory bodies, Albania’s independent media rating worsens from 3.75 to 4.00.
Local Democratic Governance
The polarization of political life at the central level of governance has had a negative impact on the work of municipal councils. The decentralization process is ongoing yet hampered by cuts to local budgets. Albania’s local democratic governance rating worsens from 2.75 to 3.00.
Judicial Framework and Independence
The judicial system in Albania is not entirely independent, and Albania lacks an overall strategy for judicial reform. The government continues to take actions to intimidate judges and prosecutors while bringing politically sensitive cases to court.
Albania’s judicial framework and independence rating remains unchanged at 4.25.
Corruption
Corruption continues to be a widespread phenomenon in Albania, and the perception of corruption in various public services remains high. Government efforts to tackle corruption have stalled at the strategy stage or are only selectively applied. Furthermore, the government’s anti-corruption strategy lacks a concrete timetable and mechanisms. Immunity of high officials continues to be an obstacle in the fight against corruption.
Albania’s corruption rating remains at 5.00.
