By ȡpajev Gjokutaj*
Civil society, by virtue of being an advocate of citizens’ interests, is highly interested in the debate about reducing informality. Recent data that point to an overwhelming 40-50 percent of informality in the country economy show that half of the national revenues are not subject of redistribution and consequently do not contribute to the reduction of poverty, to the improvement of social services and to the living standards of Albanians in general.
The fight against informality is a process that encompasses many aspects but its success or failure will depend on two main variables: the need to guarantee a wide political and social support and the avoidance of the spontaneity by conceptualizing a systemic reform.
The government as the principal actor to coordinate the measures against informality is under the obligation to equilibrate the contributions form business actors, civil society, media and all other relevant ones.
Albanian informality is a quasi-endemic occurrence affecting vital sectors. Hence the recovery from this dangerous phenomenon can only be gradual. In this context the wide support of important factors, the participation of interest groups and transparency throughout the process are mandatory to guarantee its success. Simultaneously the fight against informality should not affect negatively the values of business and free enterprise- let alone destroying investment- but modify their relationship with institutional values.
The government is justified to consider economic informality as the main problem, especially fiscal evasion given its midterm concern of fulfilling electoral promises, which require more funds in the state budget.
However, the civil society actors view informality in a wider perspective and hence justify the civic concern to design a comprehensive and long-term reform that addresses all its aspects, ranging from blood-feuds (informal justice) to black labor (informal employment).
In the recent public discourse, frequent reference has been made to the phenomena of informality in the activities of political parties and especially to the relationships between sponsoring business and parties in times of electoral campaigns. Besides being non-transparent, these funds often come in the form of payment for future quid-pro-quo favors in decision-making such as tenders, and affect largely the law-making process.
In this context the “party- politics- business – electoral campaigns” informal schemes become very dangerous because it serves as a mechanism towards state capture. Fighting this sort of informality then becomes a priority for both the society and its institutions given the strategic importance of the decision-making process that it seeks to undermine.
The conceptualization of the anti-informality reform as an all-encompassing movement would require a comprehensive vision and would guarantee wider support from different components of the society. The public needs to perceive this fight as a systematic and upfront effort and not a segmented, guerrilla-like battle with no clear strategy.
* Executive director,
Soros Foundation Albania
