OSCE urges parliamentary ethics in Albania

TIRANA, July 17-Proper parliamentary ethics were the topic of a two-day conference held in Tirana earlier this week organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
The parliament has often turned into a difficult place, one where all Albanians see the harsh and ugly words that their elected people have chosen to talk to each other.
The OSCE in Tirana tried to impose that standards and regulations ensure parliamentary ethics, as well as their implications for the wider legislative, anti-corruption and integrity framework.
The event was organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Albanian Assembly, with support by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and funds from Germany. Participants in the conference included Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff, experts in the field of ethics, and representatives from other state institutions and the international community.
The conference aimed to facilitate a discussion about parliamentary ethical standards and codes, a fundamental issue at the core of Albania’s reform efforts and of the OSCE Presence’s mandate to promote democratization and consolidation of democratic institutions in the country.
Albanian politics has shown in the last two decades that it is very difficult, not to say impossible, that the two sides manage to reach an agreement on their own.
All the experience of the more than two post-communist decades show that the local politics always needs a mediator that comes from the international community to reach any agreement that is fundamental for the country’s development. The Head of the OSCE Presence, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, said: “Albanian citizens rightly expect that their elected representatives abide by high ethical standards when acting in the public interest. Politics is also about moral integrity.”
“The hard work and dedication shown by the Albanian Assembly’s leadership from all political sides has contributed to progress in revising rules and procedures. It must now lead to the next step: the development of standards of parliamentary ethics and codes. I would thus like to encourage Members of Parliament to begin discussions towards a Code of Parliamentary Ethics,” he added.
Political developments these days also show such a lack of trust among the Albanian opticians. It tis the ambassadors from the European Union, the U.S. and the OSCE who make daily trips to leaders of the two main political groupings trying to impose on them the idea that integration into the European Union means not only good words but also deeds and such a work is done jointly. The reforms that the country needs are always held based on a good compromise between them, or they fail.
“Albanian citizens rightly expect – and, let me emphasize, they deserve – that that their elected representatives abide by high ethical standards when acting on their behalf, in the people’s interest. Politics is about moral integrity, too. In Albania, in Europe, and in the world,” said Wollfarth.
Parliamentary reform is a fundamental issue that the country should fulfill in time for the EU candidate status ahead this autumn. If duly applied and observed, a code of ethics would greatly enhance the public image of the Assembly both at home and abroad.