TIRANA, April 25 – With less than a week remaining from the deadline expiration for submitting selfdeclaration forms required under the recently adopted decriminalization law only a small percentage of public servants have done so. Only 7,500 public servants out of 20,000 have filled out the self-declaration forms which under the decriminalization law have to be completed before May 4, 2016. Sources from the Public Administration Department (PAD) say that all public servants who do not fill out these forms risk losing their job since the lawautomatically considers someone who doesn’t submit the form as a person having problems with the law.
According to the Minister for Innovation and Public Administration Milena Harito, the self-declaration process is proceeding slowly and that thousands of public servants are yet to hand in the forms with the deadline looming. The law makes it obligatory for all public officials in the country including the President, the central and local government, parliamentarians, military, public administration and the diplomatic service to fill out a self-declaration form containing eight questions concerning an official’s criminal record including the consent for providing finger prints.
False or withheld information means public officials lose their position and the right to be elected or nominated in the future, but it also constitutes a criminal offence subject to fines or imprisonment. A few days ago, the Minister of Innovation and Public Administration, Milena Harito, called on public servants to submit these forms before the deadline or face the consequences.
