“Albania, hybrid regime”

“The conduct of elections in past years has heavily affected political and institutional developments in the country. The existing hostile political climate and failure to progress in the EU integration process is a direct result of the disputed 2009 electoral process. The next general elections, scheduled for 23 June 2013, will be a crucial test for Albanian democracy and the functioning of core institutions”, the report says.

These are the seven points of the report: 1. National Democratic Governance, 2. Electoral Process, 3. Civil Society, 4. Independent Media, 5. Local Democratic Governance, 6. Judicial Framework and Independence, 7. Corruption. The highest evaluation is 1 and the lowest is 7. As regards the Electoral Process, the points remain unchanged at 4.25. For the judicial system, Freedom House writes that “Albania’s judicial institutions continued to suffer from political pressure and interference in 2012. The general prosecutor, Ina Rama, was removed through a contentious legal interpretation on the length of her term, and a new one was appointed. Rama had repeatedly investigated senior government figures accused of corruption and other abuses, earning the enmity of the prime minister. Some legal reforms affecting the judicial system were approved by the parliament during the year, while other key laws are still pending.”

The Freedom House report mentions the murder of a judge in Vlore, in 2011, saying that the motives of this crime still remain unknown. The evaluation for this point remain unchanged at 4/75.

As regards corruption, the report says: “Although anticorruption efforts are a key component of Albania’s EU integration requirements, they continue to yield poor results due to a lack of political will and institutional enforcement.”

The report for corruption continues: “Citing insufficient evidence, the Supreme Court in January acquitted former deputy prime minister Ilir Meta of corruption charges, bringing an end to a notorious case that had set off violent opposition protests a year earlier. Later in the year, similar charges against former economy minister Dritan Prifti were also dropped.”

The report also mentions the diploma taken by the son of an Italian politician, Bossi, which showed that the education inspections are very weak. For this reason the evaluation falls from 5 to 5.25.

As for the National Democratic Governance, the evaluation has fallen from 4.75 to 5. The report writes that “Despite making progress on some relevant legislative reforms, Albania was denied EU candidate status for the third year in a row. Overall economic indicators worsened as a result of troubled efforts to privatize key companies and weak foreign direct investment.”

As for the local government, the report says: “Local governments are weak, fragmented, and subject to political manipulation by the central government, compromising their ability to function and provide basic services.” The evaluation for this point has gone from 3.25 to 3.5.

As for the Civil Sector, the evaluation of which has not changed to 3, the report says: The civil society sector in Albania remains relatively weak in several respects, including organizational capacity, internal democratic governance, public trust, and influence in policymaking. The sector’s performance is also compromised by unclear tax and financial regulations, increasing challenges regarding financial sustainability, and poor cooperation and coordination among different groups. Civil society outside the capital remains especially underdeveloped. Labor unions are also weak, and both the authorities and private companies are typically hostile to organizing and collective-bargaining efforts. Nevertheless, there were some signs of a rise in civic activism during 2012, particularly on the rights of former political prisoners, the improvement of working conditions for miners, waste import policies, and the rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people. Albania’s civil society rating remains unchanged at 3.00.

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