A political and institutional vision for a normal Albania

• A country where the powers are separated and check one another,
• where authoritarianism is prevented by legal and institutional structures,
• where the economy does not depend on politics and private enterprise is free and protected from arbitrariness,
• where the economy produces and is not choked by drug money, where citizens are equal before the law,
• where private property is sacred and guaranteed,
• where justice is swift, fair and equal for all,
• where citizens can build a dignified life without having their eyes set on emigration,
• where education, healthcare and other public services guarantee quality.

The platform below is built on two fundamental principles:

The country’s problems can be identified at two levels.

The first is that of the everyday problems citizens face:

• Prices and the high cost of living.
• Insufficient wages and pensions.
• People abandoning the country, and especially young people leaving.
• Corruption and injustice.
• Weak education and healthcare.
• Lack of opportunities.
• Insecurity about the future.
• The trampling of citizens’ dignity.

The second is the level of the deep causes that create the problems above:

• The accumulation of almost all powers in the hands of one party and even of a single individual, and as a result authoritarianism and political and economic monopoly in every sector.
• The blocking of the opposition’s activity.
• Arbitrariness, abuse and the control of the party-state over the economy.
• Putting the state at the service of the private interests of the government, its clients and organised crime.

The problem:

High prices, low wages, a high cost of living.

Causes of the problem: the monopolisation of the economy, taxes that do not produce quality public services, a large flow of illegal money that chokes competition and raises prices, especially for housing.

We believe the standard of living is not raised by controlling prices, but by encouraging economic development through the fight against monopolies and the encouragement of competition. Honest work must be rewarded and must make a normal life possible.

The solution is a radical change of the economic model, from an economy controlled by the government’s clients and dependent on the laundering of drug money in construction and tourism, into an economy that produces and exports.

Fundamental principles:

• Rule of law, equal rules and a ban on favouritism.
• Economic growth determined by the market and not by government plans.
• Resolution of property problems, including fair legalisation, especially in the North and the coastal areas of the South. Property must be protected from laws such as the Mountain Package law, which gives priority to the government-backed investor over the owner.
• Low taxation that encourages development, with a broad base, simple and stable over a long period.
• Controlled public spending in the service of public services. A reduction in the size of the administration.

Concrete measures:

• Eliminating the monopolies created by the government.
• Where technical monopolies (e.g. mining) are unavoidable, there must be competition, transparency and public control over their exploitation, as well as a guarantee of benefit to the local community and the state.
• A strong reduction of the civil administration and of its unnecessary spending.
• Lower taxes and duties, aiming at a flat tax, accompanied by a reduction in state spending and the elimination of abuses. Tax cuts must take into account fiscal competition with the region.
• Preparing businesses to adapt to EU directives and standards as part of integration.
• A ban on routine inspections of businesses. Inspections must be carried out only when institutions have indications of a violation. The red flag criteria must be transparent and public.
• A serious fight against the laundering of illegal money, especially in construction.
• Abolishing taxes on housing rents to lower rents and to improve the cost competitiveness of tourism relative to the region.
• Policies to encourage the use of new information technologies.
• Review and, where possible, cancellation of PPP contracts that privilege and guarantee profits for the private party. A ban on contracts with guaranteed profit in the future.
• Reducing or abolishing the taxes and duties that artificially raise the cost of construction.
• Stable urban development plans that cannot be changed to favour the government’s clients.
• Strict control of the source of the money used to buy apartments, to make money laundering harder.
• Steering construction towards multipolar urban centres, with suitable infrastructure and the necessary public services preceding urban development.
• Creating a Cost of Living Index defined with a clear and constant methodology by a collaboration between civil society and INSTAT. The index is measured and published every 6 months.
• Lowering VAT on basket products, at least to the regional average.
• Removing the double turnover tax in the cost of fuel or in the annual vehicle taxes.
• Lowering the penalising tariffs for fast chargers of electric cars.
• Preventing coordinated price-setting strategies in oligopoly situations.
• Making it easier to obtain a permit to install solar panels.
• Fair exchange of surplus energy produced by individuals or companies, without favouring the public operator.
• Open competition for public transport and not permanent monopolies.
• Public investment in intercity railways and those that connect the country with its neighbours.

Education and healthcare:

• Raising the teacher’s authority in the classroom. The teacher is protected from interference by parents, school heads and politics.
• New curricula in line with Western curricula and not simplifications of them.
• Applying the principle “The money follows the pupil”, that is, setting a voucher that the family uses for the child’s schooling, whether public or private, combined with financial support for outstanding pupils or students who cannot afford schooling and the cost of living during their studies.
• Study scholarships for students who choose the fields of study that prepare the teachers of the future, just as is done for students of the Police Academy.
• Easing the legal conditions for hiring teachers in specific subjects who do not meet the classic criteria, especially for technical subjects such as those of new technologies.
• Easing the bureaucratic burden of the teacher’s work.
• An absolute ban on engaging teachers in political campaigns at the request of local education heads.
• Full autonomy of public universities; decisions taken by the university.
• The control and financial audit of public universities must be carried out with full transparency by institutions independent of the government.
• Unifying decision-making in public universities instead of the split between the rector and the administrator.
• Priority of the senate in decision-making over financial administration.
• Inclusiveness and open consultation of all parties on important decisions.
• Increasing investment in scientific research according to the country’s priorities.

• A ban on abusive concessions in healthcare. PPP projects, if they are unavoidable, must be built on fair competition and maximum transparency. The state must not guarantee the private party’s profit, and financing must reflect economic logic and not private interests.
• Eliminating pharmaceutical and healthcare service monopolies.
• Applying the quality criteria for medicines and equipment set by EU directives.
• A ban on trading medicines that are not licensed in EU countries.
• Investment in university programmes that train pharmacists, doctors and nurses.
• Protecting health authorities from political influence.

The problem:

Currently officials bear no responsibility for the damage they cause to the budget and to citizens. This happens because of political and legal protection. We believe damage must be prevented with legal instruments that set individual responsibility for those who cause it.

Proposed solutions:

Political and administrative responsibility:

• An obligation to resign for officials who cause deliberate damage to the state.
• A ban on rehiring in the public administration of officials who cause damage to the state.
• Officials who do not respect the legal obligation to give information to the media are dismissed automatically.
• Officials who hire or dismiss civil servants in violation of the law are dismissed automatically and pay the damage caused by the court cases.
• Superiors who do not dismiss officials who commit the above violations are also dismissed.

Financial responsibility:

• Seizure of the unjustified assets of senior officials within reasonable suspicion.
• An official who knowingly causes damage to the state or to third parties is obliged to compensate this damage from his own finances.

The problem:

The party in power controls most of the powers. The majority has reduced and obstructed the rights of the opposition, including the right to parliamentary inquiry committees, interpellations, debate on various issues, etc. The party in power has full control over the independent agencies and also influences the justice system.

Proposals:

Elections:

• Adopting a new electoral code that guarantees fairer and more equal representation of citizens. Our proposal is national proportional representation, with pre-election coalitions, for a parliament of 140 members.
• Local elections to have a second round if in the first round none of the candidates receives 50%+1 of the votes.
• Automatic control of election campaign financing and concrete criminal measures against violators under the laws in force.
• Serious financial penalties for parties that violate the relevant laws regulating the conduct of elections

Parliamentary life:

• A legal guarantee for the opposition to set up parliamentary inquiry committees without needing the approval of the majority. The committee is considered established once a request is filed by one quarter of the members of parliament. The Parliament’s administration has only the task of verifying the mandates. If a short deadline (e.g. 1 week) is exceeded, the committee is considered established and the person who delayed the verification is criminally liable for the delay and/or is dismissed.
• Mandatory periodic interpellations of the prime minister (e.g. once a month) as well as mandatory interpellations in the event of extraordinary situations.
• Mandatory interpellations of ministers if requested by at least 10 members of parliament. In case of a delay beyond a reasonable deadline of a few days, the minister is considered dismissed.
• The possibility of a no-confidence motion in parliament against a particular minister without bringing down the whole government.
• A Parliamentary Budget Office with a balanced membership between members/experts proposed by the majority and the opposition. This office will report to parliament and to the public the cost of legislative initiatives and of agreements proposed for ratification by Parliament.
• A clear and detailed limit on the adoption of laws through an accelerated procedure and making them conditional on approval by a qualified majority. Also a legal obligation to review these laws after a set period.
• The opposition appoints the head of the Public Finance Oversight Committee.
• A constitutional ban on adopting laws intended to bring benefits to an individual or a company. Laws that benefit narrow categories are adopted only by a qualified majority.

Independent institutions:

• Single terms of 6-7 years with no right to re-election.
• Excluding the institution from defining the legal framework of its own functioning.
• The election and dismissal of the heads of these institutions is done by a qualified majority.
• The Ombudsman is proposed by the opposition. The majority chooses among the candidacies proposed by the opposition.
• The appointments of heads are spread over time so that one government cannot appoint all the heads at the same time.
• Autonomy and a budget set by law. Failing to respect autonomy or blocking the budget brings criminal liability for the responsible official.

The problem:

For 36 years justice in Albania has been seen as a rotten link of governance: corrupted and few professional magistrates, delays, and justice distanced from the citizen. Unclear laws have dragged cases out for years at the doors of the court. The justice reform of 2016 tried to change the system, but the results after 10 years show that the problems of the judiciary remain. We still have severe delays in court cases, the quality of court decisions still leaves much to be desired, the integrity of judges remains doubtful, and politics and the party in power try by every means to control the judiciary, the principle of checks and balances is not applied, and the Constitution is amended only for political interests.

• Strengthening the role of the judge and the prosecutor.
• Reducing the backlog of delayed files by increasing the number of magistrates and by giving professionals of the justice system with over 20 years of work the chance to compete to become magistrates at all levels.
• Financial guarantees for the judicial system.
• Reactivating the office for administering the judicial budget, as a direct means of making the judiciary independent.
• Merging the two councils, KLP and KLGJ, into one Council of Magistrates. Today the KLGJ and KLP have become almost non-functional bodies that are dragging out appointments in the judiciary.
• Strengthening the role of the General Prosecutor’s Office by intervening in the legal package of justice.
• Making the School of Magistrates independent of political influence.
• Assessment of the judge by the community of jurists, elections within the judiciary, court heads to be chosen by judges.
• Protecting judges from political attacks and establishing a career guarantee within the judiciary, independent of politics.
• Strengthening the role of the lawyer in the investigative and judicial process through legal amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, as a means of guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms.

In conclusion:

• The judiciary must be freed from the interference of politics.
• The system must deliver swift and high-quality justice.
• The careers of magistrates must be guaranteed.
• The General Prosecutor’s Office must take on the managing role.
• The judiciary must have broad financial independence.

Vision.

Albania must move from a fragmented and reactive system to an Integrated National Security System that anticipates risks, prevents crises, protects citizens and turns its commitments to NATO and the EU into measurable capabilities.

• An integrated national security architecture. Reform of the National Security Council; a Permanent Technical and Analytical Secretariat; a framework law for the security system; mandatory procedures for information sharing; coordination with Parliament; periodic review of strategies.
• A National Centre for Resilience and Strategic Warning. Creation of a permanent structure for multi-risk assessment, early warning, drawing up scenarios and response alternatives, analysis of critical dependencies and coordination of complex crises. The Centre will bring together defence, public order, intelligence, civil protection, health, energy, transport, finance and cybersecurity.
• Increasing defence capabilities in line with risks and challenges. Albania must be able to defend itself, including independently, in a scenario where partners face difficulties, in order to guarantee our security.
• Increasing the defence budget in line with NATO objectives.
• Coordinated and cross-sector prevention of the negative influence of foreign actors.
• National service and a functional reserve. Assessment of a model of military or civilian service, training in civil protection and specialised profiles in cyber, communications, engineering and logistics.
• Integrity of procurement and protection of national assets. An inventory and register of strategic assets; legal designation of protected or inalienable assets.
• Proactive crisis management and strategic reserves. Tested plans in every municipality; integrated warning systems; at least two national tests a year; continuity plans for critical institutions; an auditable inventory of reserves of up to 3-6 months.
• A return to active diplomacy and to Albania’s regional role. Foreign policy must be linked to national security, Euro-Atlantic integration, preventive diplomacy, energy, critical minerals and secure investment.
• An Albania-Kosovo strategic axis. Creation of a permanent mechanism of political and security consultation between Tirana and Pristina. Tirana must mediate when asked, avoid party interference and maintain a predictable national position.
• North Macedonia and Albanians in the region. Support for stability, inter-ethnic cohesion, implementation of the Ohrid Agreement and the institutional rights of Albanians, through state diplomacy and not party influence. Regional cooperation must focus on borders, migration, critical infrastructure, disasters and the fight against foreign interference.
• Diplomatic integrity and protection of information. Periodic security reassessment of personnel with access to classified information; of counterintelligence and cooperation with partner services.
• European integration must be an internal transformative process, not a formal adoption of EU directives and rules. We must move to the phase of putting reforms into practice, especially in the field of the rule of law, the democratic functioning of institutions and the transformation of the Albanian economy into a competitive economy.

01 Clear responsibilities

• A review of the responsibilities for developing the territory, removing overlaps and linking responsibilities to financial and human resources in an effort to raise efficiency in decision-making.
• For projects with a large public impact, the technical review should be independent of the proposer and published before the decision. The approving institution should not be the only checker that the public interest is met.

02 Neighbourhood-scale planning

• Development should be conditional on meeting the neighbourhood’s needs for infrastructure and public services. Every change to the plan should come with public justification, a comparison of alternatives and consultation with residents before approval.

03 Clarity over ownership

• A national digital map and a shared property archive, with responsibility for updating and correcting discrepancies. For the transfer of state or municipal assets into private use or ownership, the benefit to the community and the guarantees for delivering it should be published in advance.
• The expansion of the right of foreigners to buy land should be considered only after the state fulfils its obligations of recognition, restitution and compensation to citizens.

04 Public space and the quality of the urban environment

• Increasing urban density should be conditional on public spaces in proportion to the added population, without reducing existing ones. Investment to improve the urban environment should be directed to the neighbourhoods with the highest exposure to pollution, noise and lack of public spaces.

05 Protected heritage

• The assessment of heritage should involve the community, linking physical protection with the preservation of community uses. Review before the decision and examination of appeals before irreversible interventions should be guaranteed.

06 Nature and safety

• Development limits arising from natural resources and risk should not be bypassed through changes of land use or special procedures. Environmental limits set at plan level should be linked to project assessment, through shared data on the load from existing and approved developments.

07 Infrastructure that connects

• The approval of investments should prioritise connecting settlements, public transport and local networks. Targets for travel time, safety and the affordability of services should be approved together with the investment.

08 Architecture for users

• For projects with a large public impact, needs should be defined with the users and alternatives should be reviewed independently before approval. Before demolition, renovation and reuse should be compared with new construction on cost, environmental impact and the needs they meet.

09 Balanced regional development

• Territorial organisation should follow the principles of regional development. These structures should be given clear responsibilities and multi-year funding for inter-municipal investment, with representation of municipalities in decision-making to reduce regional inequalities in the country.

The current government is the architect and guarantor of a self-generating system of abuse: the government provides favours and protection for its clients and organised crime, while the latter provide the support needed to collect votes and keep power going.

Justice, though not fully perfect nor fully free of government influence, does its job with results that are nonetheless very useful, supported by international partners.

The mass protests showed the readiness of citizens to bring down the system in question.

BUT THE GOVERNMENT CAN ONLY BE CHANGED BY VOTE.

For this reason we consider the following essential:

The cooperation of every opposition energy in a single front to bring down the government. This front would include: all opposition parties without exception, representatives of the protest, individuals with integrity and competence, as well as opposition organisations in civil society.

Specifically we propose:

• The opposition’s insistence in Parliament on changing the current electoral code with these elements: a national proportional electoral system with pre-election coalitions in a parliament of 140 members.
• The demand to apply the runoff already in the local elections of May 2027.
• A joint opposition candidate for mayor for every municipality in the next elections. In case of disagreement, the candidate should be determined with the help of impartial polls, especially for Tirana.
• Proposing joint lists for the members of municipal councils.
• Maximum engagement in parliament, in the square, in the media and with international partners to replace the current government with a caretaker government that would impartially prepare early parliamentary elections.
• A joint list of candidates for the next parliamentary elections. This list must include candidates acceptable to the voters of each of the parties, possibly also determined by public polls.
• If the principle of partly closed lists is applied again, then these should be used to promote figures with capacity, integrity and reputation from civil society.
• A joint, consensual opposition strategy and programme for dismantling the clientelist system of government/profiting businesses/organised crime.

The Dialogue Forum will commit to making this strategy possible, as it has done before.