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Albania Democracy and Governance Assessment

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Albania Democracy and Governance Assessment ALBANIA DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT Revised Version Submitted to: The U.S. Agency for International Development DCHA/DG Under USAID Contract No. DFD-I-00-04-00229-00 Democracy and Governance Analytical Services Prepared by: Democracy International, Inc. 4802 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 February 2006 Disclaimer The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 1 I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 3 A. ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES....................................................................................... 3 Organization of Report ..................................................................................................... 3 B. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.................................................................................... 4 The Legacy of Communism.............................................................................................. 4 Early Years of Transition.................................................................................................. 4 Elections and Change of Government in 2005 ................................................................. 5 C. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION ....................................................................................... 6 II. DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN ALBANIA .......................................................... 8 A. STATUS OF DEMOCRACY......................................................................................... 8 Consensus ......................................................................................................................... 8 Inclusion............................................................................................................................ 8 Competition....................................................................................................................... 9 Rule of Law....................................................................................................................... 9 Good Governance ............................................................................................................. 9 B. STATUS OF TRANSITION......................................................................................... 10 C. PRINCIPAL DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES ...................... 10 III. ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONAL ARENAS.................................................................... 12 A. RULE OF LAW AND THE LEGAL ARENA............................................................. 12 1. Legal Sector and Judiciary.......................................................................................... 12 2. Prosecutors and Police ................................................................................................ 13 3. Respect for Human Rights......................................................................................... 14 B. COMPETITIVE ARENA: ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL PROCESSES ............... 14 1. Election Process.......................................................................................................... 14 2. Political Parties .......................................................................................................... 18 3. Political and Campaign Finance ................................................................................ 20 4. Domestic Election Monitoring................................................................................... 20 C. GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................... 20 Issues for Analysis .......................................................................................................... 20 1. National Government/Executive Branch .................................................................... 21 2. Decentralization and Local Governance..................................................................... 22 3. Parliament .................................................................................................................. 24 D. CIVIL SOCIETY .......................................................................................................... 26 Civil Society and Government........................................................................................ 27 Civil Society and Anticorruption.................................................................................... 27 Other Civil Society Institutions ...................................................................................... 28 IV. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND CONSTRAINTS........................................................ 30 A. ANTICORRUPTION.................................................................................................... 30 B. OTHER CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES........................................................................... 31 C. ROLE OF DONORS..................................................................................................... 32 Goal of European Integration.......................................................................................... 32 Influence of the United States......................................................................................... 32 Donor Coordination ........................................................................................................ 33 Role of International Community in Elections ............................................................... 33 Role of the International Community in Parliamentary Affairs ..................................... 33 Constraints on USAID .................................................................................................... 34 V. TOWARD A NEW STRATEGY ....................................................................................... 35 A. GOVERNANCE ............................................................................................................ 35 Parliament ....................................................................................................................... 37 Local Government and Decentralization ........................................................................ 38 B. THE RULE OF LAW AND THE LEGAL ARENA .................................................... 39 C. ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES................................................................. 43 Elections.......................................................................................................................... 43 Political Parties ............................................................................................................... 44 D. CIVIL SOCIETY ........................................................................................................... 45 Existing Civil Society Programs..................................................................................... 45 Media .............................................................................................................................. 47 CLOSING OBSERVATION.............................................................................................. 47 ENDNOTES .......................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix: INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS CONSULTED ..................................... 49 Albania Democracy and Governance Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Despite its shortcomings, Albania qualifies as a democracy, even if that democracy remains to be consolidated. The transition from communism to democracy and a market economy has made great progress in 15 years. The risk of relapse into authoritarianism has receded, especially as the country looks toward integration into the European Union. Consensus and inclusion are not significant prob- lems. Although unnecessarily partisan and contentious, reasonable competition exists, in politics as well as in the economy and the larger society. Despite a number of problems, the 2005 elections marked an improvement over previous ones, and the opposition, notwithstanding its criticisms of the new government’s policies, does not contest the legitimacy of the ruling majority. But it is not entirely clear that Albania is still “in transition”—or in the process of democratic con- solidation. Rather the transition appears in many ways to have stalled. Notwithstanding reasonably successful elections and a transfer of power, Albanian democracy faces a number of persistent chal- lenges. These include corruption, the threat of state capture, the small size and weaknesses of the formal economy, the absence of the rule of law, and weak governance in general. Accordingly, the democracy and governance assessment team posits that the principal challenges to the consolidation of democracy in Albania are weak compliance with the law and poor governance. The rule of law in Albania is seriously lacking. The government, executive branch agencies, local governments, and politically powerful organizations and individuals often fail to follow or respect applicable laws and prescribed processes. Corruption, at all levels of society, is endemic. There are serious questions about
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