Sunday, March 23, 2025
The misuse of state resources in election campaigns is one of the main problems increasingly identified by reports of domestic and international observers during elections in Albania. One of these forms of misuse is the involvement of senior officials in political activities during the election campaign.
This report aims to analyze the legal framework for the candidacy of state officials and their direct engagement in political activities during election campaigns and to provide recommendations based on international best practices.
Some of the issues and recommendations are:
- Guaranteeing a clear separation between officials as political representatives and administrators of state functions
Recommendation: A provision could be added/envisaged in the legislation that regulates the functioning of the state administration that obliges senior officials (secretaries general, directors general of public institutions and state-owned enterprises) to resign within a certain period before and after running for office in order to avoid unfair advantage. This provision should be followed by sanctions for the disqualification of candidates from the multi-name list proposed by the electoral subject.
- Increasing transparency on the involvement of officials in the organization of the party election campaign
Recommendation: Within the framework of the law on ethics in public administration and the legislation on financial management and control, a legal or sub-legal mechanism could be envisaged to include detailed provisions prohibiting any official from using premises, vehicles, equipment, work tools and subordinate or contracted staff for political purposes. Also, stronger sanctions should be established for cases of violation of this rule. The Council of Ministers and the Department of Public Administration (DPA) should adopt a detailed regulation, defining the prohibitions and obligations for public administration employees during the campaign.
Recommendation: Increase public transparency on the activities of the administration and other public entities as well as financial reports that may be subject to further controls by the CEC or even special bipartisan parliamentary oversight committees.
This report was developed within the framework of the project “Strong Partnerships for Sustainable Reforms - Strengthening the Role of Civil Society in Addressing the Challenges of Free and Fair Elections”, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the MATRA program.
