Page 11 - SE Outlook Regions 2022

1.0 Political outlook

1.1 Politics - Albania

The general election in April 2021 put Edi Rama’s Socialist Party back
in power for another four years. As the party’s third term —
unprecedented in post-communist Albania — gets underway, however,
the focus is on the ructions within the opposition Democratic Party,
where former party leader and ex-president of Albania Sali Berisha is
trying to unseat his successor Lulzim Basha.

The rivalry between the two came to a head on January 8 when
supporters of Berisha gathered outside the Democrats’ headquarters in
Tirana. Protesters used a sledgehammer to break down the doors of
the building while others scaled the walls with ladders. Berisha and his
allies have now been expelled from the party but the former president
has not given up his efforts to wrest control from Basha.

With the Socialists holding another majority in parliament, the
Democrats in disarray and the Democratic League of Socialists (LSI)
almost wiped out as a parliamentary party in the 2021 general election,
there are valid concerns about the lack of an effective opposition in the
country.

In Albania’s confrontational politics, accusations of authoritarianism by
the opposition can be taken with some scepticism but it’s worth noting
that concerns about state capture have been raised by Transparency
International, while Albania’s democracy score declined in the latest
Nations in Transit report from Freedom House.

The Socialists made a strong start on fighting corruption when they first
came to power in 2013 after it had been allowed to flourish under
Berisha’s last government. More recently, however, there have been
signs of backsliding especially in the awarding of lucrative public-private
partnership (PPP) contracts, many of them issued after unsolicited
proposals from private companies, a process criticised by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international observers.

Meanwhile, as well as seeing the country through the pandemic and
continuing with reconstruction after the deadly earthquake of 2019,
Rama’s latest government has set numerous tasks for its third term, as
outlined in a speech by the premier in September 2021.

Concerning the earthquake, Rama said 2022 “should close the entirety
of all earthquake wounds”. Until those made homeless by the quake get
their new homes, all affected families will continue to receive rent
payments from the state.

The Socialists also announced reforms to the police force, including
digitalising the State Police, strengthening the Security Academy and
further reducing the average age of the police force.

In the health sector, which continues to battle with the pandemic, the

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