Skip to main content

The Worst Performer

Yesterday, the World Bank issued the latest in their series of studies of corruption in transition countries, covering the period from 2002-2005. It's mostly bad news for Albania. "Albania...has instituted many cross-cutting anti-corruption reforms," but "Albania remains the worst performer among all transition countries."

The problem is not so much the weakness of institutions or the absence of a legislative framework but the absence of strong political leadership. The report, which is based on data gathered before the change of government last year, notes the significance of tackling corruption as a campaign theme:

The new Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha, who took office in September 2005...campaigned on a strong anticorruption platform and pledged that “uprooting corruption will be the first challenge for our new government. In Albania corruption has developed into a sophisticated system, with state capture, fiscal evasion and bribing at dramatic levels.” While not every leader who campaigns on an anticorruption platform necessarily follows through effectively if elected, strong and committed leadership can make a difference, as will be illustrated further in this report.
To my knowledge none of the major agencies dealing with the issue of corruption have produced reports on Albania covering the period since the election of the new government. But on the basis of my informal survey - that is, asking other expats and some locals whether they think there is a greater commitment to tackling corruption - my general impression is that the government is genuinely trying to deal with this issue.

If you want to know more, you can read the full report and the country data for Albania.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I would like to ask Our Man in Tirana a question - outside public view on this site. If it would be possible, please e-mail me dunhammassey@aol.com and I'll e-mail you my question. I think it will be a simple YES or NO answer. Nothing complicated - promise! Thanks.

Popular posts from this blog

Dy Rame Per Tirane

I was watching Top Channel last night, first the news, then Fiks Fare. According to them Tirana's citizens now have a choice not only between Rama and Olldashi, but also between Rama and Rama. A minor right-wing faction, Parti 'Balli Kombetar' , submitted papers to the election authorities registering their candidate, Akile Rama. The people on Fiks Fare got hold of the papers and sent a reporter and camera team to the address listed for Mr A Rama. After much ringing of the bell the gate was reluctantly opened by a middle-aged woman who refused to speak to the reporter and tried to close the gate on her. Back in the studio Saimiri and Doctori - the two presenters of Fiks Fare - revealed that Mr Akile Rama was 73 years old, in hospital, and did not know he was now a candidate for mayor. They also compared two documents - the papers submitted on his behalf, and a genuine document he had signed. The signatures were not even remotely similar. There was an interview with the lea

Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century

Another article on religion in Albania appeared yesterday. Patrick Poole, writing in the American Thinker , argues that Saudi funding for the construction of mosques and the training of imams is a threat to Albania, since these mosques and imams reflect the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.

Guide Turistike

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council , the future is bright for Albania. The Council ranks Albania ninth out of 174 countries for tourism growth over the next ten years. A summary of the Council's report is available, as is the full report complete with many pages of graphs, charts and spreadsheets. This summer I have seen a number of tourists on the streets of Tirana. Some of them may well be Albanian expats, or people of Albanian descent returning home to visit family, but others are genuine 'foreigners'. Judging from their appearance, they are probably best described as 'independent travellers' - the kind of people who are not interested in luxury hotels or crowded beaches. This is a good start, but independent travellers are not the kind of big spenders that the tourist industry likes. In the longer term, if Albania wants to bring in the kind of free-spending tourists who currently holiday in Croatia or Slovenia, there will have to be a huge invest