TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
AIS Newsletter April 2024
Electoral Projections: Existing legal provisions obstruct new political alternatives, invalidating 21% of active voters and undermining the fundamental principle of representation The State Budget revised through Special Laws; AIS expresses concern: the Executive overtakes the Parliament’s PowersDoing Business in Albania: Open Corporates Albania discloses information over newly established companies in 2023, based on their Origin of Capital
Electoral Projection: Existing legal provisions obstruct new political alternatives, invalidating 21% of active voters and undermining the fundamental principle of representation.
21% of active voters support electoral subjects that, paradoxically, struggle to secure even a single seat in the Parliament. This translates to roughly 280,800 active voters potentially facing the prospect of being deprived of representation. The current Electoral System, Legal Provisions, Formula, and Administrative Division contribute to this issue. The current electoral formula effectively nullifies a large number of votes cast for small parties and emerging political alternatives, who, instead, convert into advantage to Established Major Parties. Our Data Analysts have conducted a projection of election outcomes using data from past Local Elections (2023). If the same parties participate in the 2025 Election and receive identical vote counts as they did in May 2023, the existing legal provisions will result in a distribution of MP mandates, in which the largest party, despite only securing 44% of the participating voters, commands a qualified majority of 84 MPs, representing 60% of all mandates. Read Projection. AIS expresses concern over the failure of the Parliamentary Commission for Electoral Reform to address this issue and emphasizes the need for legal provisions that uphold the Principle of Representation and ensure a fair division of mandates.
The State Budget revised through Special Laws; AIS expresses concern: the Executive overtakes the Parliament’s powers
A regular legislative process and oversight of the budget by the Parliament. This is the opinion often reiterated by the AIS organization, but more recently articulated during the consultation process of the National Strategy for the Management of Public Finances, a consultation freshly organized by the Ministry of Finance. AIS advocates against revising the State Budget through Special Laws drafted by the Council of Ministers, without a regular legislative process in the Parliament. Over the years, the Law on the State Budget has been subject of numerous amendments during the year, through Normative Acts with legal authority. This practice, unless executed in emergency scenarios, contravenes the principle of Separation of Powers and undermines Transparency and Accountability in Public Finances, bypassing the Parliament’s role on the Oversight of Budget. AIS has consistently expressed concern regarding this phenomenon, emphasizing that significant revisions to Budget allocations and National Accounts are carried out without due Parliamentary scrutiny or debate. Another concern conveyed is the need for increased reporting and monitoring in the Concessions/ Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) sector, particularly concerning PPPs financed by the State Budget.
Doing business in Albania: Open Corporates Albania discloses information over newly established companies in 2023, based on their Origin of Capital, with Italian capital leading.
For the third consecutive year, Data.Al discloses information regarding the Origin of Capital and Ownership for companies registered in our country. In 2023, a total of 4,125 business companies were registered, marking an increase from the previous year's figure of 3,608 registrations. A total of 914 business companies were registered in 2023 with capital of foreign origin, worth of 12.4 billion ALL (equivalent to 121.6 million euros). Additionally, 217 business companies were identified with a mix of domestic and foreign capital. Italy emerges as the leading country in terms of both registered businesses and capital for the year 2023, asserting its longstanding dominance in the Albanian business sector. In 2023, 386 Italian Businesses held 39% of the overall formally invested capital. The company with the most sizeable capital invested for the year is also of Italian origin. After Italy, Turkey, Kosovo dhe Gjermany rank among the top contributors. Company registrations for 2023 also include businesses with capital originating from distant countries such as Syria, Bangladesh, Kuwait, and Yemen. Illustrated data on Business and Ownership can be accessed through the open data database created by AIS, OpenCorporatesAlbania.
Albanian Institute of Science
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