Volume 7 Number 3

Summer 1998

Constitution Watch
     A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR

Albania
     A draft of the long-awaited Albanian Constitution has been drawn up and has received the approbation of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission. The draft will now be sent to the Kuvend Popullore (People’s Assembly, or parliament) and, if approved by a two-thirds vote, will be put to a public referendum, which presently is scheduled for November 22, 1998. The communist-era Constitution of 1976 was repealed in April 1991. Since then Albania has operated according to a set of constitutional laws, known as the “Major Constitutional Provisions,” that were considered transitional. Many drafts of a new constitution were worked on between 1991 and 1995, but of them, only a 1994 draft had been submitted for popular approval. It was rejected in a nationwide referendum on November 6, 1994. After the new government took office in the summer of 1997, the process of drafting a constitution was again initiated. Parliamentary Decision No. 339, dated September 3, 1997, established a Constitutional Commission to begin the drafting process once again. The opposition Union for Democracy, a coalition led by former president Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party (DP), had boycotted the commission and the entire drafting process, although some non-DP members of the coalition have attended occasional meetings. The DP has now proposed a roundtable to discuss the draft, and the other parties have reportedly agreed to this in the hope of bringing Albania’s long constitution-writing saga to a successful conclusion.

     The draft currently under consideration by the parliament envisions a single-chamber assembly with at least 140 members. According to the draft, the election of deputies is to be conducted according to a two-tier system in which two-thirds of the deputies will be elected in single-member electoral districts and the remaining deputies will be elected nationwide, according to party lists based on of the overall proportion of votes a party receives. (The threshold for entering parliament is still under discussion and may be 3 or 4 percent.) As that office is outlined in the draft, the president has the powers commonly held in most parliamentary republics, although they are limited in comparison to the current, interim arrangements. The proposed provisions describe the basic functions of a head of state: setting the date for national parliamentary elections, exercising the right of pardon, naming judges on the proposal of the High Council of Justice, accepting diplomatic credentials, and approving legislation. The president may veto a law only once.

     Parliament elects the president with a three-fifths majority to serve a five-year term. If this majority cannot be achieved after five attempts, the parliament is dissolved, new elections are held within 60 days, and the new parliament elects the president with an absolute majority. According to the draft, like the German model, following a vote of no-confidence, the prime minister may only be removed when a replacement has been agreed upon. In cases of no agreement, parliament is dissolved. The proposed draft also envisions a strong council of ministers that is charged with setting national policy and coordinating the work of the other organs and institutions of the central administration. A minister may not exercise any other state function or be a member of a for-profit company.

     The judicial branch is charged with resolving disputes concerning the interpretation and application of laws. The draft section on the courts provides for a three-tier system of courts, with district courts, courts of appeal, and a Court of Cassation. The draft also envisions a High Council of Justice, which, with the approval of the president, selects the judges for the two lower tiers of courts. Parliament, upon the nomination of the president, selects members of the Court of Cassation and its chair. The draft also stipulates a nine-member Constitutional Court that may hear a variety of constitutional complaints, including questions of separation of powers and violations of individual rights. The proposed Constitutional Court will exercise a slightly more restricted jurisdiction compared to the existing Court and will not possess the power to consider cases on its own motion as was previously the case.

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     In May, the parliament enacted amendments to the Law on Local Elections in preparation for by-elections in seven municipalities and nine communities. During last year’s unrest, officials in several localities abandoned their posts. Normal attrition also occurred. Although their number was small, since this was the first electoral test after the general elections of last summer and was held in the face of DP recalcitrance, these by-elections were considered significant. In a compromise brokered by the OSCE ambassador in Tirana, the amendments were enacted to improve the balance between the opposition and the governing coalition on the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). According to the amendments, the CEC chairman is appointed by the largest government party, and the vice-chairman by the largest opposition party. Both positions have equal juridical power. The CEC oversees the elections, including the drawing up of ballots and registration of candidates and voters. The amendments also changed Art. 5, which had previously allotted seats on the council according to party proportions in parliament. The article now grants six seats each to the governing coalition and the opposition coalition. The final amendment, which came only after the opposition continued to threaten to boycott the CEC and the elections, stipulates that CEC decisions will be made by a two-thirds majority. Previously, only a simple majority was necessary. In cases where the CEC fails twice to muster a two-thirds majority, a third vote by simple majority of CEC members seals the decision. After this last amendment, DP forwarded their candidates to the CEC.

     In the election, on June 21, turnout varied but averaged around 50 percent, considerably lower than in previous elections. In some localities, turnout may have been as high as 85 percent, while in Vlora, which saw some of the worst violence and fighting last year, only 35 percent of the electorate reportedly turned out. The Alliance for the State coalition, dominated by the governing Socialist Party (SP), won in four of seven municipalities and six of nine communities. Berisha’s DP fared best in their traditional strongholds and, because of the general local elections held in October 1996, still controls most of Albania’s 49 municipalities and 212 communes. (See Albania Update, EECR, Vol. 5, No. 4, Fall 1996.)

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     On June 30, the World Bank capped a study of corruption with a three-day conference in Tirana. Results of the survey led to allegations that Albania is the most corrupt country in Europe. The report quoted a survey in which 70 percent of entrepreneurs in Albania admitted to bribing customs officials, 60 percent to having paid a bribe to have a telephone line installed, and another 50 percent for construction licenses. The government is working with the World Bank to try to deal with this intractable situation. On July 31, the prime minister ordered Minister of Interior Perikli Teta, as well as the directors of other agencies, to prepare a detailed program, by the end of August, for fighting organized crime, with the focus on corruption within the police. On July 6, the Office of the Prosecutor General began investigating 60 cases of smuggling, including a case involving the director general of customs. The president’s office issued a report, on June 29, which showed that revenues from customs duties had dropped considerably in 1998, resulting in a governmental loss of $80 million. The former minister of interior, Neritan Ceka (a member of the Democratic Alliance who was replaced by Teta in April 1998), also alleged that the government has lost substantial revenue from untaxed cigarette imports over the last year. Ceka claimed that the Minister of Finance was to blame for the loss of revenue and demanded his resignation. The minister countered that the government has difficulty controlling smuggling, since it does not have a fleet to control the sea and the Ministry of Interior cannot adequately monitor the border. Reportedly, Albania also has a hard time controlling several of its northern regions, including Tropoja and Kukes.

     Tropoja, also the home of Berisha, has become a base for the Kosovo Liberation Army. Arms trafficking also plagues Albania. In many cases, arms looted during the unrest last year are being smuggled into Kosovo. Estimates place the number of weapons looted last year at one million or more, along with 20,000 tons of explosives. In July, the UN agreed to help the government collect the guns. The “development for guns” project will run a pilot program in Gramshi, where an approximate 8–10 percent of the total number of looted weapons are reported to be in civilian hands. In return for the weapons, inhabitants of Gramshi have requested 120 miles of roads, a processing plant for agricultural products, and a training center to teach furniture making. The town of 50,000 has a 30 percent unemployment rate.

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     The Assembly continues to attempt to reform the judiciary. According to a law passed on July 3, the chief justice of the Court of Cassation will no longer have the sole power to parcel out cases to judges. The government alleged that, in the past, the process of case assignments was corrupt. The court will now have a Presiding College that will assign cases. Who will sit on the college presidium remains to be determined. According to the bill, at a plenary meeting of the Court of Cassation, judges may also propose to the parliament the discharge of a judge. This law sets up a special office to manage court finances and administration. This office will manage the funds directly approved by parliament for the courts without having to consult the Ministry of Justice. This part of the law was first proposed by the former chief of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi, but it was strongly opposed by then-president Berisha. According to the law, the chief justice of the Court of Cassation will lead the supervising board of the finance office. The law seeks to reduce the amount political pressure the Ministry of Justice and the government may put on the judiciary. The DP and the sitting chief of the court, Avni Shehu, a DP nominee, opposed much of the draft.

     On July 3, the Assembly also adopted a new law on the banking system. The amendments created stronger requirements for obliging the Bank of Albania (the central bank) to supervise the financial environment and to warn the government in cases of financial speculation. This is the third law on the banking system approved by parliament in the last six years. The new law also raised the minimum capital required to start a bank from $2 million to $5 million and required banks already operating to adjust capitalization according to the new law.

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