ODIHR commends renewed commitment to electoral reform in Albania

WARSAW, 23 January 2024 – The initiative of the Albanian authorities to resume the country’s electoral reform ahead of the 2025 parliamentary elections is an important and positive development in a process that has already served as an example of good practice for the region and beyond, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today.

“We welcome the decision of the Albanian authorities to renew their commitment to these vital reforms so far ahead of the elections,” said ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci. “We urge all parties to commit to open and inclusive consultations in the months ahead, ensuring that the resulting reforms improve the election process for the benefit of all Albanians."

It is of crucial importance to set practical and realistically achievable goals that focus on implementing ODIHR’s previous recommendations and addressing the shortcomings noted during past elections, in line with international standards.  Major priorities include preventing the misuse of public resources and vote-buying, ensuring the secrecy of the vote, safeguarding media freedom, and increasing the effectiveness of the election administration.

Following recent discussions on the topic, ODIHR has received an invitation from the Albanian parliament to support the national authorities, and has offered to provide support and technical expertise to drive the reform process forward.

ODIHR’s longstanding election observation methodology includes an assessment of implementation of previous recommendations. ODIHR’s most recent observation mission to Albania in 2023 evaluated the follow-up to the Office’s recommendations following the 2019 local elections and the 2021 parliamentary elections. The reports concluded that three recommendations had been fully implemented, another seven mostly, and 16 partially implemented, while others still remain to be addressed.