Pursuant to the Council of Ministers’ decision No. 283, dated 10.5.2019, a Task Force has been set up to ensure fulfilment of any rights and obligations stemming from civil servant law, Constitution of the Republic of Albania, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania changed, Law No. 9131, dated 8.9.2003, “On Rules of ethics on the Public Administration,” as well as the law No. 152/2013 “On civil servant” changed.
The Task-Force’s principal task is to observe conduct and activity of the entire state administration to prevent the use of the state’s human, financial and logistic resources during the electoral process, as well as cooperate and co-ordinate with the State Police in order to take immediate actions when unlawful activities are found during the electoral process.
Pursuant to item 24 of the above-mentioned Council of Ministers Decision, state institutions and independent institutions, part of the Task Force, provide periodic written reports on the implementation of binding measures and tasks, as well as on issues encountered during the monitoring process.
The report has found to date as following:
– monitoring groups have been set up at the state administration institutions;
– contact number of the institution head, the toll-free telephone number have been published on the official websites of the state institutions in view of denouncing and reporting cases of individuals involved in the electoral campaign.
– required procedures in the cases of requests by the civil servants to be engaged as commissioners at CEAZs, VCCs and BCGs, in the 2019 local elections;
– the monitoring groups check movements during the working hours, in order to ensure the implementation of the official working hours, not in function of the election campaign.
The Public Administration Department, in collaboration with the Commissioner for Civil Service Oversight, has notified and assisted all human resources units in the state administration institutions on the political rights of the civil servants.
In its meeting on 19th June 2019, incidents involving public administration employees in attacks against the State Police in attempts to obstruct CEAZs activity have been reported to the Task-Force.
Task-Force is verifying all cases of administration employees involved in illegal actions against institutions and against election administration institutions in particular in the municipalities of Tropoja, Gjirokastra, Shkodra, Kavaja, Kamez, Vorë, Burrel, Berat and Devoll over the past two days.
These actions are legally and politically unacceptable.
The law guarantees civil servants the right to participate in political activity after the official working hours, without publicly expressing political beliefs or preferences, but at the same time with this right come the obligations, which must be respected.
Article 45 of the Civil Servant Law clearly envisages that the civil servant is obliged to manage in an appropriate way the State property assigned to them for the exercise of their duties and use it only for the purposes and destination as determined by law or internal rules of the institution. Civil servants shall comply with the working hours and use working time efficiently and work only for the performance of their duties.
Involvement of the state administration employees in illegal actions, including violation of the public property, obstructing state institutions, or institutions involved in organizing the electoral process constitutes extremely serious acts that violate public order.
Acts by public servants, including abandoning their legal duties in delivering service to the citizens and engaging in political activities, even becoming initiators of violent acts aimed at preventing the constitutional right to vote, creates a dangerous precedent.
Based on the evidenced situation, the Task Force, in compliance with the Law No. 152/2013 “on civil servant,” changed, has asked for the intervention of the Public Administration Department in its capacity as the unit responsible for the state administration institutions and the Commissioner for Civil Service Oversight in the capacity of the unit responsible for oversight of civil service administration law enforcement in all institutions employing civil servants, start an immediate inspection and take actions for any public administration employee in breach of the legal obligations.
The Task-Force is identifying each civil servant and other public administration employees under the Labour Code who have been in violent actions against members of the State Police.
No violent incident and nobody involved in such actions will be tolerated, regardless of the law provisions that regulate employment relations, be it either the Law on Civil Servants, or the Labour Code of the Republic of Albania. In case of refusal and continued disrespect for the law by the local government bodies and respective administrations, the actions will escalate until the termination of financial relations.
The Task-Force has asked the Public Administration Department and the Commissioner for Civil Service Oversight to take immediate actions and launch disciplinary procedures, including termination of employment for violent employees who have been detained by the State Police according to the law.
Administration officials are called upon to perform the duty entrusted to them in serving to the citizens and not accept to become a tool of political battle aimed at blocking the country’s integration processes.
The involvement of the public administration in the election campaign, and worse, in violent acts against the state is intolerable in any circumstances and by any officials who will become part of them during the election campaign or on election day will face the law.
