A cycle of public meetings with citizens on the recently launched National Consultation initiative went on with a gathering in the north-eastern town of Diber, where local residents joined Prime Minister Edi Rama at a meeting to discuss and provide explanations over this newest way of public communication.
The questionnaire already delivered to the citizens’ homes and digitally accessible is drawing attention of the citizens across the country and a steadily growing number of them are expressing their opinion on the current challenges regarding the country’s cross-sectoral development, economy, justice system, social protection and democratic coexistence.
The government head urged citizens to fill in the national consultation questionnaire, which is set to become a traditional way of communication with the citizens on the government’s important decisions starting this year. “We will turn the National Consultation into a strong bridge of communication with everyone, regardless of their political affiliation, their profession or their status in life,” PM Rama stated, adding: “We we govern for everyone and we want people to see Albania’s government as their government, and not government of one party against another party or of a party that turns its back to the other party. “
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Good afternoon everyone!
This meeting wasn’t actually planned for such a large number of people to attend and I would like to thank all the participants. This is an event as part of the series of meetings we have launched under the National Consultation initiative, but of course we should also take into account the fact that an election campaign is also underway here in Diber as mayoral by-elections are scheduled to be held in Diber and five other municipalities across the country on March 6, and another meeting is set to take place later. However, I would focus on the reason why we have come together here, namely the National Consultation, acknowledging first that we are really pleased to see a considerable reaction from the citizens. I think that the National Consultation questionnaire has been already delivered to your home addresses. It is a questionnaire one can also fill in via the online platform by using a smartphone or a computer even though the questionnaire has been also sent home and it can be physically completed and we thought it is mostly available to older seniors who are not frequent users of the technology, so to say.
The National Consultation is the latest endeavour as part of our ongoing efforts aimed at best interacting with the citizens and it represents a step further towards the citizens’ inclusion in the government’s major decision. I have noticed that many comment this initiative of ours as being a delayed one, saying it should have been launched since when we took office for first time in 2013, but I believe that the fact we launch such an initiative now, precisely at the start of our third term in office, is a very significant fact for a very simple reason and truth that we want to improve steadily and daily and we struggle every day to do more and to do a lot better. Just as it is a meaningful fact showing that we are not absolutely detached from reality and we increasingly feel the need to listen to people, to consult with people, so that we can make people feel more respected, as well as useful in the decision-making process.
The National Council questionnaire contains a set of questions concerning the government dilemmas over some important decisions we have to make this year. They are questions we are asking the citizens so that we can figure out what the majority of people think about these issues. I would like to reiterate the fact that it is about government decisions we want to make together with our citizens as we have our dilemmas over them and we are doing so not because we lack the majority of votes.
Many others claim that the National Consultation is a propaganda initiative, because the government doesn’t care about the citizens’ opinion. What would be the point of launching such an initiative and spending so much time and energy by involving everyone if we were not willing to listen to the opinion of the citizens? What would possibly be the reason for us to engage in a wrongful relationship and become subject to comments of the majority of people if we were to do quite the opposite of what the majority of citizens want? These are all actually understandable suspicions, yet unfounded ones. We want to learn about the citizens’ opinion, we want to listen to their voice, we want them to have their say in the decision-making process and we want our decisions to be broadly based on the spirit and the conviction of the majority of citizens.
Finally, there are people claiming that the issues we have asked the citizens about are actually not important at all as there are so many other important issues. Of course, there could be many more other important issues, but I think that issues like the savings of emigrants are crucial issues. Almost each and every one of us, if not our family members, know friends and relatives who have emigrated and live and work abroad and we know quite well the story of emigration in Albania, we know pretty well the story of the Albanian emigrants, their incredible efforts to earn their living through hard work and by saving to help their families back home. And there are certainly emigrants who have amassed savings over the years and they have yet to formalize their savings they have actually earned through illegal employment and they can’t deposit in bank accounts, neither in the countries they live and work, nor in their homeland, Albania, because legal procedures are such that require everyone to justify their savings through documents and face difficulties to justify the source of their savings. And we are talking about employment sources and not about criminal assets and proceeds of crimes, which are excluded from this decision-making. But on the other hand, previous governments have attempted such decisions earlier and they have failed to make one, and it means making such a decision is really a difficult process. And it is for this reason we have decided to ask the citizens. Should we provide Albanian citizens living and working abroad the opportunity to legalize their savings generated through employment and also provide them the opportunity to deposit their money in banks and then invest in Albania?
This is not an easy decision to be made and we will make one based on what the citizens will say and that’s why I would ask everyone to fill in the questionnaire. It is not difficult at all and filling it in is not a waste of time and, most importantly, this is after all trust, but verify. How serious the government is about this, how much the government will take into account the citizens’ opinion, how much the government will turn these thoughts into important decisions for the economy, for the family, for justice, the foreign policy, it is up to the government to demonstrate it, but each and every one must do his part by filling in the questionnaire.
–I would like to ask a question. If the government decides to stiffen the anti-tax avoidance measures against the big business, in which sector the government plans to spend the revenue from tax collection and what are the guarantees you offer that the revenues will be used effectively? Thank you!
PM Rama: This is one of the decisions we are considering and which we will make once we draw the citizens’ opinion is the decision to further stiffen or not the measures against the fiscal evasion or tax avoidance by the biggest companies, which are both the main beneficiaries, but also the biggest contributors to the state budget. It is not an easy decision to make due to the fact that it requires not only a strong political will that we do not lack, but it also requires a completely different approach to crack down on evasion or tax evasion of the biggest private companies.
Of course, the first question is not about what the revenue from the evasion collections will be used for, as it will normally be transferred to the state budget and will be used for all the purposes the state budget operates on. The primary question one should make is how much we will be able to enhance the contribution of the biggest companies to the country’s economy by also raising their awareness of the penalties they would face if they resort to tax avoidance practices. This would really be a serious action. The second part of the question is normally about the investment in which the revenues will be used in all the directions that certainly require the state budget involvement.
– My question is about informal employment relations. More specifically, my question is why should and why is the state intervening for employees fired by employers, who pay them fictitious salaries while it is the competent courts which should force the employer to compensate for the damage he causes to his employees?
PM Rama: First of all, this is not about those who have been dismissed from employment. This is primarily about those who do not dare to speak up, namely about the employees and those who receive a certainly declared salary, but their employer actually pays them less. We have come across certain cases when the employees have been forced to pay back a certain amount of their monthly salary and they refuse to speak up about this. Why don’t they speak up? This is because they are afraid. They are afraid that if they raise their voice and report such cases, they would earn nothing and they will be fired,
What we have included in the questionnaire is the government commitment to side with these employees, not just to support them, as the government and the state actually side with the employees and has always done, but a new measure which means that in case an employee does his duty, reports the employer and the employer is punished fit by law for violation of the employment contract, a little later, he fires that employee and the question is, should the state tell this employee or all employees that you do not accept in any way the abuse of your salary because it is also an abuse of your pension, it is also an abuse of your social security but raise your voice and in case it happens that you because you raise your voice you will be affected in the workplace, you will have not only legal but also financial support from the state, which we do not have detailed in the questionnaire because then this is all to detail how the financial support will be given for how long, one year, two years or three years and how the financial support will be related to the guarantee of another job, minimally equal with the job that the employee had before, which means that this would encourage we think employees and would put the employer in a more difficult situation to commit abuses. Why do we ask the citizens about this? Because normally for this, and for the next question about mothers of 3 or more children, and for any other question yet, the answer sometimes seems very straightforward, namely “yes, very well, do it.” But it shouldn’t be this way. The surveys we have conducted, and the citizens’ comments show that no differences should be made, because after all these employees or these mothers will be paid with the taxpayers’ money and this part of the public opinion tends to oppose such differentiation among people, saying there is no reason for such a decision. Or let the current law be enforced properly. However, we are receiving very few, if not at all, reports from the employees. There was a reported case indeed, with a significant number of women workers at a clothing and footwear factory in Korça protesting for the employment contract and it worked. It worked because the Finance Minister immediately travelled to Korça, sat with both sides, made all the verifications and those women have already won their rights. However, not everyone follows the suit. It is a very rare case indeed. It would be a miracle if everyone would do it. However, we are confident it can work through such initiatives and that’s why we have made such a question.
– Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to ask a question about the justice system. Do you not think that the direct removal of judges and prosecutors from the justice system before undergoing the vetting process would lead to a hasty and arbitrary decision?
PM Edi Rama: The issue is up for discussion, even though none of you here have ever experienced direct problems because of the system, but have certainly come across news stories about flagrant rulings that have shocked the public opinion. I mean rulings issued by judges, who have decided to absolve a serial killer, who was serving life sentence and who is released after having served 25 years. And what has turned out to be with these judges – and I brought a flagrant example as there are many other equally flagrant decisions against the citizens, which go unreported and no media coverage is provided about them. There are cases when properties are robbed right before our eyes. And the judges issuing such rulings are typically ones that have yet to undergo the vetting process and that know quite well they won’t successfully pass it as they are totally corrupt. Of course, the existing law stipulates that an investigation is launched by the High Justice Inspectorate and the High Judiciary Council when a flagrant violation is evidenced and the judge is removed from the justice system if the investigation finds the violations.
Meanwhile, as long as the investigation continues, they remain in office and the question we are asking people is whether they should be suspended automatically and not be removed from the justice system before an investigation is carried out. We are asking whether they should be banned from exercising their duty until the investigation completes and their suspension be again decided by the justice bodies tasked with conducting the probe. This is the question and this is an issue that was up for discussion when the justice reform was about to be launched. Some backed this idea, but many others rejected it and it was decided that they won’t be suspended until the investigation is complete.
This is one of the decisions about which we want the citizens’ support as evidence showing that the decision is a result of the urgent need of the public for justice. One should not forget that these are also decisions we discuss with the international community and our partners too and they even sometimes speak up without taking into consideration the fact that it is us who live here. These international representatives leave once their tenure at the post ends and others are appointed to replace them, while it is us who experience direct consequences of the things that take place here or directly benefit from those that stem from decisions that may seem difficult or may seem risky, such as the decision of the amnesty for immigrant savings or such as the decision to legalize medical cannabis.
This has been a topic up for discussion since the very beginning. This was to be also part of the public opinion discussion, but I have always argued that time has yet to come. However, probably time has now come for us to seriously consider making such a decision, because other countries are legalizing medical cannabis too, which means that cannabis won’t be up for use for everyone, but it would be used as raw material for the pharmaceutical industry, as experience in other countries shows it can generate significant revenues for the country’s mainstream economy. It creates employment, a new product for export and it also generates significant revenues. But of course given the history, taking into account everything else that you and I know, we need to think twice before making that decision and that’s why we have shared this with all the citizens. At the same time, you should know that when it comes to the partners they are again skeptical about it, not that they reason wrongfully, because the opposite reasoning is not wrong at all, but they do not live here. They live here, yet they are dependent neither with our state budget, nor with employment in our country, or the pension payment they would receive upon retirement. It is pretty easy for them. Instead of taking the trouble to think about it, they cut it short and tell us to stop such a plan. This is more or less the answer.
-Taking notice of the fact that some businesses are facing penalties, don’t you think that the relevant bodies should intensify measures to cut fiscal evasion?
PM Edi Rama: This is precisely the reason why we have embarked on this nationwide consultation process, although it may seemingly sound as if nobody opposes legislation, there are indeed many individuals who do not agree as they think that our corpus of laws is sufficient and all it takes is just right law enforcement and there is no need for additional punishing measures as they may have negative side effects.
That’s why the National Consultation process is the right way to make decisions based on discussions and opinions from the citizens regardless of political affiliations. It is not a political process, because, as you have already noticed, the envelope containing the questionnaire is anonymous. It doesn’t contain the name of the receiver and nobody will ever understand who has filled it in, whether he or she is a Socialist or a Democratic Party supporter, a young man or girl or older people. There is nothing like this. It is a questionnaire for everyone to express their own opinion and nobody will ever find out whether you have joined in and have expressed your opinion. However, most importantly we need your opinions. It is a questionnaire; it is a process, a bridge of communication between the government and Albanians as citizens of this country and not as Socialists or Democrats. It is a bridge to bring people together and not to divide them as it has been the case all over these years.
You are witnessing the recent events. Just imagine, the Democratic Party was divided and many other cases of divisions have been recorded in this country over the years, including the huge division between the Socialist and Democratic Party supporters, which is an abnormal division in political terms, although such divisions are to be found in all democratic countries, but the one here in our country is an abnormal alienation triggering hatred and divisions provoked by a handful of e people for their personal vested interests and goals.
The truth is that the most recent division features two troubled individuals, with the first one having causing too much trouble for this country and the Albanian citizens over the past 30 years and the latter being the most incompetent politician and the accidental opposition leader.
This is the politics of division in Albania.
The National Consultation is a unification policy, not for everyone to join just a single political party, nor to tell all the DP supporters to vote for the Socialist Party from now on. No, this is not the case at all. This is to invite everyone to work together for Albania, no matter who you vote for. This is to invite everyone to work together on things that make sense.
The politics of division has nothing to do with the Dibra region and the problems concerning the Albanian citizens and families. Infrastructure projects, development of agriculture are the right things to be done for Diber and local residents.
That’s why Diber citizens should vote for the Socialist candidate on March 6 mars, because Diber citizens always support hard working people.
I am concluding the same way I started my remarks by inviting everyone to fill in the National Consultation questionnaire. Trust, but verify. I would also invite those who do not trust us at all. It costs them nothing to fill in the questionnaire. Instead of writing comments on Facebook, let them fill in the questionnaire and answer the 12 questions. We plan to compile such a questionnaire next year too. We are committed to turning the National Consultation into a strong communication bridge with everyone, because we are governing for everyone and we want everyone to increasingly see the government of Albania as their own government and not as the government of a part of the country only.
This is all I had to say and since the Arber Road project is actually the most sensitive issue concerning local residents here in Diber, I would like to tell everyone: Yes, it is true it took too long, but the new road is now a reality. I would beg not to hold me accountable also for those who have kept lying to you for decades long. If delays have been caused during our term in office, such delays have actually happened for objective reasons that are out of our hands. It is not in our hands that the geological composition of Murriz tunnel is different from what anticipated and such delays happen in major projects all over the world. But why am I commenting on this now? I am doing so because with the Arber Road already constructed, we plan to extend it to Peshkopi and we will do so, because nobody else can. I have repeatedly told you and everyone else; we could not be the best and sometimes and sometimes we deserve harshest of criticism, yet there is no one better than us. Therefore, I pledge that the Arber Road will be further extended. This is our objective. We are already working on the project idea and we will work to fully deliver on this project. Thank you!
