Corruption, unemployment, low pensions and mass emigration! The socio-political barometer of Albania for 2021 is published

The authors affirmed that all polls unite in the high expectation of citizens for employment, punishment of corruption and strengthening of democratic institutions.

“Social – Political Barometer of Albania 2021” lists as the main and ongoing problem of the country in the last 5 years youth unemployment, increased economic difficulties of families due to reduced financial resources, low pensions, subsistence minimum, including also the reduction of remittances and financial support from emigration.

The head of the Center and one of the authors of the study, Arben Çejku, says that citizens demand vetting of politicians as well as judges, the expectation of respondents to justice to punish corruption at high levels of administration remains high.

“Another very big problem is corruption, the main topic of public concern of citizens. When it comes down to small towns the weight of corruption is greater because the chance of surviving and overcoming this problem is smaller. “Citizens demand the punishment of corruption, while impunity is the source of despair for a large number of citizens,” said Mr. Cejku.

The authors asserted that youth emigration is also a problem, stemming from injustice, poverty, corruption, unemployment and lack of perspective, as chain-linked phenomena.

Citizens stated that they believe more in the international factor in improving the situation than in domestic actors.

Researcher Edlira Gjoni underlined the lack of trust of citizens in institutions, the electoral process and the value of the vote, while emphasizing that the voices of citizens coming from professional polls should be heard.

“The situation remains the same and one of the main reasons is the lack of evaluation of such important studies. “The crisis of the opposition has deepened, relations with the parliament remain just as weak, the implementation of justice reform is just as much a problem and the country’s cannabis work is still unresolved, the citizens’ distrust of politics and institutions remains high,” said Ms. Gjoni. .

While the researcher Afrim Krasniqi added that Albania lacks the culture of polls, when in western democratic countries polls are published every week with important topics to understand what citizens think about the critical issues of the country.

Mr. Krasniqi says that in Albania there is a lack of culture of accountability by politicians to citizens.

“Unlike functional democracies, we have no accountability. Politicians do not go to the polls to talk about promises and keep them, but go to attack opponents, and to appear as the lesser evil. Citizens do not have the opportunity to be accountable, so they use these polls to express their anger and dissatisfaction. Therefore we see a big gap between what citizens think and what politicians think in Albania. The changes are extremely opposite in the priorities listed by the citizens and those mentioned by the politicians “- says Mr. Krasniqi.

According to the Center for Good Governance surveys, more than half of the respondents stated that family incomes declined during 2021, over 70 percent of them were skeptical that the situation would improve compared to last year.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents stated that they did not receive any financial assistance during the pandemic, and that they ask political parties to regulate their employment, economy and health./VOA

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