Today was held the roundtable “Integrity and trust in elections in Albania: Time for a step forward in the transparency of political financing”, organized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Center for Rule of Law at the University of Helsinki, Finland in cooperation with the Central Election Commission.

In the framework of the preparations for the elections for the local government bodies of 2023, as well as the electoral reform in the Albanian Parliament, this roundtable brought together political actors, civil society and election experts, to discuss the challenges of monitoring party finances. during election campaigns and the necessary steps to be taken to increase the transparency of political party funding at a time when election campaigns have shifted to the online world.

In his speech, State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi stressed that “Regarding the CEC, in fulfilling its responsibilities in the framework of supervision, control and transparency over the financing of political parties, we are working to improve in any aspect from the methodological and technical point of view of our work.

We aim to set a standard in the uniformity of financial reports, the time of their submission, form, manner, etc. We are working to digitalize as much as possible reporting and control system through the setting up of various modules which will enable real information to the public on the financing of parties and election campaigns”

 In recent years, Albania has embraced the digitalization of services on a large scale as a means to promote the efficiency, integrity and accountability of institutions. Information and Communication Technology Instruments also provide an opportunity to increase the transparency of political finances by serving the work of the media, civil society and the public interest in general.

Participants shared the belief that as a necessary component of any democracy, money (finance) enables political participation, election campaigns and representation. However, if their use is not regulated effectively and transparently, they can undermine the integrity of political processes and institutions, as well as compromise the quality of democracy.

The activity was realized in the framework of the launching of the project “Integrity and trust in elections in Albania: Promoting the transparency of political finances and secure use of Information and Communication Technologies”, a project co-implemented by IDEA International and the Center for Rule of Law .

The speech of the State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi at the roundtable “Integrity and trust in the elections in Albania by promoting the transparency of the financing of political parties and security in the use of communication and information technology”.