Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA179
2008-03-10 06:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:  

THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MARCH 1-7, 2008

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM AL 
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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0179/01 0700621
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100621Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6796
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000179 

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DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AL

SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MARCH 1-7, 2008


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000179

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AL

SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MARCH 1-7, 2008



1. (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and
insight into developments in Albania.

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POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------


2. (U) BUSINESS AS USUAL? NOT ANYMORE: This week in Albania, media
reported that two Albanian Members of Parliament brought birthday
gifts to a public official who celebrated his 42nd birthday in
detention. The Property Registration official was arrested last
week by the Financial Crimes Unit of the Tirana Prosecutor General's
office. The successful operation led to the arrest of four
officials who are implicated in a scheme to forge property titles
for a prime construction site in Tirana worth several million
dollars. The prosecutor had been investigating the case for two
months following a report filed by the legitimate owner of the land.
Two months ago, law enforcement authorities arrested a local mayor,
two former mayors, and five local government officials involved in
property title forgery. The public perception is that these arrests
are only the tip of the iceberg.


3. (SBU) The arrests mark a welcome success for law enforcement
agencies fighting against corruption. Property registration offices
suffer from a reputation for being among the worst centers of
corruption, second only to the courts. This is the first major blow
against corrupt property registration officials. The two law
enforcement operations have also demonstrated that the Prosecutor's
office is now able to take action in these cases in spite of the
political affiliations of those targeted; the visit of the MPs
demonstrates that the officials arrested had close ties within
Democratic Party circles. The case also highlights the continuing
practice of rewarding party militants with potentially lucrative
positions.

--------------
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
--------------


4. (U) URGENT NEED FOR PENSION REFORM - IT'S A LONG WAY DOWN: The
Ministry of Finance and the Social Insurance Institute, with the
support of the World Bank, organized a round table that took stock
of the current pension system in Albania. The discussion aimed at

launching an initiative to establish a wide political and public
consensus to adopt a new reform model for the pension system. The
Albanian Minister of Finance, Ridvan Bode, emphasized that for such
reforms to succeed, they must enjoy the support of the entire
political spectrum and have social consensus. The new proposed
reform, drafted with the assistance of World Bank experts,
anticipates the adoption of the three columns system. Citizens
could select among three options under this proposal: the current
compulsory public pension plan, a mixed public and private pension
system or a completely private pension plan.


5. (SBU) Social insurance reform is "the reform" for many
governments worldwide. The Albanian system needs to address two
major issues: the low level of benefits it offers and the current
system's unreliable financial sustainability. Over the past several
years the GOA has increased pension payments in the framework of a
poverty alleviation strategy. However, retirement benefits are
still insufficient to ensure basic living conditions, especially for
those in rural areas. The massive flows of emigrants into towns and
the large degree of informality in the labor market make the system
unsustainable despite Albania's young population. There have been
attempts to diversify benefits and involve the private sector. To
date, there are three private pension institutions active in
Albania, which are growing due to public anxiety about the viability
of the public pension system. However, the government needs to
develop a sound financial environment, a viable stock market, and
other financial structures to sustain these private initiatives.
While pension reform currently appears unavoidable, it is a
politically sensitive issue suffering from poor timing since there
is just one year until national elections in 2009.

--------------
EDUCATION AND CULTURE
--------------


6. (U) WANT A COFFEE?: There is something to be said about the
dynamics of social interactions and the rule of law in every
developing country. The amount of faith that individuals place in
their politicians, governments, and institutions depends on past
history as well as fluctuating social dynamics that characterize
countries in transition. To a foreigner who comes to work in
Albania, the current state of institution-building may appear

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wanting and getting things done, an impossible task. But little do
you know that the best working institution in Albania is the only
public space available: the Coffee Shop!


7. (U) Albanians discuss their problems in the coffee shop,
including politicians debating initiatives, government workers
hashing out policy, and students discussing exam questions and
fashion trends. At times, this occurs just to have face-to-face
interactions with one another to build a personal relationship or
professional connection. Others find it easier to explore solutions
to personal problems or frustrating situations in their daily lives.
Since nepotism was widely established in Albania during communist
times (where you were always looking for friends to find more bread
and milk in the store),the dynamics of personal interactions are
still strong today and account for a great deal of time and energy
in the decisions people make. Therefore, the coffee shop becomes
the ultimate institution of official complaiQng, problem-solving,
and entertainment for the majority of the Albanian population. So,
next time you see people sitting in a coffee shop, don't think of it
as a waste of time, but as an all-purpose social institution for a
country in transition.

--------------
STORY OF THE WEEK
--------------


8. (U) TRANSPARENT PROSECUTOR: It is common knowledge that Albanian
prosecutors lack basic office infrastructure. One daily reported
that a Pogradec prosecutor, due to the lack of office equipment,
walked into an internet cafe in that southeastern Albanian city to
draft and print two official documents. The first was a basic
prosecution letter. The second was considerably more important. It
contained all the evidence the prosecutor had collected in the
investigation of a smuggler. In a rush, the prosecutor printed the
two documents and promptly left the internet cafe. Unfortunately,
she forgot to delete the two documents from the computer and half of
Pogradec read the once confidential documents.

--------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
--------------


9. (U) ". . . If you enter the Socialist Party today, as in the
old-time buses most people will say: Don't talk to the driver. When
you ask them where the bus is going, they point their finger to theQdriver and
look as (if) they are saying: Only he knows. When you
are ready to ask the driver where we are going, people will point to
the written instruction saying: Don't talk to the driver. What I
said sounds without doubt as a sad joke, and many of my friends
would say: It is not important where we are going; it is important
that the bus is moving. Yes, this is true. The bus is moving, but
the road is long and I cannot remain without speaking . . ."


10. (U) Ben Blushi (former Socialist Party (SP) Secretary General
and former Chairman of the SP parliamentary group) in an interview
describing the present situation of the Socialist Party of Albania.


WITHERS