The National Conference on Local Government brought together central government, local government and international partners to share information and build bridges for a stronger local government in Albania. It was held in the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the European Charter for Local Self-Government; 20th anniversary of Albania’s membership in the Council of Europe; and the 15th anniversary of Albania’s ratification of the European Charter for Local Self-Government.
“Local democracy is a cornerstone of a free and democratic society. That is where citizens interact with the state; that is where democracy starts”, said Swiss Ambassador in Tirana, Christoph Graf. He described examples of local government in Switzerland and mentioned that “citizens take the political decisions by their own, in coming together, discussing and voting”. “It is always the municipal assembly and at the end the citizens themselves that decide on merging with its neighbors, it is never Berne, the central level that decides”, stressed Ambassador Graf.
In the context of the decentralisation dynamics in Albania, Ambassador Graf called for clarity of competences for the newly established municipalities and for decentralisation of financial means.
In his opening speech Minister of State for Local Affairs, Bledi Çuçi said that the 61 new municipalities, an outcome of the administrative and territorial reform, now represent a new reality of local government in Albania and together with the deepening of the decentralisation process they are opportunities to change radically the way government works for citizens, by offering timely and high quality public services.
The US Ambassador in Albania, Donald Lu, called on the new mayors to use public funds in the interest of citizens and not create luxury for themselves. ”If you came here with a Mercedes, BMW or black Audi, you should think whether this is the way your voters want you to spend their money. If your office is more pleasant than the bread shop or the post office in your area, again I hope you will think: would this money be better spent on waste collection, improvement of schools and the building of parks?”, said Ambassador Lu. He also stressed that central government should directly invest at local government level instead of sending funds through regional development funds that risk being used by the ruling majority at the expense of opposition-led municipalities.
Prime Minister Edi Rama mentioned the fast pace of the administrative reform in Albania: "This reform was implemented and adopted in the field in record time. Our vision had no connection to party interests and was not driven by an internal need to have one party dominate another. This reform in our view was the only way and a rather late one, to open a new chapter in modernising the Albanian state and organising the structures of this state in the function of citizens". Prime Minister Rama also mentioned that international donors - Switzerland included - have provided a lot of support to this process.
Swiss expertise was present at the conference through two presentations. One of them was the presentation of Frédéric Mairy, Mayor of Val-de-Travers, who shared with Albanian mayors his experience of the amalgamation and joining of several communes into one municipality. “When we are bigger we are stronger, and we are more complete. We can only win by working together. Amalgamation of communes made it possible for business companies to start returning to our region”, said Mr. Mairy describing the benefits that his municipalitiy experienced after the joining together.
Mayor Mairy was also interviewed by leading Albanian television Top Channel where he described his experience of leading the expansion of the municipality of Val-de-Travers and comparing it against the current situation of Albanian municipalities.
The conference served to bring together the many points of views and experiences that can further assist the decentralisation process in Albania. Swiss programmes support decentralisation and new models of improving local governance in the country.
