TIRANA, Nov 13 /ATA/ Oerd Bylykbashi, co-chair of the Special Commission on Electoral Reform, presented the Democratic Party’s package on separating the state from the ruling party. The package envisages interventions in eight key areas, aimed at preventing the use of public administration, funds and state resources for electoral gain.
Presenting the package to the DP parliamentary group, Bylykbashi said the main problem lay in the use of state power in political competition and the impact this practice had on voters.
“The party must compete using its own resources, while the state must be governed using state resources. This separation must be guaranteed 365 days a year, not just during the election campaign,” Bylykbashi said.
The first area covered by the package concerns public administration, with measures envisaged to protect civil servants from political and hierarchical pressure and ensure their neutrality. The second concerns the government’s regulatory, fiscal and social powers, proposing restrictions on decisions that could be used for electoral gain, such as bonuses, pensions, salary increases, 13th-month pay and funds allocated through public procurement.
The third area covers the state budget, public procurement and investment, aiming to prevent the use of public funds and state assets for election campaign purposes. Bylykbashi stressed that the package was not intended to hinder the normal functioning of public institutions.
“These measures are not intended to stop the state or the economy from functioning. On the contrary, they aim to ensure that public funds, procurement and investment are not used to give the ruling party an electoral advantage,” he said.
Bylykbashi said the DP’s package would ban and penalise political patronage networks, including the Socialist Party’s “Prania Besnike” register, which he accused of using public administration and services to identify and influence citizens.
The fifth area seeks to ban selective inspections, checks and administrative measures used as tools of electoral pressure, while the sixth focuses on protecting personal data by prohibiting the use of public and private databases for political profiling and voter targeting. Bylykbashi warned that such practices allowed voters themselves to be monitored and influenced, undermining their freedom of choice.
The DP’s package also seeks to restrict the electoral use of official activities and institutional propaganda to benefit the ruling party. Bylykbashi said the more than 45 proposed articles would be incorporated into the Electoral Code, other legislation and the Criminal Code, with measures taking effect at different stages and some remaining in force
The package also proposes establishing a dedicated mechanism within the Central Election Commission (CEC) to intervene during the electoral process, prevent violations and restore legality. Bylykbashi said sanctions would include fines, dismissal from office, new criminal offences, loss of mandate for candidates benefiting from the misuse of state resources and the annulment of elections in cases of widespread violations. The Constitutional Court would have the final say on the loss of mandates.
Bylykbashi stressed that the proposed measures were not intended to hinder government operations but to ensure a level playing field in elections, insisting that only comprehensive reforms could guarantee a genuine separation of the state from the ruling party. He said the package was based on OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, Venice Commission documents and European Court of Human Rights case law. It begins with a proposed change to a nationwide electoral system featuring 100% open lists, followed by other reform proposals.
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