ELECTORAL PROCESS ALBANIA 2025. NON – REPRESENTATIVE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

🚩 The current legal regulations hinder new political alternatives, disenfranchise 21% of active voters, and undermine the principle of representation 🚩 🚩 Open Data Albania predicted the 2025 election outcome two years in advance. 🚩In May 2023, following the local elections, the (youth-led) data analysis team at AIS / OpenDataAlbania created a projection based on the 2023 election results. According to this projection, if the…

PRESSURE ON THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: 50% OF STAFF PAID AS “TEMPORARY EMPOWEES OUTSIDE THE OFFICIAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

From January 1 to April 30, 2025, the Council of Ministers paid salaries for temporary contract employees exceeding the number of staff positions approved in the official organizational chart (Treasury expenditure category 6002001[i]), which is twice the amount of the net salaries paid to employees officially approved in the organizational structure (as per the Treasury payment category code 6001001[ii]). Specifically, Treasury Category 6002001 (temporary employees outside the…

TENDERS AWARDED TO BISINESSES OWNED BY POLTICALLY EXPOSED PERSONS (PES)

Over the past three years, a consistent pattern of flagged tenders has emerged, with businesses associated with or owned by politically exposed persons (PEPs) or individuals with conflicts of interest securing awarding contracts 🚩 These arguments have been officially documented in the 2023 Annual Report of the Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Prosecution Office (SPAK), which highlighted the misuse of procurement procedures at both the…

THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZED CRIME ON ELECTORAL PROCESSES AND FACT-BASED YOURNALISM

Between 2023 and 2025, the Special Prosecution Office Against Organized Crime and Corruption (SPAK) has taken significant action against several structured criminal groups suspected of involvement in electoral crimes during the 2021 elections, particularly in the districts of Shkodër, Durrës, Elbasan, and Lezha. Investigative media reports have revealed that some of these criminal groups, primarily involved in drug trafficking, were actively engaged in vote buying…

Public Property Auctioned Without Competition By-Passing off the Electronic Procurement System

Over the past ten years, 41 municipalities in the country have auctioned or leased 6 350 hectares of public land, pastures and forests for use by private businesses. These auctions have been conducted by passing off the transparent competitive procedures, without being carried out through the Electronic Procurement System of the Public Procurement Agency. Approximately 750 public properties have been transferred for private use through…

Asset Declarations on the Spending Data Albania Database Watchdog for Integrity

The AIS organization (promoter of Open Data Albania) has added, published this week new annual asset declarations to the Spending Data Albania database. This is an important step in the process of promoting transparency and monitoring the wealth and economic interests of high-ranking state officials MP, Members of our Government, High level Prosecutors and Judges. Accessibility of Asset Declarations: In this database, asset declarations of…

Briefing Report on Workshops Series of Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Media Representatives and Parliamentary Staff

On March 17, AIS organized a discussion meeting titled ‘Briefing Report on Workshops Series of Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Media Representatives, and Parliamentary Staff‘, aimed at sharing the key findings and outcomes of the workshops held in the framework of the project. This event was held within the framework of the project “Increasing Parliament’s Responsiveness to Citizens’ Concerns”, supported by the British Embassy in Tirana…

Applications Open for Internship and Training through Open Data, 4th Edition (April – October 2025)

OpenDataFellowship – Youth Empowerment Against Corruption 2025 AIS, the organization promoting Open Data Albania, invites students and activists who wish to participate in an Internship and Training Program on Open Data usage to apply for the OpenDataFellowship – Youth Empowerment Against Corruption 2025. The internship is open to university students from the fields of Economics, Journalism, Law, and Social Sciences. Additionally, we welcome non-student youth…

Training for Parliamentary Staff was held on 27 and 28 February 2025

On February 27–28, AIS organized a workshop with representatives from the Parliament Administration, focusing on citizen participation, monitoring, and dialogue during the drafting and reporting of public finances. The workshop also served as a follow-up to a previous event held in 2024, titled “Oversight of Public Finances: The Role of Parliament, Institutions, and Civil Society.“ This event was held within the framework of the project…

Event: Oversight of Public Finances – The Role of Parliament in the Fiscal Autonomy of the Local Government Units in Albania

On January 31st, AIS organized a Conference entitled “Oversight of Public Finances – The Role of Parliament in the Fiscal Autonomy of the Local Government Units in Albania“. This event was held within the framework of the project “Increasing Parliament’s Responsiveness to Citizens’ Concerns”, supported by the British Embassy in Tirana and implemented by a consortium led by IDM in partnership with Citizens Channel and…

Transparency with Beneficial Ownership: Issues of Legislation, Practice, and Empowerment of Actors Working for Transparency

AIS, the promoter of Open Data Albania, is actively working to enhance transparency in Beneficial Ownership and the Public Access Registry. Recognizing the crucial role investigative journalists play in uncovering and tracking cases of money laundering, corruption, conflict of interest, and undue influence, AIS’s team of experts and data analysts has worked to increase capacities and knowledge. Participants: Investigative Journalists, Activists, and Representatives from Non-Governmental…

Balkan Insight writes: Using AI in Albanian Public Procurements ‘No Easy Solution’ for Corruption

The Prime Minister has proposed an Anti-Corruption Reform introducing the use of Artificial Intelligence in Public Procurement. The Parliamentary opposition, through Jorida Tabaku, MP and Chairwoman of the Incinerator Investigative Committee, suggested that the Government should, instead, use the platform Open Procurement Albania, a technological tool created by the organization AIS, aiming to identify corruption cases in tendering. MP Tabaku’s statements were made to Balkan Insight in an…

Corruption in Tendering. The Prime Minister proposes the use of AI, the opposition recommends AIS’s Open Procurement Albania platform, a high-tech tool where 40% of procedures are identified as risky

The Prime Minister has proposed an Anti-Corruption Reform introducing the use of Artificial Intelligence in Public Procurement. The Parliamentary opposition, represented by Jorida Tabaku, MP and Chairwoman of the Incinerator Investigative Committee, suggested that the Government should, instead, use the platform Open Procurement Albania, a technological tool created by the organization AIS, aiming to identify corruption cases in tendering. The MP Tabaku shared her statement…