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Survey on the elections, VOA: Pressure on the administration and widespread misuse of state resources

Politiko 2024-12-05 19:36:48

Survey on the elections, VOA: Pressure on the administration and widespread

In Albania, the misuse of state resources for electoral purposes is considered by activists as a major concern for the country's democracy. From the study of public opinion in the 6 largest cities, it emerged that the vast majority think that this use of state resources is unfair and affects the results of the elections. A quarter of the citizens surveyed changed their vote or abstained due to pressure from the public administration.

The study of the Qëndresa Civicare Organization revealed a widespread perception on the misuse of state resources for electoral purposes, where an overwhelming majority (84.5%) of the participants stated that the use of state resources significantly affects the results of the elections and the majority of them (66%) describe this behavior as unfair and abusive.

More than two-thirds of the respondents (78%) claimed that public officials use state resources for electoral purposes, more than half of them (57%) emphasized the engagement of civil servants in election campaigns, as well as (50-55%) ) observed the use of public funds, public facilities and infrastructure for election campaign activities.

The head of the organization Qendresa Gytare, Migen Qiraxhi, says for the Voice of America that "even this study showed that in Albania the borders between the party and the state have been violated and are always more and more unclear, especially in election campaigns, and that the administration is often used in elections for to keep the power under the pressure of keeping the workplace, so monitoring and measures to curb this disturbing phenomenon for democracy must be strengthened".

The survey was extended to the 6 largest cities; Tirana, Durrës, Vlorë, Shkodër, Fier, Elbasan with over 80 percent of residents aged 18-60 and nearly 17 percent over 60.

More than a third of citizens surveyed for this study (36%) claimed to have been pressured to support a candidate or party, and even a quarter (25%) of respondents said they changed their vote. or have abstained from voting due to pressure from the public administration.

The survey revealed that nearly 67 percent of citizens have experienced or heard cases where public employees were forced to show political support during working hours, from pressure to participate in election campaign activities (49%), threats to lose their country work (35%), pressures to submit voter lists (33.5%), and even pressures to be photographed participating in electoral activities (27%).

According to the survey, nearly a quarter of citizens (31%) declared that they witnessed the use of state resources for electoral purposes. While the vast majority of them (82%) are in favor of toughening punitive measures to prevent the use of state resources during election processes.

The use of state resources and public administration during election campaigns is one of the main and most frequent remarks of local and foreign observers, while the measures to curb it are considered insufficient. VOA