Solar panels and propaganda: Concerns about the use of public resources in elections

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy announced on Tuesday the opening of a second call for service providers within the framework of the subsidy program for water heating systems with solar panels, a program from which 2 thousand families are expected to benefit on the eve of the parliamentary elections on May 11.

“…on February 24, all household subscribers who wish to be equipped with these solar panels can begin their application,” declared Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, referring to the call.

The program was first introduced by the government in 2023 and provides for a broad support scheme to promote the use of renewable energy sources by subsidizing thousands of families with solar panels.

Balluku called on all citizens to apply, speaking from the home of a citizen in Farka who had benefited from the first support call, from which, according to Balluku, 1,981 families benefited.

The implementation of the subsidy scheme on the eve of the parliamentary elections on May 11 raises concerns about the use of public resources to influence the elections. The bylaws on which the procedure is based were adopted at the end of last year, just a few days before the legal deadline that prohibits the granting of benefits from public funds.

Article 91 of the Electoral Code, amended by political agreement in 2020, provides that "four months before the election date until the formation of the new government after the elections, the proposal, approval or issuance of legal or sub-legal acts, which provide for the granting of benefits to certain categories of the population, such as acts that provide for the increase of salaries, pensions, economic or social support, the reduction or abolition of taxes, the establishment of fiscal amnesties, the privatization or granting of assets, rewards, etc., is prohibited, except when the initiative is conditioned by a state of natural disaster."

According to Dhimitër Zguro, representative of the organization "Civic Stability", this subsidy risks being used for electoral purposes.

“Although it was approved outside the four-month deadline from the election date, the period during which the ban provided for in the Electoral Code extends, it can be used for electoral purposes,” Zguro told BIRN.

According to him, the Council of Ministers was obliged to adopt a sub-legal act through which a support scheme would be provided for achieving national objectives for renewable energy sources as early as 2023.

"But the adoption of this decision outside the deadline provided for in the law, coupled with the approval on 31.12.2024, of the order that determines the criteria, quotas and rules for family clients to benefit from the support scheme, is another worrying indicator regarding the use of bylaws as a mechanism to influence voters," Zguro added.

This is not the first nor the only act of the government that has raised concerns about violations of electoral standards by the ruling party using public resources to attract voters.

In December, the majority in the Assembly approved a law for the forgiveness of penalties, mainly for illegal construction, while the government distributed bonuses to pensioners and other categories, initiatives that were considered by the opposition and civil society as a violation of the democratic standards of the electoral process.

The Civic Center finds that these acts contradict the spirit of the provisions of the Electoral Code and violate the equality of political parties in the competition.

"Also, the distribution of ownership certificates and the use of institutional premises to hold meetings for electoral purposes continue to remain problematic since the last elections," adds Zguro.

Meanwhile, a worrying problem remains the use of official websites of public institutions to disseminate propaganda in favor of the ruling party.

At least 60 cases have been identified from this organization's monitoring, with the majority of these cases related to the misuse of public resources of educational institutions or healthcare institutions.

This concerns 38 educational institutions that continuously distributed posts from the Socialist Party and the Minister of Education, Ogerta Manastirliu, and 22 cases where several health institutions did the same thing.

"These institutions have made their official websites available to the responsible minister and the Socialist Party, distributing propaganda in favor of the Socialist Party and giving the latter an unfair advantage in relation to all other political parties," says Zguro.

According to him, the use of official websites of institutions undermines their impartiality and trust in these institutions, which instead of regularly fulfilling their functional duties, are used as a propaganda tool.

The administrative investigation into QQ's complaints was dismissed by the State Election Commissioner after the investigated institutions deleted the posts./ BIRN