The Institute for Political Studies (ISP) with the support of the Civil Society Program for Albania and Kosovo, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and managed by the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) in partnership with Partners Albania for Change and Development is implementing the project “Clean Parliament: Accountability and Transparency”. The project is to be implemented in the time frame January 2019 – April 2020.
MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (III)
During the autumn session (September-December 2019), there was an expansion of the categories and aspects of the application of the standards set out in the Code of Conduct and its acts, highlighting the growing importance of the need for the application of more stringent standards leading to a higher level of ethical and accountability in parliament and in parliamentary activity.
In December 2019, for the first time in our records, the case of a senior parliamentary official was filed with the Administrative Court, following the HIDAACI’s indication that he was in a conflict of interest situation. The case identified and filed with HIDAACI by ISP staff is a typical example of success in the monitoring process.
The recording by the Assembly, for the first time, of MP’s statements on cases of participation in the activities of third parties, as well as of the financial data of MPs’ benefits in parliamentary activity, constitute a new development that contributes in raising standards of transparency.
The cooperation of the ISP with HIDAACI to prosecute suspected cases of conflict of interest is a positive development and a good basis for further changes in the institutional setup, a standard to be followed by other state and public entities involved in complex conflict of interest issues.
The lack of new declarations in the Potential Conflict of Interest Situation Register during the four-month period may not match the balance sheet of the IC situation. This indicates that the Assembly does not yet have a valid instrument of verification of suspected cases or reported conflict of interest in place.
The organisation of the first protest action by a civil society group against a MP’s discriminatory language, and the statements by institutions such as the Ombudsman or the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner on this case, are positive developments in the approach of institutional and public actors who prioritize issues of ethical conduct and standards of Code of Conduct in parliamentary activity.
Neither the amendments to the new Assembly Rules of Procedure, nor the public awareness measures to raise standards in the integral application of ethical rules have forestalled cases offensive public discourse by specific MPs, cases of violent incidents charges, or of harsh language in the parliament.
It is therefore necessary for the Assembly to establish a more effective mechanism to respond to the denunciations coming from HIDAACI, civil society or the media, regarding violations of the Code of Ethics, and to apply a more transparent process with regard to proposing and adopting legal acts, decisions in relation to preventing conflict of interest in the Assembly.
The Assembly should publish timely the minutes of meetings, procedures and decisions related to the implementation of the Rules of Procedure and the Code of Conduct. It should provide qualitative and continuous information to candidates elected or dismissed by the Assembly in order to positively influence and increase transparency and opportunities for verifying compliance with legal and constitutional standards.
MPs, especially those elected in 2019, still need ongoing training on the Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct, a suggestion that ISP has already addressed by being able to provide the Assembly with the necessary expertise to this end. The first ISP training for MPs will take place in March 2020.
Parliamentary groups should publish their Rules of Functioning, as required by the amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, and establish internal mechanisms for assessing and preventing violations of ethics and for fulfilling other obligations arising from the Code of Conduct and conflict of interest legislation.
The media can and should invest more efforts in investigating alleged cases of conflict of interest and adopt a critical attitude towards all cases of violation of ethics, Code of Conduct and law by MPs, officials in Parliament, the media and institutions and individuals participating in hearings in the Assembly.
| SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2019, NO DECLARATIONS IN THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST REGISTER
The Parliament’s monitoring shows that during the last four months (September-December 2019) there has been no case of MPs being declared in the Conflict of Interest Register. |
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