Conference co-organized by OSCE Presence highlights need for parliamentary ethics in Albania

TIRANA, 16 July 2012 - Standards and regulations to ensure parliamentary ethics, as well as their implications for the wider legislative, anti-corruption and integrity framework, are the focus of a two-day conference that started today in Tirana.

The event is organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Albanian Assembly, with support by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and funds from Germany.

The conference aims to facilitate a discussion about parliamentary ethical standards and codes, a fundamental issue at the core of Albania's reform efforts and of the OSCE Presence's mandate to promote democratization and consolidation of democratic institutions in the country.

Addressing the participants, the Head of the OSCE Presence, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, said: “Albanian citizens rightly expect that their elected representatives abide by high ethical standards when acting in the public interest. Politics is also about moral integrity.”

“The hard work and dedication shown by the Albanian Assembly's leadership from all political sides has contributed to progress in revising rules and procedures. It must now lead to the next step: the development of standards of parliamentary ethics and codes. I would thus like to encourage Members of Parliament to begin discussions towards a Code of Parliamentary Ethics,” he added.

Assembly Speaker Jozefina Topalli and German Ambassador Carola Müller-Holtkemper also addressed the event.

Participants in the conference included Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff, experts in the field of ethics, and representatives from other state institutions and the international community.