An opinion poll carried out by the Institute for Research and Development Alternatives confirmed once again that corruption remains a concerning phenomenon in Albania.

Only 8% of the citizens believe that corruption doesn’t exist or that it is very little spread. 89% of the citizens believe that this phenomenon is much spread. 38% believe that corruption is spread, while 51% believe that it is much spread. One in 3 Albanians believes that corruption has grown compared to 3 years ago, while 37% believe that it is on the same level.

Perceptions have remained unchanged on corrupt officials too. School teachers, religious leaders, president of Republic and the media are the only ones which are considered as the least corrupt. All other officials are in the negative area of evaluation with customs officials, judges, prosecutors, political leaders, unions, MPs at the top of the list of the most corrupt.

However, the poll has shown that there’s a drop of personal experiences with corruption, from 57% in 2010 to 44% in 2015.

Trust on institutions remains very low with an average of 37 points out of 100 which indicates maximum trust. Besides State Police, all others are below the average. The lowest score has once again been marked by courts, parliament, unions and political parties.

US ambassador to Tirana, Donald Lu, comments this opinion poll as a worrying indicator. He says that corruption in justice is destroying lives.

“The opinion poll continues to show that the biggest problems of corruption exist among political leaders, prosecutors, judges and customs officials. I am not surprised by this conclusion that shows that the Albanian people realize what is happening with corruption in their country. Time has come for politicians to start and heed them”.

RTK Live

3 June 2016