MONEY, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

1. MONEY, GOVERNMENTAND POLITICS

2. It’spurposeis to publish data thattrulyaddress the issuesofabuse, corruption or conflictofinterestofAlbaniangovernanceandpolitics. With the increasingavailabilityofinformation, thisprojectaim at enhancingtransparency, accountabilityandstrengthengoodgovernance, therebyguaranteeing the tangibilityof the dividend of the democracy. Thisplatformwillpublishelectoralspending data includingelectoraldonationsanddonorsfor the electoralcampaignof 21stJune 2015.

4. TreasuryTransaction The government of Albania runs a spending system, which is stored in the Central Treasury office (The Treasury). By analyzing the records of this digitized version of the treasury, it is possible to monitor and understand: How public administration spends the money Where did the funds go How much is paid for different services/ cases. How much money did a specific company receive from a specific institution in a period of time? 5. How much money each institute spent? 6. How much money was spent in short period of times?

6. ConcessionaryRegister Companieshavegained the right to usepublicassets or services. Throughourdatabaseand the investigativeworkof the Open Data Albaniateam, wehavecollected data not onlyabouttheircapital, gross profit, shareholders, but alsoabout the concessionarycostspaid in the lastthreeyears, royalties, andconcessionaryobjects. The data aboutthesecompanies are alsoaccompanied by a copyof the official version oftheirfinancialtables (annualaccounts), as well as by a copyof the Law or By-Lawthatratifies the concessionaryagreements

8. Money&Power One-stop integrated data sources, whichdemystifyAssetsandwealthof the politiciansandhigh-leveljudges in the country, Sourcesofwealth Disclosureof the informationabout the concessionaryagreements Respectivecompanies, which are given the right to usepublicassets.

14. OnJune 21st, 2015 Albaniawillholdlocalgovernmentelections. Given the complexityexpectedformthiselectionsbecauseofnew territorial organization, AISintends to introduce in the Spending Data platform a newone-stop integrated data sourcetogetherwithappswithvisualtools, whichindicateclearly to the public the donationsanddonorsforeachelectoralsubject, as well as theirexpenditureand the total revenuesmadeavailablefor the campaign. These are expendituresdeclared by the politicalpartiesduringtheircampaigns. Similarprojectsoffieldinvestigationfornon-declaredexpenseshavebeenpreviouslyappliedthrough civil societyprojects. However, there has been a deficiency in the publicationandvisualizationof the officiallydeclaredassets, which are importantinstrumentsthatenable the verificationofcasesofconflictsofinterestandanyotherinterestlobbiedforduringcampaigns. Furthermore, transparencyof data isparticularlyimportantbecausesomeof the electoralexpenditure in Albaniaiscovered by taxpayers’ money.

15. Media Impact

20. Za´Lart 2015, is a project where the citizens are invited to denounce (report and alert) on an open source platform (website & mobile applications), about problems they encounter during electoral campaigns and electoral day. The electoral process of 21st of June 2015 will elect mayors and municipality council members responsible for local governance 2015 - 2019. The facts (audio, photo and video), irregularities and information collected, will provide a clear overview of the electoral process and encourage the interested bodies (civic stakeholders and institutions) to undertake appropriate administrative and politic measures.

21. ICT for fair election

22. Given the incidents and infractions (vote buying, family vote, irregularities in electoral list, the abuse of administrative power, violence during the voting process etc.) during the electoral process in the abovementioned countries, amongst other Albania, there is a need for citizens to act, monitor, and address from all over the country.

23. Za´Lart Project Objectives: • Working as an online monitoring platform (Web & Applications) from citizens; • Real-time receiving and addressing alerts/information on election problems; • Raising citizens´ voice and increasing civic role in electoral process through real-time monitoring; • Real-time monitoring that increases objective and professional response; • Using ICT to make elections account in the country; • Increasing public pressure on responsible institutions for a regular and fair electoral process.

25. Everyonealerting irregularities can report them by clicking the category Report. In addition, the citizen can manually add the location where the problem/incident is happening when using Web or the location is automatically added if using the mobile phone. By selecting the right category, the citizen can submit the report illustrated with photos and/or videos which witness first-hand. However, the citizen can choose whether to be anonymous or not in this report.

26. As a first step, the problems and irregularities are controlled/censured for any discriminatory language or images which will contribute to fair and ethical public information. At this stage, all the alerts are online, however being marked as unverified. It is the Ad-hoc editorial room which verifies the objectivity of the alerts. When the reports are identified as true they are marked verified.

27. Za´Lart is aiming at empowering and providing a voice to Albanian citizens. By uniting these voices (reports/alerts), under one platform it is easier to make citizens’ voices heard from the very first beginning of the electoral campaign. The platform is a valuable tool for raising civic voice and increasing civic participation. Za´Lartcan serve as an alternative media source and thereby helping to establish strong roots of democracy in the country. The difference we make is civic engagement.

28. What happens in elections?

29. The electoral staffs in Albania ask public administration employees to promise that they will secure 50 votes for the candidate of a political party for Mayor. Municipality of BERATand SARANDA

30. Some electoral offices in Albania are offering coupons worth of 40 USD to be used for buying clothes from a shop owned by one of the candidates for Mayor. The coupons carry the commercial stamp of the company and the logo of the respective political party. Municipality of SHKODRA

31. Only in Albania may an electoral meeting take place in a national Port like the one in Saranda, interrupting the port activity and embarkations for the candidate to speak undisturbed by their noise

32. The special Police forces in a municipality in the country create an atmosphere of tension and an abnormal situation after each electoral meeting. Police in this area have even conducted home searches without a court warrant, andwithout any ‘caught in the act’ circumstances involved.

33. The hospital staff in Berat leaves its patients unattended for two hours in response to an order to appear at an electoral rally.

34. Why should such events be reported? Gifts and money are often given so openly that the citizens think that such situations are normal. By urging citizens to report, we ask them to take a stand towards ‘vote buying’. By publishing what citizens report, the public institutions feel under pressure to intervene and fix the situation. The certified, international and domestic, observers receive signals in real time and go to the indicated places to check. Za’Lart works in the framework of the Electoral Situation Room, an initiative to coordinate work among civil society organizations working for fair elections, an initiative taken for the first time this year.

35. Creatingthe Map indicating the most problematic areas.

36. Findus : http://ais.al/ open.data.al http://www.spending.data.al/ http://www.zalart.al/ Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/AlbanianInstituteOfScience?fref=ts Twitter : @AIScience

37. ThankYou