From Monologue to Dialogue -
First Time Community Platforms in Albania
Most residents are extremely dissatisfied living in Bathora,
Albania, a suburb of the capital of Tirana. Since the collapse
of the communist regime, 21,000 migrants from northern Albania
have illegally settled onto 1000 acres of state and private
owned land, turning orchard fields and rolling grass hills
into a plethora of concrete block structures and muddy impassable
streets. Their movement was condemned by the government who
has refused to provide the basic services to the population.
Due to the extreme frustration concerning the poor living
conditions, some citizens have resorted to street violence
and riots, but others to dialogue. The latter has proven
to be the most effective route to change, and residents are
noting the difference.
USAID/Albania’s program is succeeding in offering
the Albanians a means to express their needs and opinions
in a non-confrontational and constructive way. For the first
time citizens of Bathora, like citizens throughout Albania,
are choosing to use the community platform approach to present
their concerns to their elected officials. With the guidance
of the civic forum program of the USAID-funded National Democratic
Institute (NDI), hundreds of citizens have gone door to door,
organized community meetings and events and collected over
3000 surveys, from which priorities and opinions have been
identified, and presented them to their local leaders. Says
Jennifer Butz, Country Director of NDI, “What these
efforts represent is a willingness and a capacity for democratic
action by citizens in central Albania.”
Transitioning from a situation where leaders informed their
citizens of what their priorities were, to an environment
where the citizens have a voice and can influence the political
direction is a significant step to the democratization of
Albania. Citizens now have more confidence that their priorities
and opinions will be reflected in the electoral platforms.
 Elected officials and potential office holders have positively
responded to the community forums. The Mayor of the commune
of Maminas, Ilimi Gjeci, proudly said after a community platform, “We
often celebrate the birthdays of man, but today is the birthday
of our community.” Burhan Caca, Mayor of Synej explains, “The
community platform priorities will be utilized when we create
the commune budget and when we seek funds from the central
government.” The political parties see that the problems
are numerous. However, with the survey results in hand, they
are able to direct attention to the citizens’ priorities:
water supply, education, jobs, publication of official decisions
and accountability, and thus begin to satisfy their electorates’ concerns.
One civic forum participant explains, “The other electoral
campaigns have been a monologue where the only speakers have
been the political party candidates. This time it will be
a dialogue between the politicians and us.”
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