As long as the election of members and chairs of the regulators remains dependent on, filtered by, and determined by parliamentary seats, the chances for more independent, autonomous and stronger regulatory bodies are slim.

The rotation of power after June 2013 elections in Albania brought once more to the fore the debate on election of the media regulatory authorities (1). With the new parliament swearing in on September, one of the first tasks of the Parliamentary Media Commission was to issue a call for proposals for new members of the Audiovisual Media Authority and the Steering Council of the public broadcaster. The mandate of all 11 members of the Steering Council has been over for at least a year now. “Apart from being a politicized and non-professional institution, currently RTSH is in an illegal moment, due to the expiry of mandates of members of the Steering Council, of the Administration Board, and of the General Director,” (2)  stated Alfred Peza, Member of Parliament from the ruling Socialist Party and deputy head of the Parliamentary Media Commission. The regulator of audiovisual media has one member with an expired mandate, while there are two vacancies, which were not filled as the then-opposition had not nominated candidates for the post as part of the political decisions it had made at the time. While this should be a routine process, the application of a recently approved law has led to some controversies and debates on several aspects.

Continue reading "Albania: Regulatory authorities at the usual crossroads" (Ilda Londo)