Police, Soldiers among Albanian Ruling Party’s Voter Tracking ‘Army’

Some appear to be members of the National Guard, state police and army, who by law would be prohibited from engaging in party politics.

Likened by the opposition to agents of Albania's Communist-era Sigurimi, the Socialist Party says the patronazhists are regular party activists simply working to get out the vote and that the database is standard practice for any serious political party.

But concerns have been voiced about whether the Socialists are using state resources for political ends and exploiting detailed personal data obtained from state institutions to coerce voters. It raises questions about the separation of party and state and the creation of a professional public administration - key conditions for Albania's further integration with the European Union.

The database includes information about the ethnicity, religion and health of voters and the employment status of family members.

Some citizens are referred to as 'black hand', a pejorative term used for Roma or Egyptians in Albania, while one elderly voter is identified as needing incontinence pads and so perhaps unable to get to a polling station. "We will lift her by her clothes," the assigned patronazhist wrote in the 'comments' column.

"This is a scandal in which the citizen sees himself as powerless before a system of blackmail and patronage promoted by the prime minister," said Afrim Krasniqi, director of the Institute of Political Studies in Tirana.

"If among those party officials there are also army or police officers, then this is also a threat to national security," he told BIRN. "In a NATO member country, military or police resources cannot be used for the surveillance of citizens or political critics."

Echoes of 'Sigurimi'...