Speaking at a consultative meeting on electoral reform focused on the role of citizens and civil society in drafting and adopting new election legislation, Celibashi said delays in revising the rules risk undermining confidence in the process.

“With the 2027 local government elections approaching, carrying out a last moment reform creates uncertainty and erodes trust among all actors involved,” he said.

The meeting was organised by Civic Action, a civic initiative bringing together activists and professionals advocating stronger democratic governance and institutional integrity in Albania.

Celibashi said it was in the interest of political parties, citizens and the Central Election Commission that electoral rules be clarified well in advance of any vote.

“It is in the interest of political parties, citizens and the CEC as the body responsible for administering elections that the rules of the game are clear long before the electoral process begins,” he said.

He also expressed the Central Election Commission’s readiness to work closely with civil society organisations to produce consensus-based proposals.

Participants discussed key issues that electoral reform should address, including political party financing, the conduct of public institutions during election campaigns, electronic voting and counting, out-of-country voting, referendums, the consolidation of electoral rules and a review of the law on political parties.

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Speaking at a conference on political finance and electoral reform organised by International IDEA and the University of Helsinki’s Rule of Law Centre, Celibashi said Albania needs clearer regulations on who funds political parties, how much they contribute and how supervision is carried out.

He said annual reports from the Central Election Commission (CEC) show persistently low compliance. In 2024, 84 of 135 registered parties failed to submit a financial report, compared with 82 of 132 in 2023 and 83 of 131 in 2022. Dozens of parties were unreachable because of inaccurate addresses or missing contact details, he added, noting that many were effectively non-functional.

Celibashi argued that annual audits should apply only to parties with real financial activity, an active legal status and access to public funds, saying this would eliminate “formal audits” of parties that no longer operate.

Parties that fail to report would be barred from elections and face financial penalties if they receive funding without meeting reporting obligations, he said. Celibashi also proposed that the CEC centrally select and pay auditors to avoid conflicts of interest and standardise audit quality, backed by stronger, proportionate sanctions.

Suggested penalties include fines based on the percentage of public funds received, suspension of funding, confiscation of assets and, in cases of serious violations, criminal liability.

He also called for a real-time financial monitoring platform linked directly to banks and financial institutions to record transactions automatically, flag suspicious activity and block questionable funds.

Regarding third-party spending and digital advertising, Celibashi said mandatory registration, spending reports, a public registry, identification of sponsors and a ban on foreign funding should be introduced.

“It is time for a new architecture for political finance – more supervision, more standardisation, more transparency, independent auditing and effective sanctions,” he said.

The conference also presented preliminary findings from an International IDEA study on access to political finance for young people and persons with disabilities.

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