Albania

[AL] Call for Dismissal of the Directional Council of the Public Radio and Television

IRIS 2002-5:1/6

Hamdi Jupe

Albanian Media Monitoring Center

On 4 April 2002, an opposition parliamentary group called for the dismissal of the Keshilli Drejtues i Radiotelevizionit Publik Shqiptar (Directional Council of the Albanian Public Radio and Television - KD i RTSH), and for it to be replaced. The request came after a bitter parliamentary debate over the Annual Report 2001, which was presented by the Directional Council.

The KD i RTSH consists of 15 members, all independent intellectuals, who are elected by Parliament. The Directional Council elects the main directors of public radio and television, sanctions and controls all their activities, and reports on them every year to the Parliament. During this year's annual debate in Parliament, many MPs from various political parties criticised the activities of the Albanian Public Radio and Television, alleging professional incapacity, political partiality, misuse of public funds, and corruption of the directors of Radio and Television.

The members of the Directional Council enjoy special protection under Law No. 8410 "On Public and Private Television in the Republic of Albania" of 30 September 1998, and can be dismissed only for reasons explicitly defined in the law. The Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Means of Public Information is the state authority that proposes the candidates for the Directional Council to the Parliament for appointment and may also request their dismissal. The Committee started its examination of the request from the opposition, after which it will present its proposals to the Parliament.