A complicated political system which functions perfectly

A high-level delegation led by the State Minister for Local Issues, Mr Bledar Çuçi, including a group of Albanian Parliament members and staff of the ministry, attended an official visit in Switzerland from 5 – 9 February 2017.
This visit was organized in the frame of Swiss Government support (through Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC) to Albania in the fields of decentralisation, local finances and good governance, provided by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation implemented by the Programme for Decentralization and Local Development – dldp.
During three days of the visit, Mr Çuçi and the delegation had the opportunity to get introduced and exchange with the Swiss authorities on the issues of local finance, fighting corruption and relationship between the three levels of Swiss institutions: federal, cantonal and municipal. This experience was exchanged through meetings and substantial exchanges with high-level representatives in Federal Department of Finance, Federal Department of Justice and Police, Federal Department for Foreign Affairs, as well as with cantonal level in the Canton of Bern during the meeting with Director (Minister) of Justice, Communes and Churches, or with the local level in the meeting with the Mayor of Interlaken.
The participation of four Albanian parliamentary members part of Commission on Legal Issues and senior staff of Minister Çuçi, aimed to engage the MPs and the Ministry in discussing and preparing a new law on local finances. Meeting with the Federal Department of Finance and the exchanges with Swiss experts of fiscal decentralisation, contributed in this regard. In this frame it was organized the.
The Delegation visited the Federal Parliament where the Swiss political and legislative system was introduced by Ambassador Claudio Fischer, whilst Mrs Elisabeth von Capeller, Assistant of Director General of Swiss Development Cooperation, Head of the Department for Cooperation with Eastern Europe had the opportunity to share and discuss her thoughts and opinions during an official dinner that she organised for the distinguished guests.
The implementation of the principle of subsidiarity, direct democracy, fiscal equalization, collegiality or consultative and consensus processes with stakeholders were some of the points that members of the delegation appreciated as “key lessons” from the presentations with political and legislative Swiss system, a special and complex system, but that works perfectly.
The delegation was accompanied during its visit by Mr Ilir Gjoni, Ambassador of Albania in Switzerland and by SDC, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and dldp officials.