Two weeks prior to the mayoral elections in Albania, Premier Edi Rama insists with his promises for salaries’ raise.

“In the next two years there will be again a raise of salaries from 26% to 34% for nearly 18,858 employees of the healthcare system”, Rama wrote on his Facebook page.

The statement was posted only a few hours after the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission presented the interim report on the May 14 mayoral elections. Among others, the expressed concerns that the promises made by the head of the government qualify as abuse of state resources.

“Recent amendments introduced further safeguards against abuse of state resources. Nonetheless, many ODIHR EOM interlocutors raised concerns regarding the government’s recent initiatives such as an extra bonus for pensioners and pledges by the prime minister regarding salaries of public-sector employees. Commissioner publicly stated that according to his interpretation, the respective legal provisions apply only to parliamentary elections”, the report said.

Granting funds from the state institutions prior to the local elections has turned into a problematic issue, according to the opposition experts, with the goal of electoral advantages.