Government needs to look ahead

governance ahead

Government needs to look ahead

Governments of all political wings need to consider not only how to overcome the short-term health crisis, but also how to prepare for long-term financial challenges. 

While the government has been the first line of public action in the fight against coronavirus, it has also become more vulnerable to fiscal impact from the virus and public reaction. 

Now, the government must look ahead and understand what has not gone right and that it must also be held responsible for the bad days of government, as every government has such days, where most of them are revealed by an unpleasant situation or event which cannot be controlled by the government. 

Revenues may fall even after 2020, and people first requires transparency about the reasons and analysis for managing the situation. 

Although VAT is not as volatile as profit tax and personal income tax, it will fluctuate with the economy, and in fact what remains is the property tax, which should provide a significant part of central and local government revenue. When we talk about property tax, in fact the taxation horizon should extend beyond the current level of property taxation (building, land and sites). 

Property tax should in fact be a retrospective tax on the capital of individuals who have accumulated sufficient untaxed wealth for decades. If this form of taxation does not happen in the future, the philosophy of the current government to tax those who earn more is in serious dilemma. Wealth taxation is not the level of taxation paid by large companies, as their contribution does not come from the individuals who own them, but from the contribution paid by employees to keep the business afloat. 

Even why this issue is a separate topic, because of the importance that first should to be consulted and analyzed, we stress that even the budget contribution of large businesses has declined significantly in recent years.  

The pandemic has highlighted devastating weaknesses in governance and troubling weaknesses of our society, which will be harder to be ignored when the crisis will be eased. Over time, this can make them look at government differently.

But the government should not further abuse with the patience of the citizens who are told the same story about how it was once and how is it now a service or a public work, which are ultimately the ABC of a routine day of governance.

The comparison makes sense if the government measures own projects with the programme and governance objectives, and if compared with public projects of countries of the region and beyond.

Making policy based on the evidence and reality experienced by ordinary people can help the government chart to the path of sustainable development. Coherent policy and de facto more effective policy require the government to take into account all relevant information for better decisions which convey information that restores the lost trust of citizens.

In particular, this means that governance must assess the benefits of policy proposals in relation to future costs and the interactions between policy structures and reforms. Through a coherent model, the revision of each specific reform can be the object of maximization. Furthermore, effective policy implementation requires effective governance, which means increased ability to manage risks, manage procurements and contracts, to obtain and distribute the right type and amount of resources from public funds, and to provide oversight of processes and procedures, as well as reviewing the impacts from outside the government in view of the effectiveness of the actions taken. 

Governance must be in the public perception, impenetrable by private interests seeking to influence government decisions, legislation or the award of contracts, which are part of the policy-making process in contemporary Albanian democracy.

Lobbying can improve government decisions in any case of public interest, but it can also lead to unfair advantages for the public interest when the process is unclear and the standards are such that they favor narrow private interests. In all cases where the public interest is at stake, it was later established that the negotiations were conducted behind closed doors. 

Governance on the other hand needs to review the national perimeter of integrity expressed through mechanisms of code of ethics, conflict of interest, cleansing from the corruption it has produced and inherited, taking into account contextual factors and conditions affecting their effectiveness.  It is imperative for every government to address the current problems faced by its citizens. Undoubtedly, investing with human and technical resources in the problems predicted for the future is necessary for a society in progress.

It is the duty of the government to recognize and anticipate these “dormant” problems and address them in a consistent manner. 

But, enough is enough!

The government can go no further by dealing with the bad example of former leadership and turning its head back to the past, when has not so much to say to the people.

The people has spoken of the past through their vote of confidence, while justice must bring balance to the country. And until then, nobody should to say nothing, only must listen

Share this post

Leave a Reply


error: