Referendum as a constitutional right of citizen participation in Albania

Abstract

The referendum is one of the oldest forms of putting directly the democracy into use. The referendum represents a personal, direct statement of the citizens for any legal act or any "other matters of special importance", so that the state must take citizens' opinions before taking a decision. This notion implies the coexistence of sovereign representative bodies (assemblies) and direct popular intervention procedures.The idea of developing referendums in Albania for various issues, has become one of the main subjects of the political debates; especially when dealing with political disputes and the debate fails to find consensus. Although every political debate mentioning the idea of a referendum, once they have achieved the political consensus they let the will of the people in limbo. Unlike many other countries of the world, where the organization and development of referendums is common, leaving people the right to decide on certain issues, Albania after the dictatorship have been organised only three referendums.The referendum as a form of direct democracy is provided in the Constitution of the Republic of Albania in Articles 108/4, 150, 151, 152, 177/4, the Law No.7866, 10.06.2004 "On Referendums" and the Code election of the Republic of Albania in Articles 118-132. The paper analyses different forms of referendums as an important tool for the citizens’ participations. A special attention is paid to the case in Albania. Below there is a brief analyse about the referendums in Albania by bringing the practice and facing it with albanian consitution provisions. Event though it is a common form of direct democracy in different countries, Albania has a poor experience which had faced several problems and arised different discussions through researchers of citizens participation right.