IMPROVING THE INTEGRITY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

When I started to write this blog, the first thing I had to do was to break down and analyze the meaning of ethics and a political party. According to my research,
Ethics is defined as ‘moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity’; ‘the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong’
A Political party is defined as ‘an organized group of people with at least roughly similar political aims and opinions, that seeks to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected to public office.’
Basically, ethics in politics means having a group of people with similar political opinions, who make morally good decisions, while seeking to influence public policy.
So what is the one thing that unites Ethics and Politics? The answer is: Values.
The term 'ethics' is derived from the Latin 'ethicus', and the latter from the ancient Greek. Ethics studies what is moral; how a moral system is rationally justified and how it is then applied at an individual level and at a social level.
Values are judgments/opinions on attitude, appearance and behavior.
While fact-based judgments can be verified empirically through observations; value judgments can only be verified through reason.
The rules of conduct show how people should interact with each other in all social relationships.
The main duty of all members of society; and especially those who influence public policy or exercise public functions; is the need to follow the law.
The first president of the USA, George Washington, wrote a short book titled 'The rules of politeness and good behavior in society and in conversation', which included 110 maxims designed to improve people's behavior.
Instead of appealing to people’s emotions, in ethics and politics we appeal to people’s reason. Reference to values and reason constitutes a dignifying politics. The main feature of this kind of politics is inclusion, which is achieved through shared values and articulated reason. We don’t have to agree; disagreement is something that constitutes politics after all. But disagreement must occur within the same value framework and must be articulated with the best of available reason .
Morality, what is right and what is wrong in human relations, can be a major issue in the times we are living in, especially in the field of politics where relations between people are the main focus.
Knowledge of ethics makes a person capable of questioning and analyzing hypotheses that are not always taken into account in certain fields such as politics.
The ethical point of view is important for decisions involving discretion, force and public influence which require the individual to make morally right decisions.

General view of the Socialist Party of Albania’s Ethics Code
Every political party, as well as every other public institution, should have its own Code of Conduct and/or Ethics Code, preferably separate from the party statute/bylaws.
The Socialist Party of Albania has had some principles and maxims regarding ethics, integrity and behavior included in the Party Statute since 1996. In 2013 the SPA published its first Ethics Code, which still applies today.
The Ethics Code of The Socialist Party applies to members, officials, candidates and representatives of the party.
There are dispositions regarding the respect for Minorities, Political adversaries, and relations with political and social organizations. The general principles of the Ethics code are : the rule of law; internal party democracy; freedom of thought; freedom of voting; nondiscrimination; collegiality, initiative and professionalism; the principle of not abusing with the public function; impartiality, honesty and independence; transparency, accountability and public information; the conflict of interest.
Referring to the Statute of the Socialist Party, Article 42, the SPA has a general disciplinary body that also addresses ethical matters, which is a permanent statutory body (Këshilli i Garancive Statutore dhe Etikës, KGSE – Committee of Statutory Guarantees and Ethics). The internal ethics management body is composed of five members, who are selected by the Party Congress. Membership in the internal ethics management body is incompatible with the discharge of party executive functions. KGSE can start a proceeding regarding ethical matters Ex officio; on the basis of a party members’ or representatives’ complain; based on external complaints or after a request from another internal governance body.
According to Article 22 of the Statute of the Socialist Party, there are some disciplinary measures that can be applied against the misconduct of a member/representative, such as : formal warning; admonishment; temporary suspension of party membership and/or office; withhold or withdraw of the party endorsement as a candidate or ejection from the party. The decision made by the Ethics Committee are final.
Cases of ethical misconduct are very rare. For the year 2022, The Socialist Party has only had to deal with 1 case. The few cases that have been dealt with, have always been solved amicably within the party local structures.
The Ethics Code is part of the Book of Rules of the Socialist Party. This set of rules is available to every local Socialist Organisation, whose members are regularly gathered and presented with the Statute and Regulations.
In conclusion, ethics plays a key role in shaping future politicians, while regulating all relations between the members of a party and furthermore between public officials and the people of a country. This is why it is important that every member of a political party, specially the new ones, be aware of the Code of Conduct or Ethics Code of the party.