PMPC The Final Update Before Albania's 2025 General Elections

May 8, 2025

In just a few days, on May 11, 2025, Albanian citizens will head to the polls for the general elections. This important vote will not only determine the makeup of our 140-member parliament but also set the course for Albania’s approach on its digital infrastructure. As a grassroots community promoting digital rights, free libre open-source software, and digital commons, we are committed to ensuring voters make informed decisions about issues that matter to our digital society.

Since January 2025, LibreLabs has been actively advancing the Public Money Public Code (PMPC) campaign in Albania. For those unfamiliar, the PMPC principle is straightforward: if public money is used to develop software, that software should be made available to the public as free and open-source software. This approach ensures transparency, promotes collaboration, prevents vendor lock-in, and guarantees that taxpayers maintain ownership of the digital infrastructure they’ve funded.

We previously shared our campaign launch in a blog post, outlining our plans to contact with political parties and map their approach on this issue. Today, we bring you the results of our efforts and final updates before the election.

Reaching Out to Political Parties

According to the Central Election Commission (KQZ), there is a large number of registered political parties and coalitions participating in the upcoming elections.

This large number reflects the diverse political landscape in Albania but also presented a significant challenge for our campaign. Finding valid contact information for these parties was surprisingly difficult. Many parties lack basic web presence or updated contact details, highlighting a transparency issue in our political system. After extensive research, we identified and mapped all parties that:

1. Were officially registered with the KQZ (Central Elections Committee for the 2025 elections;
2. Had functional contact methods (email addresses, social media, or websites).

We then reached out to these parties with a clear explanation of the PMPC principle and asked a simple question: Would they commit to adopting the Public Money Public Code principle in their political program if elected, or not?

The Results

Despite our best efforts and lots of research to contact all parties with valid communication channels, the response rate was disappointingly low. Of all parties contacted, only one political party responded positively to our initiative. This party expressed support for the PMPC principle and indicated a willingness to implement it if elected. You can see all the results here.

While we hoped for greater engagement from political entities, we are encouraged that at least one party has recognized the importance of transparent, accountable, and open-source software development in public administration. Their commitment represents a potential step forward for digital rights and transparency in Albania. Lëvizja BASHKË was unfortunately the only political party to respond to us and to incorporate the principles of Public Money Public Code in their political program for the elections as presented here levizjabashke.al/zgjedhjet-2025/programi/pjesemarrja-demokratike/pjesemarrja-dhe-siguria-digjitale.

For transparency reasons, we’ve published lots of details in the wiki: publicmoneypubliccode.miraheze.org/wiki/Faqja_kryesore. This documentation allows voters to see which parties engage with civil society on digital policy issues.

What This Means for Voters

As you prepare to cast your ballot on May 11, we encourage you to consider each party’s stance on digital rights and technology governance. The Public Money Public Code principle is not just a technical matter – it’s about fundamental democratic values of transparency, accountability, and responsible use of public resources.

Ask yourself: Do the parties you’re considering support open-source solutions for publicly funded software? Do they understand the importance of avoiding vendor lock-in and proprietary systems? Do they recognize that software paid for by the people should belong to the people?

LibreLabs members remain committed to advocating for digital rights, FLOSS principles, and digital commons in Albania beyond this election cycle. The PMPC campaign was organized entirely through volunteer efforts, without any external financial contributions – demonstrating our community’s dedication to these principles. We believe that government digital infrastructure should be transparent, secure, and owned by those who pay for it: the taxpayers. Regardless of the election outcome, we will continue to work toward this vision and hold elected officials accountable for their technology choices.

As May 11 approaches, we encourage all citizens to:

• Research the digital policies of parties you’re considering;
• Ask candidates about their stance on open-source software in government;
• Share information about the PMPC campaign with friends and family;
• Vote with digital rights and transparency in mind.

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Acknowledgments and notes:

This campaign would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of some friends. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all LibreLabs members and non-members who contributed their free time to this important work. From researching contact information to drafting communications, monitoring responses, and documenting the entire process – every contribution has been invaluable. We really love the collaborative spirit in the implementation of this one. While we won’t list names here, you know who you are, and we deeply appreciate your commitment to advancing digital rights in Albania.

Note: LibreLabs is a non-formal community promoting digital rights, free/libre open source software, and digital commons. Our members have their own individual political beliefs, but our engagement at LLcc does not include promoting any specific political party. The PMPC campaign aims only to help others make informed decisions about the importance of transparency in government digital infrastructure and ensuring that publicly funded software belongs to the public.

The PMPC campaign was organized without any financial contribution but only with hard work from LLcc members and movement-aligned friends who believe in transparency when it comes to funding of governmental digital infrastructure and that the latter should be owned by the people who pay for it: taxpayers!