3.2 The consequences • Appointments and promotions have not been based on merit or professionalism 29 , leading to the demotivation of military officers and their regular resignations from active duty. Resignations have been more obvious from the year 2000 through the present 30 , mostly from young officers and those who have been educated or trained in allied and partner countries. • The Ministry of Defence has taken control of personnel management authority, which has led to the politicization of the management of professional military personnel in the armed forces. This has resulted in politically motivated dismissals and removals.“…one of the first consequences of AAF restructuring following the change of government(in Albania) was the discharge of 1,500 officers of different ranks from the AAF, the military academies, the General Staff, and the Ministry of Defence. The reason for their discharge was that these officers were appointees of the Democratic Party and were thus replaced by officers“loyal” to the ruling Socialist Party.” 31 Since there was no officially published data available, it is challenging to illustrate these discharges with figures. Therefore, we used publications made by non-governmental institutions in our study. • High military leadership positions are often left vacant for long periods, up to two or three years, leaving deputy commanders in charge. This has happened over long periods for positions such as the Logistic Support Command, Training and Doctrine Command, Air Force Command, Armed Forces Academy(now Security and Defence College) and even the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Chief of Defence). Based on this, there has been speculation about the professional and ethical integrity of decisions taken by such officials, who are lured by the possibility of promotion. • The appointments of officers from the Land Forces to the high post of the Commander of the Naval Forces have been the most obvious cases. These officers come from a completely different profession than the naval forces. 32 33 "These 29 “The vast majority of respondents, 82.2% think that very few or no people are employed in security institutions based on merit and competencies.”“Albanian Security Barometer, National Survey – 2020”, Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance, 2020, pg. 65, Graph 62. Perception of merit- and skill-based employment in security institutions. https://csdgalbania.org/wp­content/uploads/2021/03/Security_barometer_2020_ENGLISH-WEB.pdf. 30 “….Only 930 officers and NCO actually left the AAF during 2003 – 2004”. Tobias Pietz, Marc Remillard, Defense Reform and Transformation in Albania, Macedonia and Croatia, Bonn International Center for Conversion, brief 34, Bonn 2006, pg.15. 31 Ibid., pg. 14. 32 Zhvillohet ceremonia e emërimit të komandantit të ri të Forcës Detare, gjeneral brigade Ylber Dogjani (aaf.mil.al). https://aaf.mil.al/index.php/komanda-e-fd/136-stervitjet-dhe-aktivitete-te-fd/3415-zhvillohet­ceremonia-e-emerimit-te-komandantit-te-ri-te-forces-detare-gjeneral-brigade-ylber-dogjani. 33 Ish-komandanti i Flotës, Vladimir Beja: Emërimi i Qemal Shkurtit, jo normal- Kryesoret(gazeta-shqip.com). https://www.gazeta-shqip.com/2012/08/19/ish-komandanti-i-flotes-vladimir-beja-emerimi-i-qemal-shkurtit-jo­normal/. DEMOCRATIC CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE ARMED FORCES | 11