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How Edi Rama uses state inspectorates, 10 times less fines before the elections

Pesë muaj përpara zgjedhjeve lokale të vitit 2023, institucionet shtetërore e frenuan vendosjen e gjobave ndaj shkelësve në thuajse të gjithë sektorët. Të dhënat e grumbulluara nëpërmjet kërkesave për informacion tregojnë se në periudhën janar-maj 2024, kur nuk kishte zgjedhje, gjobat e policisë dhe të inspektorateve ishin dy deri në dhjetëfish më të larta sesa në të njëjtën periudhë të vitit 2023, kur u mbajtën zgjedhjet lokale të 14 majit.

2024-10-30 17:47:00, Denoncim CNA

How Edi Rama uses state inspectorates, 10 times less fines before the elections

As she removes the wrong parking fine from her car window, Albjona, a teacher who lives in the Paris Commune area, counts the months until the next election.

"At least in the campaign we are calm. For a month, no one "plays" us", she says, who was penalized 3 times during the month of October alone.

Data collected by INA Media through requests for information show that before election campaigns, public institutions refrain from imposing fines. At least 7 monitored institutions imposed many times less fines in the months before the local elections of 2023, but showed no "mercy" at all in the same periods a year after, a non-election year.

For experts, the "softening" of the inspectorates is related to the election campaigns and the care not to cause dissatisfaction among the citizens before the elections, but the inspectorates themselves claim that their work is not affected by the election campaigns.

"Inspection plans are in place and the inspectors go to the field, but when the order is: "Don't fine", they go to the field and are told: "We forgive you, but be careful", - explains Erjon Tase from the Academy for Political Studies.

Up to 10 times less fines

INA Media asked all law enforcement inspectorates in Albania how many administrative measures (fines) they had imposed in the period January-May 2023, the period preceding the local elections on May 14.

Fines were also requested for the same period, January-May, but for the year 2024, when there were no elections. From 8 institutions that provided information, it turns out that 7 of them have significantly increased fines after the campaign and have reduced them in the months before citizens go to vote.

The only institution, which turns out to have given more punishments before the elections than after them, is the National Food Authority.

How Edi Rama uses state inspectorates, 10 times less fines before the elections

The Traffic Police imposed during the first 5 months of last year 333,179 fines, worth 920 million ALL. For the same months, during the current year, when there are no elections, 482,083 fines were imposed, worth 1.9 billion ALL. Noticeably, the fines in the 5-month non-electoral period have increased by 1.7 times. 148,904 more citizens were penalized, while fine collections increased by 678.9 million ALL in 2024.

The General Directorate of Taxes also maintains the same trend, reducing fines during the election year. In the period January-May 2023, 76 fines were imposed, worth 4.1 million ALL, while in the same period a year later, 453 fines were imposed, worth 21.5 million ALL. The difference is 377 fines more, worth +17,465,000 ALL. So, during the campaign, the fines were reduced by more than 5 times.

The State Technical and Industrial Inspectorate has reduced the fines by 6.5 times in the election year. In the first 5 months of last year, this institution imposed 12 fines, worth 1,130,000 ALL, while this year, from January to May, 14 fines were imposed, worth 7,400,000 ALL. The difference in number is only 2 more fines, but the financial value is significantly higher, a full 6,370,000 ALL.

The State Market Supervision Inspectorate has reduced fines before the campaign by 10 times. For the period January-May 2023, 8 fines were imposed, in the amount of ALL 1,020,000, and both the value and the number of fines increased in the non-election period. During the period January-May 2024, 40 fines were imposed, in the amount of ALL 10,000,000. The difference is +32 fines, worth +8,980,000 ALL.

The State Inspectorate of Labor and Social Services confirms through official data the same tendency as other institutions, with fewer punishments of citizens before the election date. During the period January-May 2023, 48 fines were imposed, with a total value of ALL 12,465,000, while in the period January-May 2024, 63 fines were imposed, with a total value of ALL 16,500,000.

The National Inspectorate of Territory Protection holds the record as the institution that has reduced penalties the most before the elections. They are 12.5 times lower than in the same period of the current, non-electoral year. IKMT itself told INA Media that, in the first 5 months of last year, 84 fines had cost citizens 71,748,500 ALL, while in the first 5 months of this year, the number of penalties had reached 330 punitive measures, with a value of 896,131,426 ALL.

Imeldi Sokoli, an urban planner, who analyzed the fines of the Inspectorate of Control and Protection of the Territory, told INA Media that, "there is no legal change in the field of urban development, nor any new phenomenon of illegal construction in this period, to justify so many grouped penalties".

He clarifies that institutions, such as IKMT, operate with campaigns and actions, which are undertaken "in times of political stability, that is, when we don't have elections close by, which can create discontent".

The Municipal Police, Tirana joins the trend of central institutions, showing different standards during periods corresponding to election campaigns. The Municipality of Tirana affirmed that in the period January-May 2023, the number of fines was 89,736, with a value of 103,063,500 ALL. For the same period of this year, the number of fines is significantly higher, a total of 219,992 fines, while their financial value is ALL 422,302,000. So, the municipality of the capital collected 4 times more money from the citizens after the elections.

How Edi Rama uses state inspectorates, 10 times less fines before the elections

The National Food Authority sounds like the exception that proves the rule. It is the only institution whose inspectors imposed more fines in the months before the campaign than after it. During the period January-May 2023, 165 fines with a value of ALL 29,030,000 were imposed by AKU, while during the period January-May 2024, 142 fines with a value of 25,150,000 ALL were imposed.

Experts suggest political use

Economic and urban development experts, as well as civil society activists, who monitor the activity of state institutions, especially during the elections, are convinced that we are dealing with the "softening" of the inspectorates in order not to cause dissatisfaction among the citizens before the elections.

Ola Xama, a journalist with long experience in economic affairs, claims that she has seen over the years a historical tendency of the inspectorates, that during the electoral campaigns they are pro-business, pro-citizens, advising and forgiving them, but not penalizing them.

"After the campaigns, we immediately see a harshness of these authorities, which impose penalties", journalist Xama told INA Media.

Erjon Tase, head of the Academy for Political Studies, believes that this is one of the ways of using state resources in elections.

"As citizens, we have touched tolerance, since the police, who are more lenient before the campaign than after the elections", says Tase.

Qëndresa Gytare (QQ), a civil society monitoring organization, also shares the conviction that these figures collected by INA Media are related to the electoral campaign.

"The figures you have found make the situation even more dramatic. We are not dealing with an isolated situation. Behind these figures hides a head of the institution, who has ordered this entire army of employees to stop their work during these months. Prosecutors' offices should investigate these cases", said Migen Qiraxhi from QQ.

Journalist Ola Xama finds it impossible that these figures are a coincidence: "This difference in figures in almost all institutions at the same time cannot be a coincidence. It is synchronized and orchestrated behavior of these institutions".

She emphasizes the non-professional and political leaders in these inspectorates. Even Erjon Tase links the new wave of increasing fines after the elections to the leaders.

"It can be a combination of factors, including the change of heads of institutions in a certain situation", he said.

The institutions say they "don't recognize the elections"

Despite the differences in the number and value of fines for the same annual period, in two different years, the inspectorates told INA Media that their work is not affected by election campaigns.

The State Labor Inspectorate commented in writing that, "inspectors are independent in their decision-making", and used as an argument for the increasing value of the fines the fact that it is related to the minimum wage and the increase of the latter has automatically increased the value of the fines.

"PHISO does not at any moment take into consideration the years when these inspections are carried out. Only 30% of the fines were imposed in scheduled inspections, the rest were taken in inspections for complaints and accidents at work", said the State Inspectorate of Labor and Social Services.

Even the State Technical and Industrial Inspectorate, which had 6-fold the fines after the campaign, does not accept to have been influenced by the election campaign.

The difference "came as a result of policies and reforms for the implementation of the law", the State Technical Inspectorate told INA Media.

After the elections, this institution has also changed its leader, however they say that they are not influenced by certain dates: "Election campaigns are democratic processes, which are not related to the object of ISHTI's activity and have no influence on the performance of its duties , functional".

The State Police said that the difference in the number of administrative measures is increasing as a result of the addition of technological equipment this year, specifically: radars, drones and telescopes.

"These devices have detected a high number of violations, mainly in exceeding the speed limit, wrong overtaking and using a mobile phone while driving," said the Police Communications Directorate, which ruled out any possible connection with the date of elections.

"In no case is the Traffic Police and any structure of the State Police influenced by the election campaign or political activities, but it correctly fulfills its mission", - says the reaction.

INA Media's interest was also answered by the Market Surveillance Inspectorate, an institution whose fines have increased tenfold after the elections. They call the increase in fines "justifiable", showing that in the election year they carried out half of the planned inspections, but they do not show why.

"For the period January-May 2023, ISHMT planned 834 inspections and carried out 419 of them, i.e. 50%. For the same period of 2024, ISHMT planned 1,574 inspections and carried out 1,072 of them, i.e. 68%", says the Market Surveillance Inspectorate. They cite the new control over the use of plastic bags as an indicator that justifies the high value of the fines.

"Our institution was not influenced in 2023, as an election campaign year, to "stop" the punishment of citizens or subjects", concludes the statement of ISHMT given in writing to INA Media.

The National Inspectorate of Territory Protection claims that, "there are no specific, sectoral indicators that influence the increase or decrease in the number of fines", but it justifies the 12-fold increase in penalties during 2024 with the fact that, "IKMT has been involved in the release of squares for several projects of public interest". The reaction of this institution to INA Media ends with the promise that, "IKMT operates independently from the election campaign".

The other inspectorates did not respond within the deadline for the publication of this article.

Fines against citizens fill the coffers of institutions

The data collected by INA Media also prove how important the money taken from citizens' pockets in the form of fines is in the budget of these institutions.

Only in the first 5 months of 2023 and only for these 8 institutions, which shared data for INA Media, the state budget benefited 1,142,234,558 ALL or over 11 million euros; while in the first 5 months of 2024, citizens received 2,997,629,532 ALL or 30 million euros in the form of fines.

"Fines are used as an opportunity to fill the budget coffers. They benefit from political stability and there is no more electoral interest", said the urban planner, Imeldi Sokoli.

Journalist Ola Xama puts the emphasis on the deformation of the inspectors' mission, on education, turning the measurement of their performance with the amount of fines they impose.

How Edi Rama uses state inspectorates, 10 times less fines before the elections

"The Municipal Police in Tirana imposed a 4 million euro fine for 5 months. This is a separate tax for citizens. The Traffic Police imposed a fine of 12 million euros in just 5 months, which is an amount even higher than the property tax itself, which is paid", - calculates Xama. / INA Media





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