Arrests, demolitions and power cuts drive rule of law campaign

TIRANA, Oct. 30 – Tens of arrests have taken place across Albania in the past two weeks, mostly among business owners, as the Socialist-led government moves to punish those who build illegally and steal electricity.
Demolitions of tens of structures and power cuts on many consumers have also taken place, as part of what the government calls its three-pronged approach to establish full rule of law in Albania — proper construction, ending power theft and tougher policing of the country’s drivers.
In turn, the opposition has accused the government of arbitrary actions and trying to build a “police state” to scare people into submission through arbitrary action.
Campaign to demolish illegally-constructed structures
The authorities have continued their campaign to demolish buildings and structures constructed illegally without the proper documentation and permits.
Demolitions have happened on a daily basis in Tirana and around the country.
The move has also sparked a political debate with the main opposition Democratic Party of Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha accusing the central leftist government of Socialist Party leader and Prime Minister Edi Rama of selectively targeting for demolition buildings belonging to their political opponents.
The Socialists responded by accusing the Democrats and their leader, who is the capital’s mayor, of giving a free hand to illegal construction and of not performing his watchdog duty.
The government said it sees the campaign as one of the three major pillars of their rule of law platform since they came to power in September 2013.
It says authorities have freed up to 100,000 square meters of public space that was illegally occupied by individuals or businesses during the rule of the Democratic Party before 2013.
The Socialist-led government has asked the opposition Democrats to apologize to Albanians for allowing illegal construction to grow during their eight-year rule.
The opposition, in turn, responded that buildings of Rama supporters are not being touched and accuse him of rampant “covering the capital in concrete” while he was mayor for more than a decade until 2011.
Tougher policing of the country’s roads and highways has also turned into a political debate as the government has proposed increases of several times the current penalty for virtually all traffic offenses and police have launched a massive campaign of fines for minor infractions like not possessing a first aid kit in vehicles.
Arrests, electricity supply cuts follow deadline in anti-theft campaign
Authorities have arrested 64 people this week, mostly business owners, as a government deadline urging consumers to stop stealing electricity passed earlier in the week.
The move is part of the campaign launched by the Socialist-led government to stop electricity theft around the country, after warning the power system is at the brink of a serious crisis that would affect the entire country.
The government had earlier given a five-day ultimatum to those who have illegal connections to the power grid or who pay household rates for their businesses to stop their illegal activity.
Monday, Prime Minister Edi Rama said publicly at a meeting that all those who were stealing electricity would not only be cut off from the grid, they would also face three to five years in prison under new criminal code amendments.
Up to 45 percent of locally produced and imported electricity through is lost in the transmission grid and distribution due to theft by citizens and companies as well as due to technical failures, authorities say.
The campaign to increase enforcement in the power sector is taking place countrywide in coordination with police.
The government says that this is the third major rule of law initiative they have launched since they came to power last year, following efforts to fight marijuana production earlier this year and the of illegally-constructed buildings in public spaces.
Power payment structure to shift
The government has also said it will remove the fixed number of kWs of up to 300 offered with cheaper price to private consumers.
Rama accused many businesses that they pay equal prices with families, and use it for commercial purposes. He added the government would put a stop to it.
He said the average family would not be affected and that low-income groups such as pensioners would be given an increase in subsidies by the government to deal with power price increases.
Power system in crisis
Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri gave disturbing figures in his speech at at a public meeting last weekend discussing the energy sector.
He said that the accumulated debt of the energy system had reached $1.1 billion. He accused the former government of then-Prime Minister Sali Berisha of increasing the losses from 34 percent in 2008 when they privatized the distribution corporation to 45 percent in 2013 and in September, when the Socialists came to power, it was 50 percent.
The power production and distribution companies are now back entirely under state control.
Shortly after coming to power, the Socialist-led government reached a deal with the Czech power corporation, CEZ, which had privatised the distribution system in 2008 and had been kicked out of the country by the previous government January 2013 over claims it failed to improve the system. The government paid to the Czech investors some 100 million euros and took back the ownership of the power corporation in Albania.
The World Bank then gave a loan of $150 million to Albania to renovate the power system.
The government aims to cut the losses by 5 percent each year until 2018 so that the corporation turns profitable that year. They have also pledged to liberalize 40 percent of the energy market and invest up to $420 million until 2020.
The TAP gas pipeline will be a significant assistance to such a strategy as it will offer other alternatives of electricity production in the country and also assist many consumers and businesses in using gas instead of electricity.
The IMF has said that unless Albania resolves the energy crisis, it will affect the whole economy and turn into a major concern for the country.