Fight on crime is a national priority that should not take on political colors
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
Like many other areas of public life in Albania, policing and the state’s efforts to fight crime, whether organized or not, have become part of a hostile debate over governance and political wrongdoings.
As this newspaper goes to press, representatives of the two main political forces in parliament are locked in a tough debate about the crime situation in the country, trying to blame each-other of either not doing enough on fighting crime, or outright involvement and encouragement of criminals.
The current government says the previous one left behind a mess, and that the current administration faces a tough situation with new trends in violent crime. The reply that comes back is that the new government simply doesn’t know how to handle policing duties and ought to consider resigning.
The reality is that it has been a tough few months for police in Albania. There have been a series of high-profile crimes at a time the police force was affected by the political transfer of power, which meant all of the country’s top police officers were replaced and those down the line reassigned. All that is combined with economic difficulties hitting the most vulnerable parts of society as economic inequality has grown. Changes in governance and poverty are only part of what is likely fueling this crime wave however, there are likely other reasons too.
Regardless of the causes, the diverse nature of the crimes in questions is concerning for the society at large because they would make anyone feel vulnerable – whether it is stoned youngsters unloading an AK-47 trying to rob an international bus in Albania’s southern mountains or contract killers hired by organized crime to blow up the neighbor’s car – or even “unhappy taxpayers” trying to take down high voltage power lines with explosives while writing graffiti to protest new taxes.
Needless to say, most Albanians are relieved that in at least two of the above mentioned high-profile crimes police say they have found those responsible and have made arrests. Albanian police ought to be congratulated for their work in particular in the case of the use of explosives in mafia-style attacks that have kept country on edge for weeks.
Politics does tend to poison the well in Albania though. There have often been accusations that representatives from both major parties have associated themselves with criminal elements, which are more than happy to get close to politics for the sort of shielding it is perceived to supply. Every party should immediately and unequivocally distance itself from such practices.
At the end of the day, the notoriously divisive politics that apply to all issues in Albania should end when it comes to law and order. This is a national priority and part of the very basic social contract that any elected politician holds with the people he or she represents.
Albania has been for years a very safe country even under tougher circumstances. The country’s residents are now worried of a return to scarier times in the 1990s. Politicians should stop using the situation to get political points and play the blame game, but turn to their better angels and ask: What is it they can to help law enforcement authorities fight crime in Albania.
