TIRANA, Jan. 26 – For about five minutes, starting at 11 a.m. Monday, Albania’s main roads and highways were in gridlock as part of a protest initiated by the main opposition Democratic Party against taxes that have kept fuel prices high while they have gone down rapidly in other countries.
Many drivers shut down their vehicles at the set time, creating traffic jams across the country.
The Democrats say that the worldwide oil price drop has not been reflected in Albania because the Socialist-led government uses two taxes to keep it high. They say that a lower diesel price would help local businesses and help to revive the sluggish Albanian economy.
The blockade was not respected by all drivers, though it seemed the opposition had made plans taking its supporters’ cars at key crossroads.
Democratic leader Lulzim Basha told reporters the fuel tax was double that of other European countries.
“This tax affects directly the Albanian children’s bread price and public and private transport cost and destroys efforts to take country out of the crisis,” Basha told reporters.
The government says that the price has already fallen by 20 percent compared to just more than a year ago when they came to power. They also say that the taxes they are blamed for now have been put there by the Democrats, who were in power until 2013, albeit the Socialists have increased their burden since coming to power.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said Monday evening at a talk show that the oppositions was using the price as a way to get some political points after being kicked out of power in a landslide loss.
But the fact remains that fuel prices in Albania are still high compared to most European countries, despite the fact that Albania is among the poorest countries in the continent.
Politicians and experts that the fuel price market in the country is also dominated by just a few companies that keep the price artificially high.
The country’s competition authority is investigating what it suspects as an oligopoly in the retail fuel market.
Albanians also suffer from the fuel’s poor quality. During the last days authorities showed that up to 200 fuel stations were found with shortcomings starting from offering a poor quality diesel to lack of documentation.
The next day the opposition Democrats took to the parliament a set of draft laws asking for a reduction of the taxes they blame for the high fuel prices.
They have also pledged to hold continuous protest up to the government overthrow unless they fail to achieve such results in the parliament, where they do not have the proper number of votes to support them.
