The Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama has released a campaign ad which clearly uses a police vehicle, in spite of a decision by the Council of Ministers explicitly prohibiting the usage of public resources, including police equipment, for political campaigning.
The video clip features Prime Minister Rama driving a police car and stopping a young man to fine him over using his mobile phone while driving. While the young man tries to convince Rama not to give him a ticket, riffing off the standard excuses, Rama lectures him on all the good things the government can do with the money of the fine.
Comparison between the car used in the advertisement and the electric cars used by the Traffic Police show that they are the same.
In the advertisement, the producers blurred out the number plate and logos on the driver’s door and hood. This blurring, and some residue coloring, is clearly visible in the screenshot above. However, brand and model, front lights, wheel caps, blue stripes on the side, the little Albanian flag next to the side mirror, and the positioning of the blue/red lights on top of the car clearly show the makers of the advertisement used a real police car, in blatant violation of the McAllister+ agreement and the recent decision of the Council of Ministers.
The whole point of strictly protecting police neutrality is the fact that they play a key role in protecting the secrecy of the vote. Not only can they be called upon by the chairman of a voting center to restore order, they are also accompanying the voting boxes from the voting centers to the counting centers. It is therefore essential that the police forces are perceived as neutral.
The PS advertisement not only breaks the law, but also identifies the Prime Minister with the police, thus also symbolically violating the neutrality of the police forces.
