FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has harshly criticized the recent changes to the Criminal Code, which foresee tougher penalties for double parking, up to prison.
Zhupa described this measure as unjustified and disproportionate compared to much more serious criminal offenses.
"We are clearly dealing with an institutional error. The countries that take these measures are countries classified in the ranking of world states as autocratic states or with non-existent democracies," said Zhupa. "When you manage to impose such measures that have no connection at all with the criminal profile of the one who does it, or with criminal intentions, or with irreparable consequences socially, you clearly understand that we are dealing with a state that is built on the basis of violence, on the basis of repression," said the MP in an interview on the "Puls" show.
The MP stressed that the real problem is not the behavior of citizens, but the lack of public parking spaces, inadequate public transportation, and urban chaos, especially in Tirana. She accused the government and municipalities of concreting cities and destroying common spaces.
"It is not due to the unwillingness of citizens to pay regularly, but to the impossibility of a chaotic city, totally destroyed by urban management, which does not offer public transport of all forms, nor spaces to park cars. This leads to the creation of traffic and a heavy road load, because there are no public parking lots, while towers are erected in every square and in every garden, preventing these spaces from being used as common public spaces," said Zhupa.
"So, we have a city where the state has taken over every public space, has ruined the city in public services and does not offer citizens public services. Under these conditions, you cannot tell the citizen that it is your fault, when there is no place where he can leave his car, even to take the children. Albania, as you say, is the only country in Europe that criminalizes double parking," she added.
As an alternative, Zhupa proposed investments in public parking, transportation, and urban planning, emphasizing that criminal punishment cannot replace good public policies and civic awareness.
Ku ligj do shkundi bashkite te mendojne te zgjidhin problemin e parkingjeve ne qytete.