The agreement Rama-Basha produced, among others, a new law for the audiovisual media during the electoral campaigns. According to the new law, approved last night with 118 votes in favour and 2 against, the national private televisions, both terrestrial and satellite, will broadcast for free the political advertisements during the electoral campaign for the elections of June 25^th.

Immediately after the law was approved the televisions burst into a storm of debate, claiming the rights of free market and free media are being violated. The problem lies elsewhere, as explained below.

Now the national private televisions, terrestrial or satellite, are obliged to put at disposal of the biggest party of the parliamentary majority and the biggest party of the parliamentary minority (respectively the Socialist Party (PS) and the Democratic Party (PD)) 90 minutes of political advertisement each.

The other parliamentary parties (LSI, PDIU, PR, PDK) will have 45 minutes each; while the non-parliamentary parties will have 10 minutes of free political advertisement each.

The televisions’ cost for the time at parties’ disposal will be accounted as full deductable expenditure for tax effects.

Should they refuse to obey the law, any television or political party that will show paid political advertisements will be fined with a sum varying from 3 to 8 million Leks from the Media Monitoring Board.

It seems the law was proposed by Basha and Premier Rama had the obligation to accept it within the package of their agreement. The current opposition is the one that benefits de facto from the law, but also the oppositions of the future, because it enables them to enter in equal positions of publicity with the “Renaissance”, which in four years in power managed to put under its control all the big mainstream media, making them favours. It’s a known fact the governing party is favoured and more commode when it comes to access to the big Albanian TVs as well as the local ones.

One of Basha’s main points of the three-month rhetoric in the Tent was denouncing the seizure of big media from the Prime Minister. Almost every day, through concrete evidence, he accused the media owners of becoming Rama’s mediatic servants, in exchange of licenses for construction and other favours for their other businesses.

Truth is should the electoral spots continue as before, the opposition would pay for them, the “Renaissance” wouldn’t. It has happened before and the story would repeat itself, because the “fee” of the Premier’s party for the televisions has been paid earlier and systematically in different ways, never from the party funds, but from the taxpayers’ money.

Almost all media owners under the Premier’s control have profited for their other businesses, be it in the field of education, construction, concessions, bids, infrastructure, convenience in the limits of illicitness. Also, the televisions and the other businesses of their owners have been favored for taxes or public procurements from the government.

Their revolt today, after the approval of the law, is hypocritical and badly tailored. The law clearly states they will not lose a cent but will be compensated for that.

 “The televisions’ cost for the time at parties’ disposal will be accounted as full deductable expenditure for tax effects”, the law says literally.

Still, they are mad and planning to start a legal campaign against it. What’s their problem since they lose nothing?

This is the catch. In order to get reimbursed for the parties’ advertisement, they must be regular taxpayers. Are they? The fact they are alarmed shows they are tax evaders, just like they have been always accused, not only from the opposition.

The beauty of this law is not only putting in equal conditions the opposition and the majority in the race of TV propaganda, but it also will tell us, based on the last article, how much taxes this “mediatic giants” really pay.

SYRI.net