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US News: The Albanian opposition protests and demands a technical cabinet

2024-10-07 21:36:00, Aktualitet CNA

US News: The Albanian opposition protests and demands a technical cabinet

Opposition supporters in Albania protested again on Monday, demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic cabinet ahead of next year's parliamentary elections, US News reported. 

The conservative opposition has long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama's socialists of corruption, manipulation of previous votes and usurpation of the powers of the judiciary and others.

Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha's Democratic Party has staged protests in parliament over the past week after a colleague was convicted of defamation and jailed in a case they consider to be politically motivated. Ervin Salianji appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court.

Democrats, who have staged sometimes violent protests against the government since 2013, are also demanding Berisha's release from house arrest, where he was placed during an investigation into alleged corruption.

Several thousand protesters gathered in front of the main government building in Tirana, chanting "Down with the dictatorship" and "Berisha, Berisha". After a brief clash with the police, they threw Molotov cocktails.

Outside the governing headquarters of the Socialist Party, they again threw Molotov cocktails and burned a poster of the prime minister, who leads the party. They did the same outside the Ministry of the Interior and the municipality. Hundreds of police officers took up positions to protect government institutions, occasionally firing tear gas. Police said traffic was blocked on many streets in the city centre.

The US embassy warned its citizens to stay away from the protest.

The US and European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence will not help the country integrate into the 27-nation EU bloc. In 2020, the EU decided to start full membership negotiations with Albania, and later this month Tirana will begin discussions with the bloc on how the country complies with EU positions on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and war against corruption./ CNA





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