Thousands of supporters of Albania’s opposition held an anti-government protest in Tirana on Tuesday accusing the Cabinet of corruption. The protest, which ended peacefully, also marked 33 years since the toppling of the main statue of the country’s late communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. (Feb. 20)
Feb 21,
2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Tirana, Albania.
Thousands
of supporters of Albania’s opposition held a protest Tuesday accusing the
Cabinet of corruption.
Protesters
threw stones and flares at police officers, and some pulled down an iron fence
around the main government building in Tirana, but the protest ended
peacefully.
The
demonstration also marked 33 years since the toppling of the main statue of the
country’s late communist dictator, Enver Hoxha.
Since
October, opposition lawmakers have regularly disrupted parliament
sessions to protest the ruling left-wing Socialists’ refusal to create
parliamentary commissions to investigate alleged cases of corruption involving
Prime Minister Edi Rama and other top officials.
Tuesday’s
protest also showed support for former prime minister and current opposition
leader Sali Berisha, who is under house arrest while being
investigated for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law privatize
public land to construct apartment buildings.
Speaking from his apartment and broadcast live
on screens at the rally, Berisha accused Rama of corruption and of politically
attacking his family. He pledged to reopen the “integration doors to the
European Union, which Edi Rama’s regime has closed.”
Not all
opposition groups joined the protest. Supporters of a wing of the divided
Democratic Party that didn’t take part accused Berisha of holding the protest
for personal gain and as a way to increase the number of his supporters.
Support for
him significantly diminished after the United States in 2021 and the United
Kingdom in 2022 barred him and close family members from entering because of
alleged involvement in corruption.
AP
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