TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition lawmakers and their supporters blocked the capital's main streets for hours Tuesday accusing the government of corruption and demanding it be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet until 2025 parliamentary elections.
Hundreds of activists blocked traffic at Tirana’s main intersections accusing the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama of corruption, manipulating earlier elections and usurping the powers of the judiciary.
Led by lawmakers, opposition supporters — some coming from other cities — were involved in sporadic clashes with anti-riot police trying to clear the streets. Others sat down in the street or tried to push police officers away.
“Rama go away,” was a call repeated by protesters in many places.
Hundreds of police officers were deployed to protect government buildings and keep streets clear for traffic and preserve order. They used water guns mounted on trucks to keep protesters away from City Hall and Wilson Square, and tear gas in at least in one case.
The conservative Democratic Party and its supporters in an opposition coalition also have been holding protests over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated.
“The Albanians’ revolt and civil disobedience cannot be stopped,” said the Democrats’ Secretary-General Flamur Noka, the most senior leader while Berisha is under house arrest.
As Noka was addressing journalists, he stopped speaking out of respect when a prayer was heard from the new Muslim mosque nearby. Albania's 2.4 million population is more than half Muslim. They live peacefully alongside Catholic and Orthodox Christians and other smaller religious communities.
The protest ended after three hours with the opposition leaders pledging to continue with rallies all around the country.
Albania holds parliamentary elections next spring, which Rama’s Socialists are poised to win, according to polls, partly because the opposition is divided.
The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence won’t help the country integrate into the 27-nation European Union.
In October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on how the country aligns with EU stances on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption. Albania aims to join the bloc by 2030, according to Rama.
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