TIRANA, May 27 – The country’s opposition Democratic Party and its political allies rallied on Saturday along with thousands of DP members and supporters demanding the resignation of Minister of Interior Fatmir Xhafaj.
In addition to Xhafaj’s resignation, the DP also rallied for Prime Minister Edi Rama to leave his post due to allegations Xhafaj illegally protected his brother from serving seven years of prison time in Italy for drug trafficking.
Protesters from both the capital and other districts met at the Boulevard of the Martyrs of the Nation with placards reading “We want Albania like the rest of Europe” and “Rama go, Xhafaj go.”
The protest’s was lead by head of the DP Lulzim Basha, who accused the government of having close ties with criminal groups, which it protects to remain in power.
“Our effort lies in the battle between those who want justice and those who have robbed it, the battle between the people who want safety and order, and the alliance between government and crime,” Basha told the few thousand protesters in the capital’s centre.
He added that autocracy and corruption are corrosive for a society, but that the government won’t do anything to break ties with crime and the alleged illegal drug business.
“There is only one way. Removing this government from people, from a united nation. The Rama government is the most anti-European government that Europe has,” Basha said.
After Basha’s speech, protesters marched through the boulevard at the Mother Teresa Square.
Local media reported there were clashes between protesters and the police in front of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Interior Affairs, as they threw eggs and smoke grenades.
Both sides the other side provoked violence, although they were both advised to preserve public order and avoid violence.
Both policemen and a few protesters suffered minor injuries from the clashes, among whom editor in chief of the RD newspaper – the DP’s official mouthpiece.
The opposition’s leaders Basha and Monika Kryemadhi reportedly visited the scene to calm the waters, while Basha and the head of the police Ardi Veliu later visited each side’s injured at the hospital.
Rama on the other hand thanked the democrats that did not join the protest rally through social media, saying they did not become part of an effort to taint Albania’s image in international eyes a few days before the country’s fate concerning the opening of accession negotiations for EU membership is decided.
The head of the Socialist Movement for Integration Kryemadhi, however, greeted the big number of protest participators and said both the opposition and the protesters proved they will not be governed by an “incriminated” government.
“Albanians are seeking Edi Rama’s resignation. Albania’s Progress Report testifies to a grim case of crime and high-rank corruption. Only Edi Rama and his incriminated dependents are the only ones hindering Albania’s path to Europe,” she said.
The opposition’s latest protest stemmed by PD-published wiretap which, according to the opposition, showed Xhafaj’s brother, Agron, recent readiness to assist a drug-trafficking deal to Italy.
Both Rama and Xhafaj have so far said the wiretap is fake, and have sent it abroad for an expert examination.
On Monday, Xhafaj said he is so confident the wiretap is PD compromised, he is “willing to resign his post if the examination proves it is original.”
He also challenged Basha to resign in case it is officially proven the wiretap is fake, as the government claims.
Two weeks ago Agron left the country two weeks ago to “hand himself in to Italian authorities and serve his sentence from 2002.”
Meanwhile, the country’s prosecution has began an independent investigation comparing his original voice with that registered in the wiretap.
