Call for early elections, government overthrow

TIRANA, March 22 – The opposition is making plans on how to stage protests all around the country to topple the Democratic Party-led government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
The parliament last week created an investigative commission for the June 28 parliamentary election but only with 73 votes of their coalition.
The opposition Socialists of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama withdrew their request for the commission before the vote.
They later considered it illegal and invalid.
Leader of the Albanian opposition Edi Rama said Saturday night the opposition will stage protests in the whole country after the government did not vote the whole draft bills on investigation of the general elections.
Rama said the protests will continue until the government is not overthrown and early elections are not held.
“The refusal to make full investigation of the general elections held last year together with the opening of the ballot boxes is the main reason for the discontent of the opposition,” Rama noted.
The Socialists and the Democrats did agree on investigating last year’s polls but they disagreed on one key point – ballot recount.
The Socialists conditioned their participation at the commission with the reopening of a considerable number of ballot boxes which they said were manipulated.
They insisted they just wanted a recount and the punishment of all the responsible persons for the manipulation, but not a change of the election results.
That seemed very tricky to the governing Democrats who bluntly and continuously turned down the request for a ballot recount saying that would violate the constitution and also the verdicts of the Electoral College.
Following a 48 hour debate at the parliament, it seemed that everything was in vain.
The Democrats insist and continuously call on the Socialists to take part at the investigative commission but that’s a call to a deaf ear.
The opposition convened the other smaller allies Sunday to declare that the protests would start in one month time.
They also loudly told the international community not to consider the Albania crises resolved and asked for their help again.
Setting a one-month timeline for holding the protests is likely a show that the international community, be it the Council of Europe as last time or the European Union, should now again get directly involved to resolve the situation.
Following the meeting the opposition leaders insisted they now will protest against the government in order to topple it in a democratic way. They could not say how the protests would be held, all around the country, in the capital, or a combined way.
They also did not say whether they will continue to take part in the parliament or resume their previous boycott.
Many details are not known. The fact the country is passing through a turbulent political crises is obvious. Ways how to resolve it are hard to predict at this moment.
The opposition Socialists and their one ally have 65 of the parliament’s 140 seats while governing Democrats and their allies control 75 seats.
Main laws, especially those needed for the European integration, need three-fifths, or 84 votes at the parliament.