Fired public servants go on hunger strike

TIRANA, May 22 – Several former public servants have gone on a hunger strike near the government building to protest what they say was their unfair dismissal from their position following the change in government eight months ago.
The strikers have received the support of leaders of the main opposition Democratic Party and its members of parliament.
The strike started with 10 former state employees who set up a tent in a park next to the government headquarters following a small clash with police officers who wanted to stop them because they did not have a permit to protest.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who had seen several similar protests directed at him when he was in power, was the first to urge all Democrats to support the strike. More than a hundred supporters showed up at the strike shortly after.
His successor as leader of the Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha, said that “it is painful to see that these people are driven to this act of desperation, and a sublime act of self-sacrifice, because the prime minister and his minions refuse to enforce the law and court decisions.”
Several of the strikers say they have court ruling that force the administration to return them to work, but these rulings have been ignored by the civil administration.
Massive firings for political reasons have been one of the ugliest features of Albania’s transition to democracy. Every time the government changes hands from one party to the next, thousands of public servants are fired to be replaced with activists of the party coming in power, despite laws the prohibit such moves.