TIRANA, Nov. 12, 2022 – Albania’s opposition held a massive protest rally on Saturday, accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of corruption and bad governance.
Speeches by opposition leaders Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta listed a series of charges against Rama, whom they accuse of being responsible for the continued migration of Albanians from the country, especially young people.
“Albanians don’t leave just because they are the poorest people in Europe. But don’t forget that today they are the most stolen people in Europe and the planet. No nation, no citizen in any country has people that have been stolen to the core by a greedy government, by a government that has no moral standards, no laws, no Constitution, as in Albania,” Democratic Party leader Berisha said.
He appealed to the international community to be careful with the funding they give to Rama’s government.
“Save your funds, save the funds of your taxpayers, don’t give it to this government as it will have the fate of funds, taxes that Albanians pay and are stolen, stolen and only stolen by Edi Rama and his officials.”
Berisha also asked the European Union, NATO member countries and the United States “not to support the regime of Edi Rama.”
“Any support for him is a failure for Albanians. As from this square, I must declare that Albania will never have stability without the free vote of Albanian citizens,” Berisha said.
Freedom Party leader Meta said Rama’s 10-year rule had done the opposite of the promises that brought it to power.
“He promised governance with clean and transparent hands and today we are the first country in Europe for corruption and the second in the world for bribes,” Meta said.
Berisha invited Albanians to join the opposition, while presenting what he described as an anti-crisis package.
“Every Albanian who wants the doubling of salaries, the doubling of pensions, the doubling of economic assistance, who will educate children in Albania, employ them — join us against Edi Rama,” Berisha said.
He added: “We guarantee that there are all the potentials for an anti-crisis package so that prices will never be higher than in Kosovo and Macedonia, so that salaries will double and triple, so that oil prices will be the same as in the surrounding countries. Every Albanian who wants farms and businesses to prosper should join us.”
Rama chose to be outside Tirana during the protest, using Twitter to dismiss the rally and the opposition leaders.
The rally lasted more than two hours and was largely peaceful.
This was the second massive rally the opposition has held and it has promised to have more as Albania heads into election season next May when the one-party rule of Rama’s Socialists in the country’s municipalities will be challenged by the opposition.
