Opposition and protests

TIRANA, Nov. 16 – Opposition has been protesting for all the last 16-17 months since the last year’s parliamentary elections claiming manipulation in their counting.
They insist that their transparency is the basis for the country’s democracy.
They have been boycotting the parliament, holding street protests, a hunger strike, boycotting voting in parliament and so on.
They have resumed their threats of new street protests but they are being postponed in the last month. That could be likely the result of the European pressure trying to mediate a compromise between the two ruling political parties _ governing Democrats of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and main opposition Socialists of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama.
Last month they said they would resume street protests but then postponed them until the European Union decided on the country’s visa liberalization. That was done last week and again Socialists threatened with new street protests.
The opposition bloc said Sunday plans for a new wave of protests aimed ultimately at bringing down the government. The Socialists also accuse the governing Democrats of trying to put under control all institutions.
Opposition parties say they have offered to end the political crisis with the ruling coalition in return for a thorough investigation into materials used in the June 2009 general elections, which the opposition believes was marred by serious violations.
This time they seemed to make a new step, not claiming any more on recounting the ballot boxes but only the voting documentation.
The Democratic Party-led government, however, insists that any request should go through the courts.
Besides the Socialists have also planed to initiate a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli.
Berisha urged the Socialists to take the proposal to the Parliament, adding that he needed to see the proposal and consider it seriously and rigorously, “in the framework of the Constitution, Electoral Code and the independence of the institutions.”
That is not any big difference from the previous stand of the Democrats.
But on Tuesday it seemed they had bowed again to pressure from European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele. His spokeswoman said a day earlier that street protests are not the prospects they expect to see from the opposition in Albania and also hailed their new proposal on vote documentation. That likely urged the Socialists to postpone again the protests, though they are making the preparations all over the country.
Meanwhile the country or the people are still unclear: who is right: Berisha who keeps the high flag of visa liberalization high, or the Socialists who accuse Berisha of letting the country without the EU’s candidate status?
And they will soon be asked to give themselves the answer: the country holds local elections May 8, 2011.
Meanwhile they should normally listen to tit-for-tat exchange of accusation and calling names from the two main political groupings.