TIRANA, May 13 – Albania’s Democratic Party led- opposition staged a peaceful anti-government protest last Saturday in the capital, Tirana.
Opposition leader addressed the crowd and demanded a caretaker government to guarantee free and fair elections. He said that the protest was a referendum to establish a New Republic which according to him would free the country from the chains of drugs and crimes.
“Starting from today we will not recognize the old republic of drugs and crime,” Basha said.
“There will be no elections without the opposition,” he added.
The rally was attended by thousand of party supporters, but it failed to meet the DP’s target of holding the biggest anti-government protest ever.
Thousands of activists and supporters of Basha welcomed his calls for the fight of government corruption and ties to organized crime. They walked peacefully along the main Martyrs of the Nation boulevard on Saturday to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office building which was heavily guarded.
Ministry of Interior Affairs had deployed hundreds of policemen in the streets fearing violence.
Earlier during the day, several foreign embassies had warned their citizens to stay away from the site, citing potential acts of violence.
The protest however was peaceful and no incidents were reported. Basha headed the rally accompanied by his wife and two young daughters.
Opposition parties have boycotted parliament for over 90 days. They erected a tent in front of the Prime Minister’s office building and refused to register for the elections, claiming the Socialist-led government will rig the votes.
“There will be elections only with a technical (caretaker) government,” Basha said warning of another “final march”.
Albania’s EU accession talks will be launched provided elections are certified as free and fair and the country implements judiciary reform whose implementation has been blocked by the parliamentary boycott of the opposition.
The reform has been drafted by EU and U.S. experts
In the meantime, Prime Minister Rama mocked the Democratic Party rally and described the tent erected in front of his office building to a “plastic bunker of shame”.
He vowed that the vetting process will be approved by the new parliament and corrupt judges and prosecutors ‘will be held accountable to the new judiciary”.
All attempts by EU and US representatives to push political parties towards a consensus few weeks before the elections had failed ahead of the rally.
