Huge crowds rallied on Friday in front of Albanian government buildings in Tirana, backing calls by the opposition Socialists for a recount of ballots from last year’s elections.
The protest was the latest development in a political crisis that has shaken the former communist nation and brought the workings of government to a virtual standstill since the polls in June last year.
“The time of the resistance has come. This is a great battle and we are determined to pursue whatever sacrifices are demanded from us,” said Socialist leader Edi Rama.
He called on supporters to keep up the protests until the polls results are clarified.
The Socialists also accused the government of plunging the country into an economic crisis.
“This is the final moment,” said Gramoc Ruci, a Socialist deputy speaking to the crowd, which he said numbered up to 100,000 people.
There was no official or independent figure.
The Socialists accuse Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s ruling coalition of manipulating the results of the elections and have boycotted parliament to demand a recount, which the government has refused.
Fatmir Xhasa, a Socialist deputy, told the protestors that 22 lawmakers would launch a hunger strike in front of the seat of government to demand election transparency.
About a dozen tents were set up to accommodate the strikers.
Protesters held placards calling on Berisha to allow a recount. “Berisha, either open the ballot boxes, or leave,” said one such message.
The government, led by Berisha’s Democrats, has dismissed calls for a recount, claiming that such a demand has already been rejected by the justice system.
The Socialists returned to parliament in February after a boycott of several months but still refused to take part in any vote, holding up the workings of government.
“This protest will last for an unlimited period of time,” Rama, who is also the mayor of Tirana, said to reporters before the start of the demonstration.
“We are determined to continue the protests and civil disobedience, to oblige the government either to be transparent in regard to the fraud-marked elections or to leave,” he said.
The protests have angered the government, especially as the rallies came shortly before a special concert organized by the authorities on Labour Day, for “Albanians who have all reasons to celebrate.”
“The country is changing and it goes towards its European dream,” said Integration Minister Majlinda Bregu.
The nearly year-long political deadlock has also undermined the country’s EU ambitions.
Albania submitted its candidacy for EU membership in April last year and had been hoping to obtain the lifting of visa requirements, enabling its citizens to travel throughout the Schengen zone, which covers most EU countries.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to