Albania. Smoke candles and fire in parliament

Members of the opposition Democratic Party of Albania lit smoke candles during a parliament session. Earlier, deputies placed a tower of chairs in the middle of the room. The leader of the opposition group claims that they are silenced during the deliberations. The confusion did not prevent the vote on the 2024 budget. “They brought vocabulary and street manners to politics,” wrote Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, referring to the incident in the council chamber.

There was a tense situation in the Albanian parliament on Monday. Deputies placed a tower of chairs in the center of the hall and then lit colorful smoke candles. One member of the meeting started a small fire that spread briefly across the parliamentary bench. It was extinguished by deputies.

Security tried to keep protesters away from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was taking part in the proceedings.

“They brought vocabulary and street manners to politics,” Rama wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter), commenting on the incidents in parliament.

Sali Berisha, former prime minister and leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, accused the government of trying to silence the opposition in parliament, where the Socialist Party of Albania has a majority. – There is no turning back from the battle – Berisha told reporters after the events in the chamber. During the session, which lasted less than five minutes, the first vote on the budget for the coming year took place.

In October, prosecutors charged Berisha and his son-in-law with corruption in connection with a land deal that included the premises of a sports club. They accused him of using his influence as prime minister in 2005-2009 to exert pressure “to complete privatization procedures in favor of other people, including his daughter’s husband.”

His son-in-law was arrested, but Berisha has criminal immunity as an MP. He was ordered not to leave the country.

Berisha now accuses the current prime minister of orchestrating the prosecution against him, which Rama denies.

Main photo source: AA/ABACA/Abaca/East News