Albanian Opposition Sparks Firestorm in Parliament Session Protest

In the Albanian parliament, the opposition set fire to the session hall. Albanian opposition deputies disrupted a parliamentary session on Monday, expressing their protest against what they claim is the increasingly authoritarian rule of the socialists. This was reported by the Albanian Daily News.

Representatives of the democratic opposition lit signal flares and erected a barricade of chairs when the country's Prime Minister, Edi Rama, appeared in parliament to vote on next year's budget. A small fire broke out in the hall due to one of the flares, but opposition deputies quickly extinguished it. Meanwhile, the security cordon prevented opposition deputies from approaching government representatives.

Left-wing socialists, who hold 73 seats in the 140-member parliament, swiftly held a vote and closed the session in five minutes. Further debates on budget items are scheduled for later this week.

One of the main demands of the Albanian opposition at the moment is the establishment of a parliamentary investigative commission to probe possible corruption cases involving Prime Minister Rama and other officials, according to their claims. Socialists argue that the opposition's demands contradict the constitution.

Gazmend Bardi, one of the opposition representatives, emphasized that their protest aims to highlight that the parliament does not represent the interests of the citizens. In turn, the head of the socialist faction, Blendi Kuci, urged citizens to pay attention to the fact that the parliament is approving the largest budget in history, twice the size of the one in 2013 when the socialists came to power.

Disruptions between opposition and pro-government deputies began last month, before the prosecutor's office accused former Prime Minister and President Sali Berisha of corruption. The opposition claims that this is a politically motivated accusation. In early November, tension in parliament led to the session being moved online, prompting protests from the opposition.

Since 2021, the opposition in Albania has split into at least three groups, after Berisha and his family were banned from entering the United States and later the United Kingdom over corruption allegations. Berisha became the fourth Albanian high official banned from entering the United States due to corruption accusations.

It is worth noting that during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania announced its accession to the declaration of the G7 countries regarding security guarantees for Ukraine before it becomes a NATO member.