ALBANIA: Growing opposition dissatisfaction with the results of 2009 election sparks violent anti-government protests

Record ID: 644823

  • Title: ALBANIA: Growing opposition dissatisfaction with the results of 2009 election sparks violent anti-government protests
  • Date: 23rd January 2011
  • Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE - MARCH 23, 1992) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORTERS ON TRUCK FLYING U.S. FLAG HUGE CROWD IN SKANDERBERG SQUARE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER SALI BERISHA ADDRESSING CROWDS. BOY IN CROWD, ELDERLY WOMAN IN CROWD CHANTING CROWD, TOP SHOT HUGE CROWD IN SQUARE TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE - JULY 1, 1996) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT SALI BERISHA WALKING TO PODIUM IN ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT BERISHA ADDRESSING PARLIAMENT WIDE VIEW BERISHA ADDRESSING PARLIAMENT/ EMPTY SEATS UNOCCUPIED BY SOCIALIST DEPUTIES VISIBLE PICTURE RIGHT TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE - JULY 5, 2007) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) LEADER OF SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SKENDER GJINUSHI ENTERING PARLIAMENT OFFICES JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT OFFICES WIDE VIEW MEETING BETWEEN PRIME MINISTER SALI BERISHA AND OPPOSITION LEADERS BERISHA AT MEETING GJINUSHI AT MEETING, WITH MAIN OPPOSITION SOCIALIST PARTY LEADER EDI RAMA SEATED ON HIS LEFT BERISHA AT MEETING TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE - JUNE 28, 2009) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) POLLING STATION LEADER OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY SALI BERISHA ARRIVING AT POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF BERISHA PREPARING TO VOTE BERISHA VOTING, GIVING VICTORY SIGN SOCIALIST PARTY LEADER EDI RAMA ARRIVING AT POLLING STATION VARIOUS RAMA PREPARING TO VOTE RAMA VOTING ALBANIAN CREST ON BALLOT BOX STREET SCENE
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Albania, Albania
  • Country: Albania
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD2KNTKNTNAMSPT2SG9EYDZP7K
  • Story Text: Three men were shot dead as protesters battled police at an anti-government rally in the Albanian capital on Friday (January 21), in what Prime Minister Sali Berisha called an opposition attempt to foment a Tunisia-style uprising.
    Supporters of the opposition Socialist Party, which refuses to accept the result of a 2009 election, protested outside Berisha's office against what they see as official corruption and electoral fraud.
    The violence was the worst since the European Union applicant country spun out of control after the storming of the government building, following the death of a lawmaker in 1998.
    Thirty-three protesters and 17 policemen were wounded in Friday's violence, medical officials said. A civilian and a policeman were in critical condition, the officials added.
    Friday's anger at Berisha was a far cry from the wave of popular support that swept him to power as president in a 1992 election that ended almost 50 years of isolated, Stalinist rule.
    In 1996, Berisha's conservative Democratic Party won an even greater share of the vote. But opposition socialists refused to take their seats in parliament, alleging that the poll had been manipulated. The following year, his government folded when the country was plunged into chaos by the collapse of a pyramid investment scheme.
    Berisha returned to power, this time as prime minister, in 2005. Among his chief critics since then have been the leader of the Socialist party, Edi Rama, and the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Skender Gjinushi.
    The Socialists called for new elections after refusing to accept the results of the June 2009 parliamentary polls, which the Democratic Party won by a wafer-thin margin. Talks to break the deadlock have repeatedly failed.
    Berisha's ally, Ilir Meta, head of his junior coalition partner, resigned as deputy prime minister a week ago after being accused of corruption. Tension had escalated this week after sharp exchanges of accusations in parliament.
    On Friday, Berisha accused Rama and Gjinushi of hiring bandits and criminals to force a change of government in an echo of the protests that toppled former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
    The European Union rejected Albania's application last year for the status of official candidate to join the bloc, urging it to fight corruption and establish a functioning democracy.
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