Chaos al Albanian parliament. For the third consecutive day the centre-right opposition protests against “the flagrant violation of constitutional rights”. The accusation against the prime minister’s centre-left majority Edi Rama is that of “having denied the establishment of a series of commissions of inquiry”. Thus, despite controls at the entrance, opposition deputies managed to introduce several smoke bombs, which almost caused a fire in the chamber when one of them caught fire. The flames were put out by opposition parliamentarians.
The first vote on the 2024 budget law was scheduled for the session on Monday 20 November. A debate that would normally have taken about 2 days, but the left-wing socialists – who hold 73 seats in a Parliament of 140 seats – voted quickly and the session was closed in 5 minutes. “Unfortunately, the opposition was not interested in discussing one of the most important documents. However, the budget law was subjected to debates in parliamentary commissions”, explained the majority leader, Bledi Sew.
For today’s session, where Prime Minister Rama was also present, extensive security measures had been put in place. A thick cordon of plainclothes agents from the Republican Guard had been lined up in front of the podium where the members of the government sit, while others were in the space that divides the opposition seats from those of the majority. But apparently it wasn’t enough. “Parliament has turned into a military unit”, commented the former prime minister Sali Berishaadding that “there will be no peace until we regain our rights.”
