Albanian opposition once again disrupts parliament session with smoke flares

Smoke flares in the chamber

Albania's parliament descended into chaos once again on October 29: opposition Democratic Party lawmakers set off smoke flares, blocked the podium and unfurled photographs of protesters who, they claimed, had been injured by police actions. The protest began during a vote on a central bank bill — lawmakers of the ruling Socialist Party continued the vote despite the protests. Four opposition lawmakers were removed from the chamber, euronews reports.

Accusations against the police and the demand for Rama's resignation

The parliamentary protest was a continuation of repeated street demonstrations demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Opposition lawmakers accuse the police of using excessive force against protest participants, however, as euronews notes, based on the images presented these accusations have not been independently verified. The opposition brought photographs of injured demonstrators into the chamber to draw attention to its accusations against the security forces.

Second such incident in a week

The October 29 scene was not the end of the series of disrupted sessions: on October 22, opposition lawmakers had already surrounded the speaker's podium, unfurled photographs of students who, they claimed, had been beaten by police, and threw objects at speaker Niko Peleshi. At that time, clashes between rival lawmakers forced parliamentary security to intervene — microphones were ripped from consoles and chairs were overturned. Thus, the confrontation between the opposition and the ruling majority in parliament has been going on for more than a week and is accompanied both by street protests and by regular disruptions of the legislature's work.