DP supporters converged around 6:30pm outside the Prime Minister’s Office and shot fireworks at the building after listening to a brief speech.
State police, who deployed 1,500 officers to secure the capital, responded with water cannons and tear gas. After the initial dispersal, protesters regrouped and marched through the Blloku neighbourhood, clashing sporadically with police, before finishing the march outside the DP headquarters near the Namazgah Mosque and parliament building.
Tonight’s demonstration follows a March 12 parliamentary vote where the governing majority Socialist Party (SP) rejected a request from the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) to lift the immunity and authorize the arrest of former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who is accused of corruption related to the misuse of public funds.
Opposition leaders accuse Prime Minister Edi Rama and his party of shielding corrupt officials from facing justice. They’re demanding Rama’s immediate resignation, the establishment of a “technical government”, and early elections.
Today’s date, March 22, is highly symbolic for the DP, marking the anniversary of their first electoral victory in 1992.