Both EU Ambassador Luigi Soreca and German Ambassador Susanne Schütz have this morning visited Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha in at the PD headquarters to discuss the intention of the unified opposition to resign from their parliamentary mandates.
After the meeting, Soreca made a statement to the press:
“I have been very clear… it is necessary to discuss. I think that tomorrow is an important day. We expect there to be no violence and we expect democratic process.”
Tomorrow, the opposition has planned another protest against the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. On Saturday, the government had used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, of which some had attacked the front door of the Prime Ministry and an art work on the premises.
Yesterday, the US Embassy released a statement denouncing the move of the opposition to leave Parliament:
“A healthy democracy requires an opposition that operates constructively within constitutional institutions. Threats by the Democratic Party, the Socialist Movement for Integration, and other opposition parties to abandon their mandates in Parliament undermine the basic principles of democracy and subvert the important progress Albania has achieved on rule of law and responsible governance. The United States calls on all MPs to rise above the political fray, reject calls to abandon their mandates, and defend the ideals and principles central to any vibrant democracy. If you fail to do your job, you fail the people you are privileged to serve.”
