A protest, organised by the President of Albania, Ilir Meta will take place today on Tirana’s main boulevard at 17:00 and is expected to last until 19:00.
Meta called the protest as a response to what he calls a “coup d’etat” of Albania by Prime Minister Edi Rama. He claims that actions were taken by Rama and the governing party seek to concentrate power in his hands while usurping democracy and independence of the state institutions.
Last week, Meta published a list of events that, according to him, demonstrate a “coup” attempt by the government. These include the capture of the local and general elections as evidenced by leaked prosecution wiretaps with the voices of Minister Damian Gjiknuri, Rama, dormer Durres Mayor Vangjush Dako, Socialist party members and officials, state officials, and criminals discussing vote-buying and voter intimidation.
He also included the violation of his presidential decree to cancel and then reschedule the 30 June elections. The elections went ahead and the Socialist Party won across the country, plunging Albania into a single-party rule for the first time since the end of Communism. Meta also referred to the single-party elections, an incomplete parliament, the placement of an ex-Communist prosecutor Ardian Dvorani to the KED and High Court, and the creation of a special ex judicial police and intelligence force with unprecedented power, under the control of Rama.
Also noted were freedom of expression violations including the controversial “anti-defamation law” passed in December 2019 but Meta vetoed it. The law was seemingly passed on 3 February without presidential decree, making it unconstitutional.
It has been reported that around 1000 police officers including rapid intervention units will be positioned near the Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office and other government institutions on the boulevard. Measures have also been taken to cordon off Rama’s office and to station guards in the vicinity.
Meta has called on all Albanians to take part in order to protect the constitution of the country and to rebel against what he refers to as an “infidel mafia sect”.
