The parliamentary group of the Democratic Party, Albania’s main center-right opposition block led by Lulzim Basha, has resigned from the National Assembly.
The decision was taken Monday unanimously by the 43 Democratic MPs (the Albanian Parliament has 140 seats) who accepted a proposal made last night by Basha.
The radical move was made to ”support a political solution for a government of transition, which should take the necessary steps to guarantee early elections in the respect of international standards”, explained Basha at the end of a long meeting of his parliamentary group.
The decision followed a violent demonstration of the opposition on Saturday in front of the government. Groups of protesters repeatedly tried to storm the government building and police officers responded with tear gas and water cannons.
The position of the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) is still unclear. The movement has 18 lawmakers and is the second-largest parliamentary group in the opposition. The majority of Socialist Premier Edi Rama, which has 78 seats, appears unconcerned for the time being. According to Albanian media, during a meeting Monday of his parliamentary group, Rama asked his MPs to continue preparations for local elections at the end of June, as originally planned. The opposition has announced it is organizing another protest on Thursday.
Via Ansa
