Tensions flared shortly after Democratic Party (DP) leader Sali Berisha finished addressing opposition supporters from a stage set up outside the government building on Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard. The incendiary devices ignited near police lines guarding the perimeter of the Prime Minister’s office, police said.

Protesters also launched fireworks toward the building, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water cannons in an effort to disperse the crowd.

Following the clashes, protesters withdrew from the Prime Minister’s office area and moved toward the parliament building. Further confrontations broke out there between police and demonstrators, including several opposition lawmakers, among them PD officials Luçiano Boçi, Flamur Noka and Besart Xhaferri.

Police again used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Speaking at the scene, Democratic Party Secretary General Flamur Noka urged police not to use force against demonstrators. He accused authorities of protecting what he described as corrupt interests and said arrests and detentions reflected panic by the government.

Today’s rally marked DP’s second nationwide protest, with the opposition demanding the resignation of the government and the formation of a technical caretaker administration to oversee what it says should be free and fair elections.

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