Thick red and blue smoke filled Albania’s parliament on Thursday as opposition lawmakers set off flares and smoke bombs inside the assembly in Tirana.
Sali Berisha, the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, led the disruption. Opposition MPs rushed towards the central podium, blocked it and surrounded the Speaker’s dais, pulling out microphones, overturning chairs and banging on desks.
As Berisha addressed the chamber, colleagues gathered around him holding photographs of protesters allegedly injured by police rubber bullets. They also threw water bottles towards Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was present for the session.
The opposition was backing demonstrators who want Rama to resign. Its MPs were trying to stop a vote on legislation governing the country’s central bank.
Four opposition lawmakers were expelled from the chamber. The governing Socialist Party continued with the proceedings and passed the legislation.
Berisha told parliament that the ruling lawmakers “are criminals and they deserve tear gas, rubber bullets, cracked skulls and broken bones, not the young people.”
Belind Kellici, deputy head of the main opposition Democratic Party, told AFP that Rama and Socialist lawmakers were pursuing their agenda without recognising the crisis in Albania. He called the opposition’s actions a “deliberate attempt to deny the country’s deep crisis.”
The parliamentary confrontation followed protests that began in May 2026, after Rama gave preliminary approval to a luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump.
What began as a student-led movement grew to include complaints about economic stagnation, alleged corruption, poor education standards and high tuition fees. It has become Albania’s largest protest movement in decades.
Weeks of confrontation turned violent, injuring hundreds of people, including police officers. Government buildings, banks and private buildings have been attacked and set on fire.
Rama has been in office for 13 years and refused to resign after winning a fourth term last year. He introduced fines of more than $6,000 for anyone attending a protest that turns violent, including people who did not take part in violence themselves. Albania’s average monthly salary is around $1,000.
The Democratic Party has previously sought to derail parliamentary votes. On October 22, opposition MPs threw objects at Speaker Niko Peleshi and lit flares in the chamber.
The protesters have distanced themselves from political parties and regularly carry signs accusing both Rama and Berisha of corruption. Rama has repeatedly blamed “foreign actors” for the violence, accusing Russia and Iran of spreading online misinformation.
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